Physical geography of Georgia

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF GEORGIA
S. W. McCALLIE, State Geologist
BULLETIN NO. 42
PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY
OF
GEORGIA
BY
LAURENCE LAFoRGE, WYTHE CooKE, ARTHUR KEITH, AND MARrus R. CAMPBELL, Geologists, United States Geological Survey With an introduction BY S. W. McCALLIE, State Geologist
Prepared in cooperation with the United States Geological Survey
ATLANTA STEIN PRINTING COMPANY
STATE PRINTERS 1925

THE ADVISORY BOARD OF THE
Geological Survey of Georgia
IN THE YEAR 1925 (Ex-Officio)
H1s ExcELLENCY, CLIFFORD M. WALKER, Governor of Georgia PRESIDENT oF THE BoARD
HoN. S. G. McLENDON_---------------------------------Secretary of State HoN. W. J. SPEER______________________________________________________State Treasurer HoN. W. A. WRIGHT________ ________________________________Comptroller-General HoN. GEORGE M. NAPIER_______________________________Attorney-General
HoN. J. J. BROWN________________________________Commissioner of Agriculture
HoN. N. H. BALLARD__________________ Commissioner of Public Schools
II

LEITER OF TRANSMITIAL
GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF GEORGIA, ATLANTA, April 27, 1925.
To His Excellency, CLIFFORD M. WALKER, Governor and President of the Advisory Board of the Geological Survey of Georgia. Sm: I have the honor to transmit herewith for publication
a report on the Physical Geo ra:phy of Georgia.. This report, with the exception of the general introduction and the appendi~ was prepared by the U. '. Geological urvey in fulfillment of an agreement for cooperation with the Geological urv y of Georgia, hy which the former was to detail aeologim: from its staff and to pay their salaries while the work wa in progr aud tl1e latter was to pay the field and traveling expenses (not exceeding $1000) and bear the cost of publication.
As but little printed information is antilable on the physic.al features of Georgia it is believed that thi. report mlJ supply a very urgent need. The report w1J] be of pecial value to the public school teachers in teaching the physical geo~rraphy of Georgia. It will also be of value to the 1ou:rist and to the citizens and prospective citizens of the State who wish to familiarize themselves with the physical features of the different parts of Georgia.
Very respectfully, S. W. McCALLIE, State Geologist.
III

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION: THE STATE AS A WHOLE, BY S. W . McCALLIE.
Location and size.... -------------- ------------ Topo!,'l"ilph:v-"---- --------- -- ------~ ....
Explanation of topographic maps...------------------
Climate______ ----- ------ ----------- --- - GeQ!ogy...................... ------------------- - - - Mineral resources...------------------------------- Water supply and power......----------------------------------- Agriculture........._. --. --- ---- - ----- -------------------- -
Roils ------------ .. --- ----- ------ - -- Chief Crops --------------------------------------------- F o r e s t s..... . ..... -- --------------- --- ---- --- - Other indnstries......................................................................................................
T r a n s p o r t a t i o n -- ---- -- ------- Civil divisions.........------------------------- Population........ --------------------------- ---_ --

P..'\.GE
l-2
2-3 3
3-4 4-5
5 5-6 6-8 8-9
9 9-10
lO 10-11
11 Il-l'!

THE SURFACE FEATURES OF GEORGIA

INTRODUCTORY STATEMENT, BY LAURENCE LAFORGE.
The study of surface features .... ----------------------------- 13 The development of surface features...............~----- - ------ U-U The topographic divisions of GeQrgia.. ....- ------------ 15-17

THE COASTAL PLAIN, BY WYTHE CooKE.

General relations....................------------------------ Location. size, and distinctive characteristics..--------------- Geology.......................................... -- -- ---- - --- - --- - -----
Subdivisions- ------ --- --- -- - -- --- - -------- Topographic divisions of the Coastal Plain........---------
Coastal terraces------------------------------------- Satilla terrace...-------------------- The mainland_ .. -- ...... -- ------- - - --- The marshes_ --- - - -- - - - - - -- -- -- ... The Sea Islands .... - ------- ---------- - -- Penboloway terrace........------------------ Okefenokee terrace..............----------------------- Trail Ridge_______ . -- _ ---- __ -- -- - ...........

HI-!() 19
111-!W
20 21-44
21-2~
'!2-24. 22
22-23 '!3-U 24-26 26-'!9 27-28

IV

PAGE

Claxton terrace______________________________________________________________________________________________ 29

Hazlehurst terrace...--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 29

Continental shelf ----- ------------------- ---------------- 30 Origin and development of the coastal terraces........................................ 30-33
Correlation of the coastal terraces.............................................................. 33-35

River terraces... - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -................... Tifton Upland.................................................................................................... Louisville Plateau.............................................................................................. Dougherty Plain................................................................................................ Fort Valley Plateau........................................................................................... Fall Line Hills............._____
Drainage of the Coastal Plain.......................................................................... Through-flowing and indigenous rivers...................................................... Direction of flow............................................................................................ River systems.................................................................................................. Savannah system.................................................................................,.:.... Ogeechee system........................................................................................ Altamaha system.............................................,.......................................... Satilla system.............................................................................................. St. Marys system........................................................................................ Suwannee system.......................................................................~................ Ochlockonee system................................................................................:. Flint system............................................................................................:.:. Chattahoochee system.............................................................................. Smaller systems..........................................................................................

35-36 36-39 39-40 40-41 41-42 42-44 45-54
45 45-46 46-49
46 47 47 47 48 48 48 48-49 49 49

Ponds, lakes, and sinks

----------- 50

Swamps............................................................................................................ 51

Okefenokee Swamp.................................................................................... 52-54

THE PROVINCES OF APPALACHIAN GEORGIA, BY LAURENCE LAFORGE.
Location and distinctive characters...................................................................... 55 Divisions and boundaries...................................................................___...,........ 55-56

THE CENTRAL! UPLAND, BY LAURENCE LAFORGE.

General relations......................... .........................------------

57

Sttbd-ivi ions 11.11d boundaries_ ........... ----------------------- -------- ------ ..... 57-60

Topographic character.............. ..................... ------------------- .. . 60-63

Piedmont Georgia............................................................................,..................... 64-76

'The Dahlonega Plateau...................

------ ---- . 64-6!1

The Atlanta Plateau.......................................................................................... 69-74 The Tallapoosa Upland........ ........................._________________________.___ 74-76

Midland Georgia.................................................................................................... 77-86

The Greenville Plateau...................................................................................... 77-80

The Midland Slope............................................................................................ 80-82

The Washington Plateau.................................................................................. 83-86

The development of the surface..-------------------------------- --- ---- 87-!12

v

THE HIGHLAND, BY ARTHUR KEITH .

PAGE

Location and boundaries--- ------ - - - - ---- -- 93 Drainage................................------------------------------- --------- - 94-97

General plan__-- - - -- -- --------- - - - -- - 94

Runoff_ ---------------- - -- - -

94

Principal basins_--- -

- ----

95

Trends.................................................................................................................. 95-96

Grades.................................................................................................................. 96-97

Powers.------------------------------ 97

Relief....... --- - -- - - - ----- ---- -- -- - - - - - 98-120
General plan.........--- ---------------- - - - - 98-90 Trends...................................................................... - - ------- --- - - 99-100
Typical forms...................................................................................................... 100 Altitudes__ _______ __________ ___ ______ __ .............._ ....100-10l

Causes of relief.......... ----------------1 01-102 Blue Ridge..........................................................................................................102-110
Position and limits......................................................................................102-104 System and trend.......................................................................................... 104

Topographic forms.. ..................--- - -- --- - -- ----104-105

Altitudes

......... .. --..- ----

..................... 106-108

D r a i n a g e... ... .................... .... .. .. ... ....................... .... .... .................... .... ... ........... 108-110

Cohutta Mountain~-- -------------------- ---- ..................... 110-112

Position and limits........................................................................................110...11 1

System and trend.......................................................................................... 11 1

Altitudes and forms.............. - - - - - - - - - - - -- --- --- 111-ll'l

Drainage.....................................----------------- 11'l

Cross Ranges.. ........................................................................

.ll'l-114

General Plain..- - - - - ------- - - - - - - - - - - - - ll'l Central Range- --- - - - - - - ---------- ---------112-118 Eastern Range................................................................................................118-114 Ducktown Piateaa.............................................................................................114-116
Position and limits........................................................................................114-115

Plnn.----------------- -- - - - - - - - - - - lli Topographical forms......................................................................................115-ll6 Hiwassee Plateaa...............................................................................................116-117 Position and limits........................................................................................ 116 Topographic forms............ ............................................................................ 117 Drainage.......................................................................................................... 117

Little Tennessee Plateau.........------ - - - - - - - - - - - -- ---- --------- - 118-120

Position and limits..........

118

Topographic forms........................................................................................118-119

Drainage.- -- -- - - --

--- - - - -- - - -- 119-120

Geology.................................................................................................................... l20...12G

Groups of rocks..................................................................................................120-121

Ages of formations........ --- - - - -

----- Ul -1 2~

S t r u c t u r e.............................................................................................................. 12'l-123

SoilS.------------ - - - - - - - - - ------------ .....128-126

VI

PAGE

CliRmaaitenf--a-l-l--__-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-__-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-__-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-__-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-__-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-__-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-__-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-__-_-_--11!!l!66--11!!l!88

Temperature.--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- IllS FPoorpesutsl-a--t-i-o--n--_--_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-__-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-l-!1l!9l8--1l!8l9l

Distribution.. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1!l9-180

Amount.--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 180

Character______ ________ __

__ __ _ 180-181

Transportation.-~----------------------------------------------------------181-18!l Railroads.__________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 181

Wagon roads.---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ISI-18!l

THE VALLEY PROVINCE, BY MARIUB R. CAMPBELL.
General description_____________c__________________________________________________________________________________ l88-189 Rome Valley_________________________________________________________________________________________________________189-148
Azmuchee Ridges-----------------------------------------------------------------------------148-146 Chickamauga ValleY--------------------------------------------------------------------------------146-147

THE LOOKOUT PLATEAU, BY Muros R. CAMPBELL. General descriptiOIL---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------148-156

THE GEOGRAPIDC CONTROL OF HUMAN AFFAIRS. BY LAURENCE LAFORGE.

General considerations

157

Distribution of population..----------------------------------------------------------------------------197-1Cl!l

Traffic Routes....---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------162-165

Industries and trade_________________ ______

165

VJf

ILLUSTRATIONS

PLATES

PLATES

FACING PAGE

I. II.
III. IV.
v.
VI.
VII. VIII.
IX.
X.
XI. XII.
XIII. XIV. XV. XVI. XVII. XVIII.

Frontispiece. Tallulah Falls.

Map of _ <;r~orgia showing the larger geologic and topographic

diVJSJOnS.... .................................................................................... 4

Island. . . . ._______ ______________ _ Weathering of rock__ ____ _ _ ______ ______
Scenes on St. Simons

_ 14 20

Map of the mainland and marshes near Brunswick........------------------ 22

A. Wilmington Island and Wilmington River. B. Marshes at the mouth of Savannah River. C. Satilla River near

Waycross. D. Ochlockonee River...----------------------------------- 22

Map of the P enholoway t errace near M cKinnon....--------------------------- 24

Map of the Satilla and Penhnloway terraces in Charlton and

Camden Counties_ - - - -- ------------------------------------------- 24

Map of Okefenokee terrace, Trail Ridge, and Penholoway terrace

near St. George.---------------------------------------------------------------------- 26

Maps of (A) the coastal terraces and (B) land and sea in Oke-

fenokee time.------------------------------------------------------------------------- 28 Map of-the Claxton terra ce near Claxton___.___ _ __________ 80

A. P ond on the Doughert y Plain a-t Dudley, Laurellil County.
B. Tifton Upland 10 miles no:rlh of Eastman. C. Fall Line Hills S miles w~ of Lumpkin. D. Outcrop of
sandstone in the Tifton UplBlld, Jeff Davis County__ _ 86

Map of the Tifton Upland near Millen.._______ __

88

Map of the Louisville Plateau near Louisville........----------------------- 40

Map of the Fall Line Hills near Cusseta........-------------------- 42

Map of the Fall Line Hills near Toomsboro....--------------------------- 44

Scenes in Okefenokee Swamp....----------------------------------------------- 52

A. Dahlonega Plnt ean from Crown Mountain, looking east . B.

dike______________________ Cr11mpling of clay residual from Shady limestone under

the action of gravity on a steep slope. C. pheroidal

weathering of a trap

6'

XIX. XX.
XXI.
XXII. XXIII.
XXIV. XXV.

Map of the Dahlonega Plateau southwest of Ellijay_ ________ 66
A. Mt. Yonah from Nacoochee Valley. B. Nacoochee Valley. C. Cane Creek Falls, Lumpkin County. D. Tally Mountain, near Tallapoosa............................------------ 68
Map of the Valley and the margin of t:he Atlanta Plateau south of Cartersville..........--------------------- 70
Airplane view of Stone Mountain, looking southwest........................ 72
A. Southwest slope of Stone Mt., showing exfoliation cracks. B. Falls of Soque River---- -- -- - -- --- _ 74
Map of Pine Mt. and the Greenville Plateau near Warm Springs.... 80
Map of the Midland Slope east of Logansville.................................... 82

VIII

PLATE

!'ACING P.A.GII:

XXVI. Map of Lhe Washington Plateau near Washington.------ 84

XXVII. Map of the Coastal Plain and the Central Upland near DevereuL.- 86

XXVIII. Map of the Dahlonega Plateau near Mt. Yonah and the Highland near Unicoi GaP--------------------------------- 9~
XXIX. A. Highland, Piedmont, and Valley from relief model. B. Map

of the Highland with its subdivisions and surroundings......- 94

XXX. A. Blue Ridge and D ahlonega Plateau, looking northwest from

Griffin Mtn., near Cornelia. B. Tallulah Gorge, looking

southeast below the ]'ails

- - -................-........................ 96

XXXI. A. Hiwassee Valley, looking north from Mountain Scene. B. Tray Mt., looking southeast from Mountain Scene.............. 100

XXXII. Maps of (A) parallel valleys connecting the Ellijay Valley and the Ducktown Plateau and (B) high plateau and scarp of

Amicalola and Burnt Mountains..............................------ 104

XXXIII. A. Barlow Cut, three mil~tS southwest of Dahlonega. B. Ocoee

Gorge, three miles south of State boundary...........------------ 108

XXXIV. A. Coh utta Mts. lookiDg sout h:west from Flattop Mt. on the

Bl ue Ridge. B. D ucktown P lateau and Blue Ridge, look-

ing DOJ>IJLwest from Ohestnut Gap___ _ ________

no

XXXV. Map of the border of the Valley aad the Highland near Crandall.... 114

XXXVI. Gullied hillsides near Ducktown, Tenn

116

XXXVII. Maps of (A) the Hiwassee Plateau and sun-ounding mountains

near Hiwassee and (B) the Little Tennessee Plateau und

Rabun Gap in the Blue Ridge.........

--- -- ll8

XXXVIII. A. Burton Reservoir on Tallulah River, looking nearly north.
B. Head of Little Tennessee River, looking northeast from Keener Gap........................................................................ 1~0

XXXIX. A. Summerville, the county seat of Chattooga County. B. Fort Mountain, one of the interesting points on the eastern border of the Valley______________ _ ____ 186

XL.
XLI.
XLII. XLIII.

Map of the Lookout Plateau showing the principal topographic features.......................................................................................... 148
Cliff at the north end of Lookout Mt., and the city of Chattanooga, on Tennessee River---- 150
Falls of Rock Creek on Lookout Mountain.------- 154 Map showing the railroads and incorporated towns in Georgia...... 160

FIGURES

PAGE

I. Map showing the geographic provinces of the southeastern United States.... 16

~- Map showing the topographic divisions of the Coastal Plain of Georgia........ 17

8. Map showing the topographic divisions of the Central Uplan

61

4. Map showing the Valley and the Lookout Plateau............................................ 185

5. Structure section showing the relation of hard rocks to the surface features in the Armuchee Ridges......................................................................_ ----- 145

6. Structure section showing the relation of hard rocks to Sand and Lookout

mountains..................................---- 154

IX

PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY OF GEORGIA

PLATE I

TALLULAH FALLS.

Photograph by J. K. Hilltrs.

PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY OF GEORGIA

INTRODUCTION: THE STATE AS A WHOLE

s. w. By

M c C .A. L L I E

LOCATION AND SIZE
The State of Georgia is the outhernmo t of the Atlantic Seaboard tates, with the exception of Florida. Georgia is situated between the parallels 80 21' 20" and 35" north latitude and the meridians 80 50' 24" and 5 36' west of Greenwich. A belt of the ear th's urface at this distance from the equator would traverse the following foreign countries : M orocco, A.lgier , T uni Tripoli, North Egypt, Palestine, Arabia, Per ia, parts of India and China and southern Japan.
Georgia is bounded on the north by Tennessee and North Carolina, on the northeast by South Carolina and on the east by the Atlantic Ocean, on the south by Florida and on the west by Florida and Alabama.
The boundary line between Georgia and outh Carolina is the eastern bank of Savannah River from it mout h to its junction with Tugaloo River and thence along the latter river to its junction with Tallulah River from which point it follows Chattooga River to the North Carolina line.
The northern boundary line of Georgia was intended to be at 35 of north latitude. It is in that posit ion only, at its east end and elsewhere is nearly one mile south of the latit ude line.
The western boundary line begins at a corner tone on the Tennessee State line marked on its south side Geo. lat. 85 north; J. Camak." This stone stands near the t op of Nickajack Mountain, one mile and twenty-eight rods from the south bank of Tennessee Riv er and near the center of the old Indian town, N ickajack. From the Nickajack corner, above referred t o, the State line between Georgia and Alabama runs south 9 80' east, approximately 146 miles t o West Point (Millers Bend) on Chattahoochee River. Thence down the west bank of the Chattahoochee approximately 150 miles to its junction with Flint River, latitude 30 42' 42", longitude 80 53' 15".
The Southern boundary line beginning at the junction of Chattahoochee and Flint rivers runs S. 87 17' 22" E., 158.85 miles to a point 37 links north of Ellicotts mound. Thence it follows the meanderings of St. Marys River to the Atlantic Ocean.
The shape of the state somewhat resembles that of an irregular keystone with its narrow end at the north. The five boundary lines

2

GEOLOGICJL SURT'El" OF GEORGLJ

are all of different lengths, and no two of them are parallel. The greatest length of the State (approximately 320 miles) is from north to south and exceeds its greatest width from east to west by about 60 miles. A line drawn diagonally across the State from its northwest corner on the Tennessee line to the southeast at St. Marys on the Florida line, would have a length of about 400 miles, a distance nearly equal to that from Baltimore to Boston.
Georgia is the largest state east of the Mississippi River and ranks twentieth in size with those west of the Mississippi. Its area, 59,265 square miles, is only 7,159 square miles less than that of all the New England States combined. It is larger than England and Wales and more than one-fourth the size of France.
TOPOGRAPHY
Like most of the States of the Atlantic slope, Georgia does not have the same topographic character everywhere, but differs considerably in appearance in different portions. Some parts of the State are mountainous, some have a broadly rolling upland surface trenched by deep and narrow valleys, ome are cupied h wide and ratl1c>r flat-floored valleys, and some part. are nearl.v !eYe! plains. The portions of the State thus characterized h differ nl ort of topography are not scattered about haphazard but are grouped in y tematic fashion, so that the State as a whole can be divided into several portions-one dominantly mountainous, another chiefly rolling upland, etc., each of which has its own distinctive topographic character (see Pl. II).
That part of the State lying south of a Jiue chawn from Augusta through Milledgeville and Macon to 'olumbt-u; and compri in" about three-fifths of the whole State, although hilly in orne portion , is on tb whole so flat or so gently rolling that it appear a. a. broad a.nd om what uneven plain. Thi part i call d th a Lal }Jlain. Near the coast it is low and very nearly le\el throughout broad areas, hut farther inland its surface lies higher and is rolling r even hilly.
North of the Coastal Plain is a broad belt, extending across the ' tate. which is dominantly a rolling upland. Much of its upland surface i nearly flat and appear from a commanding point as a some:.. what une,en plain. Thi part i the Central Upland. Near the main tr ms it- . ltrface i cu by fairly deep valleys and here and there, especially in its northern portion, bold hills or small mountains stand well aboYe the general level of the surface.
a Most of the northwestern part of the State is occupied by broad,
relatively Iow-lyiug area called the Valley. It is really made up of several partlv merincr valley with broad and generally flat or gently rolling floor . These \alley ar partly separated by a number of mountain ran es. orne of which are hort, but others of which extend almost un roken for many miles. In the extreme northwest corner of the State are two broad flat-topped ranges which are not like those in the Valley, but are parts of a plateau-the Lookout Plateau.
The northeastern portion of the State is dominantly mountainous. and this part, called the Highland, is the highest and most rugged part

LYTRODUCTIO:Y

3

of the State and contains a number of peaks that stand more than -4,000 feet above sea level. It is not wholly mountainous, as small and rough-surfaced interior plateaus occupy part of the drainage basins of the rivers, but the mountains are the features that determine the general character of the region.
The topographic character of the several divisions of the State is treated in detail in subsequent chapters.
M.-planatioo of topographic .map . In order that the ' urface features of a (Treater area than can be shown in a photograph might ~rought before the eye. the descriptions of the toporraphic dh+ion.s of Georgia a,r 111 trated by topographic map of repr tative areas. Each map is copied from a larger map (about V5 X 17}i inche ), in color , made and for ale (price ten ent ) hy the n:ited "'tat . Geological u:rvey WB,l hington D. C.
The topographic maps of the U. S. Geological Survey show three kinds of features,-water, land, and works of man. The water features, shown in blue, include streams, ponds and lak -, and swamps; the shape of the land and its altitude above t:a level are indicated by brown contour lines; the works of man, uch as house...s roads, railroads, bridges, and boundary lines, are represented by suitable symbols in black. Some of the maps show woods or brush by green tints or symbols. The topographic maps in this book do not show the colors of the originals from which they were copied.
The contour lines on topographic map r pr nt imaginary Je,el lines drawn at equal vettical di tance apart on the urface of t h earth. They are like furrow ploughed on the hillside, but instead of h ing spaced equally on Lhe . rn:fa rega.rdle . of lope, each conlour lin is drawn at a definite heiubt (usually 10. ~0, 50 or 10 feet. called the contour intervaL) above or below the adjoining line. Where the slope is eYen, the contour lines are equal distances apart on the map, but they are close together on steep slopes and farther aparl on :r; nUe slopes. Like furrows, contour lines wind in and out of hollow and Ya.lleys and around the front of hills. Sinks and other depressions without surface outlets are represented hy short lines projecting inward from the contour lines encircling them (see Plates XIII and XIV). The altitude above sea level of certain contour lines, usually every fifth line, is shown by figures. The altitude of intermediate lines can be ascertained by counting up or down from the nearest numbered line. The altitudes of many selected points, such as cross-roads and forks, is in-
dicated by figures on the map.
CLIMATE 1
The climate of any region is largely controlled by its latitude, its proximity to large bodies of water, and by its topographic features. Georgia lies in the warmer portion of the temperate zone; it touches the Atlantic Ocean, and its southwestern portion is separated from the Gulf of Mexico by only a narrow strip of land, consequently the south-
ern half of the State has a very warm, moist climate. Over the northern half of the State, however, the physical features of the land, its

'Notes on climate furnished by C. F. Von Herrman U. S. 'Veather Bureau, Atlanta, Ga.

4

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF GEORGIA

elevation into mountains attaining a maximum altitude of 4,768 feet, are the controlling factors. Mountains thrust themselves up into the cooler parts of the atmosphere, and their slopes give the winds a tendency to rise, causing abundant condensation and precipitation. The highest annual mean temperatures in Georgia are found in the extreme south, Quitman and Valdosta having an annual mean of 68, but in northern Georgia, at elevations exceeding 2,000 feet, temperatures are more than ten degrees lower, Blue Ridge and Clayton having an annual mean of 57. The increase in precipitation is also shown by the large annual rainfall at Dahlonega, 62 inches, and at Clayton and Rabun, 69 inches, as compared with amounts ranging from 45 to 53 inches in south-central Georgia.
The climate of Georgia as a whole is characterized by long, relatively warm summers, during which the changes in temperature from day to day are small, and by short, mild winters. Southern and central Georgia are very warm; the July means range from 77 to 82 and the highest temperatures from May to October often exceed 100. In the north the summers are much more moderate than might be expected. At Atlanta the maximum temperature has reached 100 but twice in 47 years. That the winters are usually mild throughout the entire State is sufficiently indicated by the fact that the monthly mean normal temperatures for January, the coldest month, do not fall below 40 even in the mountains. Nevertheless bracing cold waves occasionally occur and a rare intervals temperatures below zero are registered in Georgia. The annual mean temperatures of a few of the more important cities are as follows: Atlanta, 61; Gainesville, 60; Rome, 61; Augusta, 64; Macon, 64; Savannah, 67; and Brunswick, 68.
The annual average number of clear days in Georgia is 165, and of rainy days 98. Abundant sunshine is the rule except during the winter rains which often cover the entire State. Throughout Georgia the length of the growing season-that is the interval between the dates of the last killing frost in spring and the first in autumn-ranges from 186 days in the extreme north to 250 days in the south. Killing frosts are unusual after April 10 over the greater portion of the northern half, and after March 15 in the Coastal Plain. In the north the average date for the first killing frost is October 27, and in the south November 15. 1
GEOLOGY
The geology of Georgia is as diversified as its topography. The rocks of the State include the classes igneous (chiefly granites), metamorphic (schist, gneiss, macble, etc.), and sedimentary ( and or sandstone, clay, shale, limestone). They range in age from recent to ancient (Archean) and in compa~tness from loose sand to hard quartzite and from soft marl to crystalline marble. They have been classified according to age and lithologic character into formations, the names of which appear in the table on pages 6 and 7 with the

1The most important sources of information about the climate of Georgia are Section Climatologies Nos. 85 and 86, obtainable at any 'Veather Bureau office.

PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY OF GEORGIA

PLATE II
E XPLANATI ON
CJ QUATERNARY c:J TERTIARY
\::::::::::::1 UPPER CRTACEOUS
~ PENNSYLVANIAN
E2ZJ ~~~~~~p~~ ~~
~ M(TAMORPHI C. CAMBRI A N

0 R.

10 20 30

~.f,.ro!C 'IIo&/~
MAP OF GEORGIA SHOWING THE LARGER GEOLOGIC AND TOPOGRAPHIC DIVISIONS.
By Wythe Cooke, Laurence LaForge, Arthur Keith, and 1\l. R. Campbell

I

..

'i


INTRODUCTION

5

youngest at the top. The kind of opography which is characteristic of each formation and the general distribution of the formations are also indicated in the table.
The geologic map, Plate II, shows the distribution of the major divisions of the rocks of Georgia. The oldest rocks (Archean and me.tamorpnic Cambrian) form a broad belt in the "Highland and the Central Upland; the Paleozoic rocks, e.'\:cept the metamorphic Cambrian rocks occupy the northwe t corner of the tate in the VaUey and the Lookout Plateau and the Cretaceous Tertiary, and Quaternary Jorroation make up the entire Coastal Plain.
The attitude of the bedded rocks is different in each of these three areas. The oldest rocks a.r crystalline and nr intricately contorted and metamorphosed; the Paleozoic rocks are closely folded and faulted at the out.heastern side of the \ alley but flatten into gentle undulation toward the northwec;;t and the much younger edimentary rocks of the Coastal Plain, whit:h. were dep it d on the timeworn urface of the cry talline rocks, lope gently eaward or are almost level.

MINERAL RESOURCES
Georgia b a great Yariety of mineral ~md at present i producing more than a core in commer ial quantili . io t of them are con.fined to the northern part of the tate but extensive depo it of baux-ite, white clay and fuller earth are now heing mined on a large scale in outh Georgia. The commercial importance of the mineral product of the tate are shown by the mineral statistics bere giYen:
Value oj llfineraL Production oj Georgia }or 192]

Asbestos, Coal and Coke........................................................$
Barytes----- - - --- - ----- - ---- -- --- - Bamcite._ __ -- -- - -- - ----- --- ........ Brick and tile.. ........................................................................ Clay.......................................................................................... Fuller's earth and manganiferous ores................................. Gold and silver........................................................................
Granite_ _ _ _ - - - --- - -- -- - - --- -- Iron ore and ocher (la tter estimated).................................. Lime and limestone................................................................ M a r b l e........... ... ............. ................ ... ... ....... ............ .. ... ....... .. .. .. Sand and graveL ...................................................................
~:~~~:i~a~~~s.8~~-~-~t-~~~:.:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: :::::::::::::::
Portland cement and slate....................................................

455,040 670,348 141,975 5,733,768 1,077,196 1,049,980
530 1,462,297
500,718 518,202 2,090,486 300,621
18,123 58,810 1,608,404

TotaL....... ----

__ _ _ _____ $ 15,681,493

WATER SUPPLY AND POWER
The even distribution throughout the year of the abundant rainfall assures Georgia of ample water for all uses, including power. In the southern part of the State the water supply is obtained chiefly from artesian wells. These waters are generally hard but uncontaminated. In the northren part of the State springs, shallow wells and streams are the source of the domestic water supply.

GEOLOGIC FORMATIONS IN GEORGIA 18>

Prepared By WY'nm CooKE, M. R. CAMPBELL, ARTHUR KEI'l'H and J.-AUUENCE LAFORGE.

I ERA TSEYMS-1

SERIES

FORMATIONS

PREVAILING LITHOLOGY

~;o<:L:ZIL~Iaa>:<:
--

Recent Pleistocene Pliocene

Alluvh\1and swamp deposits; beach and dune sand ____ Sand, mud, muck, and peat. Columbia group. Terrace deposits (0 to 50 ft.) _______ Chiefly sand. Charlton formation (0-15 ft.) __________ _____ _____ Argillaceous limestone and clay.

0

0

N
0 z
LIJ

>a<:

Miocene Oligocene

Duplin marl (10-15 ft.)------------ -- ---------- - Sandy shell marls and compact bluish sand.

CAhluamt,tnBhlouoffehgereonropm(0H-iltliioOn fL(0. )-_1_0_0_ft-.)-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-__-

Chiefly sand, sandstone and claystone. Earthy limestone.

Vicksburg group: Glendon formation (0-100 ft.) ______ Chert-bearing sand, clay, aud gravel on surface,

~
<;:)
t-1 <::. ~ ....;

0

ia=:

.L..I.J.

(Iu western Q eorgitt)

(In etlatl,!rn Georgia)

Ocala limestone (300 ft.) Barnwell formaLion (0-200

white limestone under cover.

(')
~
V;,

Eocene

ft .)

Sort white lim cgtonc; red sand and fuller's earth.

Claiborne group (200 fl.) McBean form.(S0-100 ft.) Claystone, snnd, and sanuy limestone.



Wilcox formntion(0- 100 ft.)

Chiefly laminated sand and eluy:.

~

-0 0 N

-I -I -en aLIJ:O<;:o:~
ol-w

Upper Cretaceous

1\[irlwny form. (0-400 ft.)
Ripley:forrnatiou (900ft.) Eutaw fornmtiou (fi-5G0fL) Undifferentiated Ufper Tuscaloosa form. (0-37/Ht.) Cretaceous (790 ft.

S~tnd, clay, mArl, nnd linullltonc,

~

Dark gray sand, clay, and limestone in west.; coarse <;:)

white and pink sand and kaolin in east

~

Coarse micaceous sand and gravel.

C)

0en

LIJ

-:::!: -

en

:::::1

0a:

s=
0 N 0
LIJ ...J

LIJ
"-
z
0
~ a:

c(

c(

Jurassic or Triassic Permian (?)
--- ----
Pennsylvanian
MlsslsslllPlan

Diabase and gabbro dikes_____ ___________ __ _______
Granites and pegmatites____ -------- -- - __________
Walden sandstone (930-1000 ft.) _______ ., ___________ Lookout sandstone (400-500 ft.) . . __________ _______ Pennington Bhale (515ft.) ____ --- - --------- _
flangOI'lilllP.HlOIIP. (500-900 ft..) . . -----"------- Hart;ell., oundston~ (50-,i50 fl.) _ . _. _________ ____

Mainly dark gray or black diabase, much jointed and weathered.
Massive light-gray Liotite-granite; lenses and narrow dikes of muscovite-biotite granite.
Sandstone and sandy shale; coal-bearing. Coarse sandstone or conglomerate and sandy shale.
Gray and reddish shale with beds of sandstone and limestone.
Blue fos8iliferou~ limestone, gmding into shale at t.op. Cot\rse white sands~one.

1::<:1
S5 ~.....

Q.

0

['loyd slude 10-2000 ft.) _____ __ - - --------------- - Black shale grading into limestone.

- Devonian or

- Fort Payne chert (0-510 ft.) _______________________ .Banded chert with a small amount o! lime8Loue. Chattanooga shale (0-100 ft.) ______ ______________ Fine black shale.

- --C-ar-bo-n-ife-ro-u-s ---

Q~Oz>CzC-j

Lower Devonian

SILURIAN

Armuchee chert (50-100ft.) _______________________ Bedded chert, rusty and sandy. Red Mountain formation (600-1800 ft.) ________ ----- Sandstone and sandy shale.

c
SO:czc
C a: -
0
--

Middle Ordovician
Lower Ordovician
Upper Cambrian

(Western basin.)
Chickamauga limestone._ (1000-1500 ft.)

(Eastern basin.)
RoulQnn.rt sll.l.t.e
<1200-3000 rt.)
Chiokum aug~J, limestone (100-200 ft.)

Rockmart slate is generally black, includes sandstone and conglomerate.
Chickamauga limestone is generally blue; includes many beds of shale.

Knox' dolomi te (3000-5000 f t.) __ ______________ ---- Thick-bedded, gray, magnesian limestone or dolomite Coua.saugn.' form n.tiot~ (1000-4000 ft.) ------ - - __ _____ Olive clay shale and thin-bedded limestone.

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0

LLI
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fl.

z :ma!::

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Middle Cambrian
Lower Cambrian

(In t he Appalachian Valley) (In the Highland nnd Ceh-

tral Upland.)

Rome formation contains variegated sandstone and

l~ome iorm. Cartersville

shale.

(700-3500 ft.) formation

Cartersville formation contains sericitic schists and

A(tison shnle (600-1000 ft.)

sandstone.

1000 It.)

N ottely quartzite(200 ft.) Massive white quartzite.

~

Shady limestone (800-1500 ft.)

Andrews schist (50-300ft) Calcareous schist, with iron ore. Murphy marble(50-300ft.) Massive white, blue, or banded marble.

Valleytown formation

Mica schist with many silicious beds and garnets.

~


(1200-2000 ft.) Brasstown schist
(1200-1500 ft.)

Mica schist spangled with biotite crystals.

?S ~

Weisner quartzite (2000-5000 ft.)

Tusquitee quartzite (20-600 ft.)

White or grayish-white glassy quartzite.

~

Nantahala slate

Black or dark gray banded slate or phyllite.

(1000-2000 ft.)

Great Smoky formation Massive gritty sandstone, graywacke, and fine conglo-

(5000-6500 ft.)

merate with many beds of dark slate or phyllite

and gray mica schist.

-f2-- - -C?r

0

N
a0 :

- ":2( -
<

LLI
1-

LLI
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a0 :
fl.

aQcc:

Riwtb88ee Brevard Dark banded slate with Dark phyllite and schist

slate

schist

beds of quartzite, lime- with beds of limestone

(1500-1800 H) (1000-ft.) stone and limestone and quartzite.

conglomerate.

Pinelog

Fine quartz conglomerate, graywacke, and mica

uonglonwm t.e

schist.

Various quartzites and schists ____________ ___ ______ Massive white or light-colored quartzite, interbedded

with mica schists.

"" Biotite granites. _------------ - --------- --- ----_ Much squeezed and altered to gneiss and schist.
Roan gneiss_____ - ~---- - ----- - -- - -- - -------- -- -- Hornblende gneiss 11nd schist, diorite, and gabbro. Curolina gneiss.________ __ _____ _ _- - - - - ------ --- Massive and banded mica gneilll!1 interbedded with
mioo schists coutainiog garnet, cya.nite and graPMte. _ __ _ _
-

8

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF GEORGIA

The aggregate water power of Georgia is estimated at 2,381,800 10-hour horsepower. The greatest sources of power are in the northern part of the State but there is considerable power on many of the larger streams in south Georgia.

Summary of Georgia !Paler Power.Y

Watershed

Safe average daily output in 10-hour H. P.

OSagveaecnnltaehe.._......._.___-__-__-__- _--_- -__.._ ...._..._.._ ....._ .._ _ ..___ Altamaha.._______ ___ ,.___________________

Coastal Region-.

. . _.._ _ .. ____.. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _..__

Apalachicola.......... ...................... ....

Mobile in Georgia....- ----..----------------..---......... Tennessee in Georgia..............................................................

734,050 9,300
251,550 40,500
935,300 297,000 ll4,100

TotaL................ _______________ 2,381,800

Only a little more than ten per cent of these water powers as shown by wheel installation is at present developed. The main hydroelectric power companies operating in Georgia are here given together with the production in kilowatt hours for 1923:

Eleclricily Produced by !Paler Power in 192J

Georgia Railway & Power Company.................... Columbus Electric & Power Company................ Central of Georgia Power Company.................... Augusta-Akin Railway & Electric Corp.......... .... West Point Electric Company.............................. Athens Railway & Electric Company.......... ....... Georgia-Alabama Power Co., Albany, Ga......... Eagle & Pboenix Mills_ _ _ _ _ - ---.. Towaliga Falls P ower Company.. _ ________
Bainbridg~ Power Company........ All other h.ydropowers (estimate) --- - - - - -

KWH KWH KWH KWH KWH KWH KWH KWH KWH
KWH KWH

232,807,570 133,610,018
91,779,750 54,383,893 18,894,940 17,409,962 13,097,837 ll,424,000
7,022,440
1,439,080 20,000,000

Total..........................................- ....- - -- KWH 601,869,490

AGRICULTURE

Soils. The soils of Georgia vary widely in physical and chemical character, depending upon the mineral composition of the rocks from which they have been derived. In the Great Valley of northwest Georgia the argillaceous soils formed from the sandstones and shales are quite different from the calcareous soils derived from the limestones, and the mixture of these two kinds gives rise to a third variety. In the Central Upland the soils, which are derived mainly from the granitic rocks or from hornblende rocks, are light or heavy according to the proportions of sand or clay in them. These soils are generally red, especially those derived from hornblende rocks. The soils of the Coastal Plain, being derived from limestones, clays, and sands, are calcareous, argillaceous, or sandy, the sandy soils predominating.
The color of soils ranges from very light gray through yellow and orange to red in well drained uplands and from gray or grayish blue t o dark blue or mottled in poorly drained areas.

INTRODUCTION

9

As nearly all the soils of Georgia are deficient in one or more of the plant foods, crops are noticeably increased by the use of fertilizers.
Most of the soils produce fair crops of corn, but some soils are much better than others for cotton, which does best on the uplands. The light sandy soils of the Coastal Plain are well adapted for growing tobacco, peanuts, sweet potatoes, and truck. The rate of growth oi peach and pecan trees and the quantity and quality of their fruit vary greatly with the soil.

Chief crops. Georgia is preeminently an agricultural State. The value of the crops for 1924 has been estimated at $263,085,869. Cotton far exceeds in value that of any other rop and is approximately equal in value to all other crops combined. The following table shows the value of the leading crops:

Value o} Leading Crop.r 1924

Cotton and cotton seed__________________________________________________________$ 130,350,000

Corn...... --------------------------------- -----------------------

_

HaY--- ---------------------------------------------- ---- ---------- -

:3weet potatoes----------------------------------------- -----------------------

Peaches---------- ----- ------- ------------- -------- ---- ------ -----

Tobacco......-------------------------------------------------------- --

Peanuts.------------------------------------------ ---------------------

Oats.. ______ ----------------------------------------------------------------------

Sugar cane..----------------------------------------------Watermelons____ ________________________________________________________________________

Irish potatoes-------------------------------------------------------------
Apples----------- - - - - - ------------ - _ _
WheaL - - - -- - -- -------

56,~~7,360 8, 795,000 8, 704,000 8,4~5,4~0 8,299,466 6,65~,800 3, 779, I 00
3,607,031
~.795,625
~.412,000 1, 7 6 2 , 7 6 0 1,436,500

Georgia produces in addition to the crop here mentioned all other crops commonly grown in this latitud . The production per acre is variable but the general average is practically the ame as that of the other southern Atlantic States. orn Jeacl in acreag but i clo eJy followed by cotton.

Forests. The total area of forest lands in Georgia as given by the U. S. Forest Service is 20 million acres, of which all but one million acres has been cut over. There are some 6_% million acres of cutover land which conta.in . econd a-rowth timber of orne merchantable value for lumber 7_% million acres which contain econd growth unmerchantable except as cord wood; and 5 million acr of forest land classed as waste be..ca.use it has been -o everely cu and burned that it is producing nothina. The amount of forest land lying totally idle is equal to n~)y -!0 p.er cent of the ultivated farm land in the tate. These ::6gur show that les than one-twentieth of the original virgin forests remain and that wood-u ing indostrie are rapidly becoming dependent upon econd growth. timber or upon lumber imported from other states.
To offset the rapidly disappearing virgin forest, Georgia still contains within its boundaries vast areas of forest land which is not suitable and not needed for agriculture. This land is naturally adapted to the rapid growth of forests and offers an exceptional opportunity for reforestation on a commercial scale. That the people of the State are aroused to the betterment of forest conditions is shown by a bill now

10

GEOLOGICdL SURVEY OF GEORG/d

pending before the legislature, the obj~ of which is as follows: (1) To control and regulate forest fires and to develop public sentiment which recognizes the menace of forest fires and will cooperate in -tamping them out. (2) To stop the destruction of young pine timber by improper and ruthle method of turpentining. It is believed that the naval stores indu try will Teadily cooperate in placing fair and reasonable restrictions upon operators. (S) To educate the people of the tate to the value, importance, and necessity of forest and forest lands and their products, to the end that there may be developed a sane and enlightened public attitude with respect to the fore t situat ion and its ur ency as a public problem.
Next to cotton, the or l of Georgia in t.he p t have contributed in largest mea ure to the wealth of the tate. The rich virgin forests of pine and hard wood ha>e upported lu:mbet-ing and turpentining, basic industrie which have drawn to Georgia a bilHon and a half dollar in the last 25 years. Howe>er on account of the decline of raw material produced by nature and not renewed by man as the original forests we e cut, the lumbering and naval stores industries are confronted in many parts of the State with practical extinction because of the destruction of local forests.
A census of manufacturers for 1919 showed that the wood products establishments in Georgia had a combined value of $66,340,207. The e;o;.i;en of these industrie i apparent when it is ta.ted that they comprise 50 per cent of the indu trial e tablishments of the 'tate, emplo. 2!2 per cent of Georgia wa e earners, repre ent 10 per cent of the capital invested in manufacture and produce practically 10 per cent of th manufacturing wealth of the tate.
OTHER INDUSTRIES
In addition to agricultW'e which give employment to more than half of the population of lhe 'tate there is a great >ariety of other industrie . One of the mo important of these is the textile industry. The total number of plant enga-ged in tlu industry at present 190 whiCh represents a capital inv tmenl in Tound number of 154 million dollars. The textile indu try reached com;iderable development prior to the Civil War bul ha greatl e:\.-panded within the la t few years because of the rapid deYelopm nt of hydroelectric power. carcely le s important are the f rtilizer industry, wiU1 181 plants, repre eoting a capital of .4 -65 3 1 and the ottonseed oil industry with 141 plant , representing an inYe tment of ,24,724,650. In addition to lhe indu tries abov mentioned tl1.e 'tate 'o:mmissioner of omme.rce and Labor lists 1,820 establishments engaged in various industries.
TRANSPORTATION
The lotal mileage of the public road at pre ent i timated at 91,000, approximately 7 per cent of which i under the management oi the tate Highway Department. The State roads reach every county seat and are being rapidly .improved. The total amount of money pent on the public highways Ia t year, including federal aid, was $6 500,000. Many of the main highway leading to the citie and large towns are-

INTRODUCTION

11

paved and hundreds of miles of excellent sand-clay roads form a more or Jess complete network throughout the State.
Railroad construction began in the State at an. early date. The
Central of Georgia Railway from Savannah to Macon, 190 miles long was put in operation in 1843 and two yeats later the Georgia Railroad was completed from Augusta to Atlanta, 171 miles. Many .ra.ihoads were built prior to the Civil War but the greatest development has been since then. At present there a:r operated :in the State 7,!t26 miles of railroad. exclusive of siding and yard traek. Nearly all the counties of the tate a.re erved by one or more railroads.
Steamboat navigation is more or less acti,-e on the :following rivers : hattahoochee Flint, t. Mary , atilla Altamaha including Ocmnlgee and Oconee, Sa,,annah and Coo a. The navigable parts of all these
stream lie within the Coastal Plain except the Coo a which flows
through the Great Valley. The boats plying thes treams are small and usually operate during only part of the ear. Prim: to the introduction of railroads these river were important carrier of cotton merchandise, food products, etc. but at present the: are of only minor. importanc nevertheles by proper improYemen they could again be ruade to assume their former position a common carrier...
CIVIL DIVISIONS
orgia i:- divided at pt eni (19!l5) into 161 countie . All of the couutie west of Oconee Ri' er and south of Altamaha River, except Glynn and Camden Countie , are div:ided into ections districts, and land lots. The lots the maUest nbdivision , range in size from 40 to 490 acres. The mallet lot are confined to Lumpkin and other countie in the northern part of the tate in which aold is fonnd.
East of Oconee River and north of Altamaha River, the "headright counties" are not ubdiv::ided. The average area of the counties is 864 quare miles. The largest county is Burke (956 square miles) and the mallest Clarke County (114 square miles). In addition to the divisions above given each county is divided into militia. district to facilitate local aovernment. The tat is al o divided .into Congressional and Senatorial districts, the size of which is determined by the population.
POPULATION
The total population of Georgia according to the federal census of 1920, was 2,895,832. Of this number 1,689,114 were white, 1,206,365 were negro, and the remaining 353 were Indians, Chinese, Japanese, Hindus and Filipinos.
The urban population, or city dwellers, numbered 727,859 whites and 454,602 negroes, while the rural population included 1,234,512 whites and 933,329 negroes.
Although the negro population is widely distributed it is densest in the central, southwest and coast counties, where the negroes in places outnumber the whites. In two counties in this region there are more than twice as many negroes as white people.

12

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF GEORGIA

In north Georgia. the proportion of negroes ranges from on~ighth. to one-quarter of the total populat ion. Two mount:;Un counties, Towns and Dawson, in this section, had in 1920 no negro population.
The foreign born white population in 1920 was 16,186. Russia, Germany, England, Greece and Ireland in the order named, contributed the largest number of foreigners.

It~

/il/

~

THE SURFACE FEATURES OF GEORGIA
INTRODUCTORY STATEMENT
BY LAURENCE LAFORGE
THE STUDY OF SURFACE FEATURES
The land surface of the earth is not uniform, but is made up of features of different sorts, such as hills, valleys, mountains, plains and cliffs and many parts of it are occupied by bodies of standing or flowing water. It is this diversity of feature that gives character and charm to landscapes. All the features in any area, collectively, make up what is called its topography.
The scientific study of the surface features of the globe is a branch of physical geography. It is, however, a subject of such wide scope, of so many contacts with other sciences, and of such importance in human affairs that it has become virtually an independent science, which, in America, has commonly been called physiography or latterly geomorphology.
Geomorphology may be defined as the branch of Science that treats of the surface features of the globe, their form, nature, origin, and development, and the changes that they are undergoing. That part of the subject which relates more particularly to the origin, development, and changes of the features is often separately distinguished by the related term geomorphogeny.
Topographic features are of two primary sorts: the land features and the water bodies that occupy part of the surface. The form of the land surface, especially in regard to the differences in altitude and slope of its different parts, or, in other words, its roughness, is called the relief, and the surface forms are fealure.r of the relief. Much of the water that falls on the surface is drained away by running down the slopes to the lowest places to which it can flow, hence the surface water bodies, the streams, lakes, and swamps, taken collectively, have come to be known as the drainage, and the individual water bodies as drainage features.
Not only are surface features of different sorts, but they are grouped in many different ways, so that the surface of the globe presents a wide diversity of landscapes, each being a particular kind of grouping of certain topographic features, or, in other words, each having its own particular type of topography. The essential elements of relief in a topographic type are: (1) the general altitude and relief of the surface; (~) the kinds and grouping of the features, or the relief pattern; (8) the size of the features, or scale and (4) the nature of the surface. The essential elements of drainage are: (1) the size and abundance of the water bodies; (~) the extent and completeness of the drainage; (8) the kinds and grouping of features, or the drainage pattern; and (4) the grades of the streams. Relief and drainage are not independent of each other, as each is partly determined by the other, and both are

14

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF GEORGIA

essential elements in the topographic type that results from their combination.

THE DEVELOPMENT OF SURFACE FEATURES
"There rolls the deep where grew the tree. 0 earth, what changes hast thou seen! There where the long street roars, hath been
The stillness of the central sea.
The hills are shadows, and they flow From form to form, and nothing stands; They melt like mist, the solid lands,
Like clouds they shape themselves and go."
(In Memoriam)
The diversified surface oF the land, with its mountains, valleys, and plains, its streams, lakes, and swamps, its stretches of beach and dunes, its marshes, and its tidal inlets, has not always presented the arne appearance as now. The landscape ha undergone profound changes in the past, i being changed at pre en:t, and through further change will be wholly different in the future. The heat of the sun~s ray and the action of rain and .frost are breaking up the urface of the oJid rocks and reducing them to fine material. The scour of the wind and the wash of falling rain remove the fine rock waste, which is carried away from summits and slopes and left in hollows, spread out on flats, or swept onward by the streams to a final destination in a large lake or the sea. There, mingled with other waste torn from the land by the beating of the waves it i trewn by current over the bottom or is thrown up by the url to form new land along the shore. Nor are these all the changes. The seemingly solid crust of the earth is not everywhere at rest but slowly and almost imperceptibly, it is rising in some places and sinking in others, so that here the land is being extended by the emergence of the bottom, there contracted as it sinks beneath the waves, and elsewhere the courses of the streams are being shifted. On high mountains and in the polar regions glaciers grind away the rocks and remove the debris to be deposited perhaps thousands of miles away. Volcanoes build up great cones or pour out sheets of lava that cover the surface for miles around, and violent earthquakes cause greater changes than would have been wrought_by ordinary processes in many centuries. Thus the earth's surface is by no means :fixed and unalterable, but it i everywhere and always undergoing some sort of change.
Most of the change is so slow as to be scarcely noticeable in a single lifetime and even all the change since the beginning of human history is negligible in most parts of the world outside the regions of great earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. Geologic time has been so long, however, that even such slow changes have completely altered the
face of the land again and again. The &tory of such changes is a part
of geologic history as a whole and has its beginnings in the remote past of early geologic time. To explain the origin of the present surface

f'l/YSICAL GEOGRAPHY OF GEORGIA

PLATE Ill

WIL\c'l'I-U:JU~G lll<' JWCK

Pflol.ofJI'IIJ1h8 7m S. W. lrlc.Oallie.

DISINTEGRATION OF ORANfTJ!: (A) AND SOLUTION Olo' l\UiiBLg (B) OPJGN JOlN'l.'S (Cl AND SLATY CLEAVAGE (D) PI,RMlT THT" CIRCULA'l.'ION 01.' GROUND WATER AND ~'ACILI
TATE 'l'HE DEEP WEATHEHI:-IG 0~' IWCKS.

SURF.dCE FE.dTURES OF GEORGI.d

15

features of Georgia, however, with which this discussion is concerned, it is not necessary to go back far into geologic history. These features, although extremely ancient from a human point of view, are, geologically speaking, rather recent.
The present form of the land surface in Georgia and elsewhere is the result of the work of natural agents. The various ways in which such agents operate to shape land surfaces are included under the general term proce.r.r. The work of the agents is affected by the fact that different parts of the surface differ in position and in the character of the material forming them. The ways in which land surfaces differ in these respects, and which affect the results of the operation of the natural processes, are included under the general term .rlruclure, which students of surface form use in a much more inclusive sense than do geologists. Finally, as the change resulting from the operation of any process is necessarily progressive, the resulting form at any particular time depends on the .rlage to which the development has been carried. These three-.rlruclure, proce.r.r and .rlage-are therefore of practically equal importance in determining the form of the land surface at any particular time, and any land form or group of forms constituting a type of topography can therefore be regarded as having been produced by the modification of a surface of a certain .rlruclure by some proce.r.r carried to a certain .rlage of development of the form.
THE TOPOGRAPHIC DIVISIONS OF GEORGIA
As ha already been pointed attt,. the topograph of the State of Georgia is not u:niform but differ widely in different parts of the State. Hence .it is desirable to outline the several divisions recognized, before proceeding with the detailed description of the feature of each.
The State lies in two of the major physiographic divisions of the United tates: the Atlan ic Plain on the southeast and the Appalachian region on the northwest. They are separated by an irregular line which crosses the State from Augu ta. through Milledgeville and Macon to Columbus and which coincides at several places with parts of the well-known Fall Line of the Atlantic slope. The Atlantic Pla:in occupies approximately 60 per cent and Appalachian Georgia 40 per cent of the area of the State.
The part of the Atlantic Plain within the State lies wholly in a single great province-the Coastal Plain-which borders the coast of the United tate from southern -ew England into Mex:ico. Appalachian Georgia, on the other hand, includes parts of four provinces all of which e.rtend far beyond the boundarie of the tate. These provinces are the Piedmont Upland, the Appalachian Mountains, the Appalachian Valley and Ranges and the Appalachian Plateaus. Their position and boundaries in the southeastern States are shown in fig. 1. The Piedmont Upland extends from Hudson River to central Alabama and crosses Georgia in a broad belt north of the Coastal Plain. It includes more than three-fourths of Appalachian Georgia. The Appalachian Mountains, which extend across southwestern Virginia and western North Carolina and South Carolina into Georgia, occupy the

16

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF GEORGIA

northeastern part of the State. The Appalachian Valley and Ranges also extend from New York State to central Alabama, crossing the northwestern part of Georgia. The extreme northwest corner of the State lies in the Appalachian Plateaus, another province that extends from New York State into Alabama, but barely enters Georgia. Each province as a whole comprises several sections, but, except in the Piedmont Upland, only a part of one section of each province is in Georgia. In all the provinces each section comprises minor subdivisions that differ in importance and in distinctiveness.

Figure 1. The Geographic Provinces of the Southeastern United States
The provinces of the Appalachian region were established and named on the basis of characters and relations displayed elsewhere in the region. The general character and relations of two of them are not well shown in Georgia and the names of all four mean little when only the parts of them within the State are considered. It seems best, therefore, in the following descriptions, to give the Georgia parts of the provinces distinctive names of local significance. Thus, the part of the Piedmont Upland within the State has been named the Central Upland, the Georgia part of the Appalachian Mountains has been named the Highland, the Georgia part of the Appalachian Valley and Ranges has been named the Valley, and the part of the Appalachian Plateaus

SURF.d.CE FE.dTURES OF GEORGL1.

17

within the State has been named the Lookout Plateau. The posi-
tions and outlines of the provinces are shown on Plate IT. The sections and minor divisions of the provinces are named and defined in the detailed descriptions of the provinces and their posi:tiotffi and outlines are shown in the index maps, figs, 2, 3, and 4, and Plate XXIX-B.

Figure 2. The Topographic Divisions of the Coastal Plain of Georgia.

THE COASTAL PLAIN
By WYTHE CooKE
GENERAL RELATIONS
Location., siz , and distinctive charac-teristics. All that part of Georgia south of a crooked line connecting Columbus, Macon Milledgeville, and Augusta lies within the Coastal Plain. This includes an area o nearly 85 650 square mile , three-ftfths the total area of the State.
The Coastal Plain differs from the (:entral Upland, which. adjoins it on the north, chiefly in the kind of rocks that underlie it. The Central Upland is underlain by ancie.Jrt granites and other crystalline ocks and by the products of the decomposition---chiefly sand and clay-of such rocks. The Coastal Plain.is built of mnch younger waterlain deposits of sand, clay, and limestone resting upon a foundation whlch is the buried continuation of the crystalline rocks of the Central Upland. On many of the ridges it is difficult to determine where the Central Opland end and the Coastal Plain begins, ior the residual sand on the urlace of the Central Upland is very similar to the sand of the Coastal Plain; but in the valley and alo"Qg the stream beds the line between the two can be drawn more harply for the hard, unweathered cry talline .rocks crop ou in the bed or banks of the streams and give rise to falls or rapids whereas the softer and in many places qn:ite unconsolidated sediment of the Coa tal Plain offer little obstruction to the streams. Falls are o numerous and so char-acteristic along Lhe boundary between the Central Upland and the Coastal Plain that the line joining th point where the streams cro the boundary is called the Fall Line.
Geology. The geology of the Coastal Plain i:s less complex than that of other part of the State. The region is underlain by ediment ranging in. age rom Upper Cretaceous to Recent which crop out in .roughly parallel bands with the oldest resting upon the cryst.alline rocks of the Central pland and the youngest at the sea coast. The beds dip (Tently southeastward at rates ranging from about 8.5 feet to the mile at the Fall Line to very little at the coast.
The Upper Cretaceous deposits consist of coarse, tight-colored, cross-bedded arko ic . ancls and days obviou ly derived from the granitic rocks of the adjoining entral Upland, and:finer, morere,aularly bedded, dark-gray or blui h sands with a few ledges of sandy limestones containing marine fossils. The kaolin and bauxite deposits are of _this age. The outcrop of the Upper Cretaceous be i con:6ned to the Fall Line Hills (compare PL IT and Fig. 2).
Beds of Eocene age make up the southern part of the Fall Line Hills, the Louisville Plateau. the Fort Valley Bateau, and part of the

20

GEOLOGICdL SURVEY OF GEORG!d

Dougherty Plain. Red sand is the predominant constituent of the Eocene, except in the Flint and lower Chattahoochee valleys, where white limestone forms the top of the series.
Oligocene sand, gravel, and loam containing lumps of fossiliferous flint cover most of the Dougherty Plain and smaller areas at the eastern end of the Tifton Upland and the Louisville Plateau.
Miocene sand and gravel are almost coextensive with the Tifton Upland, but are visible also where the surficial cover has been removed from the coastal terraces.
Thin beds of Pliocene marls are exposed along Satilla and St. Marys rivers, but their areal extent is negligible.
Pleistocene sands cover most of the coastal terraces (see Plate II), but the deposits, except near the shore, are thin and at many places form merely a veneer on older beds.
Subdivisions. The word "plain," used in the combination 'Coastal Plain," is less suitable in Georgia than :in -orne of the states farther north, for much of the Coastal Plain of Georgia i not level. It is true that great stretches in the southeastern part of the tate are flatter than the sea bottom itself, but other parts are rolling or hilly. The sndace features of the Coastal Plain are so diversified that its different parts must be described separately. Its most conspicuous divisions described in the following pages are these: the Coastal TerraceS", the Tifton Upland, the Dougherty Elain, the Louisville Plateau the Fort Valley Plateau, and the Fall Line Hills. A map of the e divi ions is shown in Figure ft.

0
u

I
t
I

COASTAL PLAIN OF GEORGIA

21

TOPOGRAPHIC DIVISIONS OF THE COASTAL PLAIN
COASTAL TERRACES
The coastal terraces in Georgia cover an area of about 18,000 quare miles, or about half of the Coastal Pla.in. They e.-tend inland from the Atlantic Ocean about 60 miles on the eastern botmdary of the tate and about 175 miles along the Florida line. The inner ma;rgin pas e from the Florida. line at Ochlockonee River to the vicinity of ThomasVille and thence northeastward through Allapaha to avannah River east oi ylvania. In addition to this main area a la!'_ge embayment extends into the D ougherty Plain between Donaldsonville and Bain-
ridge and up the valley of the Flint probably at Jeast as far as Bacont on. This embayment is not shown in Fig. ~ but part of it is indicated
in Plate X-A.
The soils of the coastal terraces are chiefly gray and and sandy loams except in the swamp where the prevailing ands are covered by muck or peat. Cotton corn, and peanut are the principal crops but a great ,ariety of agricultural product can be grown. Rice is an important taple in the marshlands near the mouths of the larger rivers, especially the Altaruaha. Tnrck fanning becomin of increasing importance. Lumber and naval tores were formerly pr.oduced in great quantitie but the virgin forests of long-leaf pine that once covered most f South Georgia have fallen before -the axe of the lumberman.
Savannah. the principal city of the Coastal Plain and lhe most important port, is the greatest .market for Sea Island cott-on in the world. Brunswick an important eaport. t . Marys and Darien are ea_ports at the m.ouths of t. Mary River and Altamaha River. Way<:r . and Valdo ta are thriving railroad cent . Many cante oupes are bjpped from Va.ldo ta..
Veatch1 recognized two coa: al terraces to which he applied the names atilla Coastal Lowland and Okefenokee Plain. The r&-ent
publication by the . . Geological urvey or detailed topographic map- coverinl$ part of the Coastal Plain of Georgia east of the ejghtyecond meridian, together with field work by the writ~r has made
possible th.e recognition of three additional terraces in this region. It is probable that if more of the area were mapped at least one other terrace could be detected. The five terraces named in the order in
whicb they are cro ed in (7oina inland from the sea ana the approxi-
mat e altitud at which they stand are as follow :
Satilla terrace-..... .. ...................................... 0- 60 feet above sea level. Penholoway terrace....- .......:................. 60-100 feet above sea level. Okefenokee terrace...................................... 100-160 feet above sea level. Claxton terrace..------ 160-~15 feet above sea level. Hazlehurst terrace.............................-........ 215-260 feet above sea level.
A map of the coastal terraces is shown in Plate X .

1 Veatch, Otto, Georgia Geol. Survey Bull. 26, p. ~8. 19II.

22

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF GEORGIA

SATILLA TERRACE
The Satilla terrace is the lowest of the coastal terraces. It extends from the Atlantic Ocean inland an average distance of about 30 miles, and falls into three natural subdivisions, the mainland, the marshes, and the Sea Islands.

The ntainland. The mainland stand at an average height of 20 feet above sea level. A few small area ri e above SO feet and a few lie below 10 feet, but by far the greater part is between 15 and U feet. Rainwater collects in an intricate y tern of hallow ags and drains off very lowly. The e moi t plac form densely wooded wamps or "bays."
The mainland i broken into peninsul.as by salt marshes and tidal rivers whiCh deeply indent its outer marcrin ( ee Plate V). Between t he St. Mary and the Altamaha. ri'\er there are five such peninsulas; there are 9 or 10 between the Altamaha and the avanna.h Roads encircle the peninsulas, but do not cross the separating marshe .
The inner or landward margin of the atilla. teuace presents fea tues which are especially interesting because they throw light on tlle early history of the region. Between avannah River and Altamaha River the .inner marrrin i a smooth curve, concave toward the sea (see Plate X-A), broken only by long reentrants running up the valleys of Savannah, Ogeechee, anoochee, and Altamaha Rive ~. In curvature and moothnes- this line bear a trik:ing resemblance to the
cuspate shore of the Carolinas between Cape Fear and Georgetown
. C. South of Altamaha Rher the boundary form part of another cusp but everal lagoon-like projections from the ._ atilla terrace indent the adjacent Penholoway terrace. 'Ihi part of the poundary resembles the present hore line of the east coa t of Florida. The cour e of Satilla. River, which runs outhward for 27 miles behind a barrier of Penholoway terrace in mo t places 1 tJ1au three miles wide, i analogou to
that of Waccamaw River in outh 'a.rolina which flow ror miles par-
allel to the coa t and very 11ear it. The reentrant of atiUa terra e between ... atilla and L. hlarvs river where Lhey are do esl reminds one of Winyah Bny, where the ~accamaw break through to Lhe Atlantic.
The marshe . The marsh made famous b;v ydney Lanier as the Marshe of lynn lie between the ea I land and the mainland and e~i:end h tween the penin ulas of the mainland. They run along the entire coast line of the tate but a:re cut through by several riYers and sounds. The h.i.,.hway from Brun wi k to .t. imon Island cro ses them. Photograp - of the mar. hes are hown in Plate !V-A, VI-A and VI-B. Plate V r present an ar a of mar b near Brun,swick.
The marshes stand near sea. leYel. J._ large part o them i ubmer eu daily at :flood tide but the higher areas are covered only during torms or exceptionally high water. They upport a rank growth of marsh grass and sedges, who e tender green of early pring or pale yellows of autumn, varying in bade with the pa . ing of every cloud lends a charm whiCh is lacl-ing in the nearlv equally level eJ~.t>anses of the adjoining wooded mainland. The rustle of the gra se in the breeze

PHY.SICAL GEOGRAPHY OF GEORGIA

PLATE V

Part of the Bladen sheet

MAINLAND AND MARSHES NEAR BRUNSWICK Scale a.~~o
o..__ __ _.!_ _ ____:L.__ _ _ __ _ _...f__ _ _ _ _ _ _J:..\files
Contour interval tO feet Da- is """'" sea level

PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY OF GEORGIA

PLATE VI

A. WILML'WTON ISLAND AND WlLML'lG'l'OK lUYEK C. S.A.TILLA RIVER NEAR WAYCROSS.

PhuiO(Jr'((fJ/tB by Wylhe Cook !!-.
B MARSHES A'l' '1'1-lE lvlOU'l'I-T m S.\ \"AKNAH HI \"EH
)) OCHLOCKONEE RIVJ'R

'I
.
!
t
I '
r
,

C0.1STAL PLAIN OF GEORGIA

23

and in the ebb and flow of tide, the cheep of myriads of frogs the twitter of rice birds, the scampering of hordes of fiddler crabs, and the many mysterious murmurs of the marsh make the marshes of Glynn a paradise for poet or naturalist.
The Sea Islands. The Sea Islands lie off the Atlantic coast between the mouth of Santee River in South Carolina and St. .Johns River in Florida. They are most typically developed in the vicinity of Beaufort, S. C. The most important of the islands in Georgia, named from south to north, are Cumberland, Jekyl, St. Simon, Sapelo, St. Catherine, Ossabaw, and Tybee
Cumberland Island and Little Cumberland Island together stretch 18~ miles in the direction N. 10 E. The maximum width is 3 miles. In shape they roughly resemble a snowshoe with the toe pointing northward. The seaward side is a sinuous line of sandy beach, concave toward the ocean at the southern half, convex in the north, and cut through 2 miles from the north end by Christmas Creek, which separates Little Cumberland Island from the larger mass. The south end is a crescent-shaped sand spit with its free end pointed northwestward, partly enclosing the salt marshes fronting on Beach Creek, and dotted with sand dunes 20 fee': high. The north end of Little Cumberland Island has the form of a spit three-quarters of a mile long, pointed westward at right angles to the trend of the beach, but filled in behind so that it no longer is free. The beach of Little Cumberland Island and the middle part of the beach of Cumberland Island are backed by sand dunes, some of which rise 40 feet above sea level. The wooded interior of Cumberland Island stands at an average altitude of 20 feet above sea level, but a few points in the center, which appear to be ancient dunes, rise to 50 feet. The western shore of Cumberland Island, except the few places where it is swept by tidal rivers, is fringed by salt marsh. Access to the island is had from the inland waterways on the west.
Jekyl Island, 774' miles long, presents a gently convex curve to the
ocean. At both extremities the beach is bent westward into spits backed by salt marsh. The average width of the island is about one mile. Sand dunes are conspicuous at the northern end and can be seen from St. Simons. A distant Yiew of .Jekyl Island appears at the left of Plate IV-B.
St. Simon Island is the largest of a compact group of islands between St. Simon Sound and Altamaha River. The backbone of St. Simon Island is a sand ridge about 11 miles long extending southward from Hampton River which separates it from Little St. Simon, and terminating in a broad, westward-curved hook at St. Simon Sound. On both sides of this ridge are salt marshes. The marsh on the west extends to Frederica River, a view of which is shown in Plate IV-A. East of the main ridge is Bloody Marsh, which is cut through by Postells Creek, Black Bank River, and Hampton River. A sandy coastal ridge branches off from the central ridge at the south end of the island and extends N. 30 E. 2~ miles from St. Simon Light and terminates at the inlet of Postelle Crsek and Black Bank River. The continuation o

24

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF GEORGIA

this ridge beyond the inlet a distance of 4,% miles to Hampton River makes Long Island (Isle of Palms of Coast Charts), which is separated from St. Simon Island by Black Bank River and Village Creek. Sand dunes, few of which exceed 30 feet in height, fringe the inner edge of the coastal ridge. (See Plate IV-D.) The south end of St. Simon Island east of the light house at the entrance to St. Simon Sound is being rapidly eroded by the waves. The beach has been swept away and the underlying ancient salt marsh deposits attacked. Old live oaks near the edge of the island have been undermined and uprooted. (See Plate IV-B, C.) The opposite process is going on not far to the westward on St. Simon Sound, where considerable accretion has taken place during the past 60 years. Old houses once near the shore are now separated from the sound by a shallow lagoon and a broad sandy beach. A causeway built in 19~3-~4 connects St. Simon Island with the mainland.
Sapelo Island and Blackbeard Island, the first important group north of Altamaha River, together form a roughly rectangular mass 9 miles long by ~ to ~.% miles wide. St. Catherine Island, 8,% miles long and ~,% miles across at the widest part, is nearly half marsh land. Ossabaw Island, about the same length as the others but somewhat wider, consists of several parallel strips of sand separated by narrow marshy lagoons.
Between Ogeechee River and the Savannah the island system is more complex. The islands are distributed in three or more tiers parallel to the coast line, more after the pattern of the Sea Islands in South Carolina. The most important of this group are Wassaw, Skidaway, Isle of Hope, Whitemarsh, and Tybee. The three last named are crossed by the highway from Savannah to Tybee. Tybee Island is a V-shaped sandbar fronting 3~ miles on the Atlantic and ~.% miles on Savannah River. Some of the marshes between the prongs of the V have been reclaimed for building lots. There are a few sand dunes on the island, but they are not so large or so active as the dunes on St. Simons Island. The shore of Wilmington Island, cliffed by the waves of Wilmington River, is shown in Plate VI-A.

PENHOLOWAY TERRACE
The area selected as the type of the Penholoway terrace extends from Hortense, Brantley County, northeastward to Penholoway Bay and Penholoway Creek (see Plate VII).
The shape of the Penholoway terrace is more irregular than that of the Satilla terrace, which it adjoins. Starting from a cape-like termination at Baileys Mill in the big bend of Satilla River, (see Plate VIII), the boundary between the Penholoway terrace and the Satilla terrace runs northward for 8 miles, then curves slightly eastward to the corner of Camden, Glynn, and Wayne counties, where it is indented by an embayment of the Satilla terrace at the head of Little Satilla River. It then proceeds N. ~0 E. near the Glynn-Wayne county line at Altamaha River, but is interrupted by embayments of Satilla terrace at the heads of Turtle River and Little Buffalo Swamp.

PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY OF GEORGIA

PLATE VII

Part of the Hortense sheet

QCII'W'I'e:tAIIII'Q ,..ITt:t !!lr-~~1( ~uJr;Aunr~
THE PENHOLOWAY TERRACE NEAR McKINNON
ScuJe e!r5oo
~-------Lf____~~~o~----------------------------------~2 &liks
ContourintervallOfeet
Da'h.ml is m.ean sea level

,

PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY OF GEORGIA

PLATE VIII

THE SATILLA AND PENHOLOWAY TERRACES IN CHARL'fON AND CAMDEN COUNTIES

Part of the Boulogne sheet

Seale szioil

I ~

::0 ~file~

~----~----~----------~----------~

Contour interYal 10 feet

Datum is m.6an a.a lwel

1~11.
"ill
'I.!~ !I .

COdSTdL PLdiN OF GEORGid

25

The boundary thus outlined is a well-defined escarpment which rises, in most places within half a mile, from 16 to 18 feet above sea IJ!vel on the at illa t errace t o 60 or 70 feet on the Penholoway. The highest point indicat ed on the topographic maps along this escarpment
i 78 feet above sea. level at Bixley Chapel, 8 miles west of Whit e Oak.
veral flat benche of at illa t errace standing about 45 f eet above sea level and av eraging less than one q~~re mile in area are found at intervals along the escarpment. One of the largest is 6 miles due west of Waverly, Camden Co.
orth of Altamaba R iver the only part of the atilla-Penholoway oundary shown on top ographic map i a trip in Liberty County 15 miles long running from Canooch e River near T rinit y through Hines-ville and Allenhur-t . The scarp is imilar to that south of Altamaha R i ., ut the highe t p oint recorded is 9~ feet above .sea. level at W alH ...~rville. Between Flemington and Canoochee River the intern -o !iate bench at 45 feet attains a maximum width of one mile.
The largest embayment of the atilla terrace into the P enholoway .;Jace enter between cap - 7~ miles apart. The nor the-rn cap e is back of Baileys Mills on Sat illa River ( ee Plate \ Ill) ; t he outhern .is al Pro pect Landing on the .Florida 'de of 't. 1\.larys River. Just
inside the capes, the bay branches t he outhern fork l l4 t o ~~ miles
wide, :follows up the valley of t . ~ary R i,er about 5 miles t o the mouth of Spanish Creek, beyond which it merges with the normal valley of the river. The other fork leads almost due north for 27 miles to the forks of Satilla River with a width varying from 4 miles at Burnt Fort to I~ miles between Lulaton and Atkinson. Its altitude in few places exceeds 30 feet above sea level. At the forks of Satilla River, with a width of 2~ miles and an altitude of less than 40 feet above sea level, the embayment of Satilla terrace turns west, splits again, and follows the valleys of Satilla River and Little Satilla River. Above the river forks, the plain rises gradually up-stream and appears to be a normal river terrace.
The Satilla River embayment is separated from the main Satilla terrace by a long narrow penin ula of Penholoway terrace (see Plate VITI). At Wayne ville and Atkinson the peninsula is six miles wide; it has narrowed to four at the corner of Glynn, Camden, and Wayne counties; below t h corner it averag width is about 3 miles.
The western or inner boundary of the Penholoway t errace cro es St. Marys River near Stokesville. runs northward along the foot of Trail Ridge, passing two miles west of t. George two miles west of Uptonville, and about 5 miles wet of N ahunta. Between the forks of Satilla River and Little Satilla River there appears to be an embayment which carries the Penholoway terrace to the western edges of Cross Swamp and Zero Bay, 5 miles east of Blackshear and one mile
east of Offerman, but because of lack of topographic maps its outlines have not been. a<:curately determined. The main. inner boundary continues from the edge o Duck Pond wamp S miles west of M~Kinnon, northeastward to Alt amaha Rhrer at Doctortown, but is broken by lin embayment which e.-x-tends up Walker Creek. North of Altamaha. River

26

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF GEORGIA

the boundary is crooked and more difficult to define. A reentrant extends an undetermined distance up Altamaha River. From Donald, the line zig-zag- in a general northerly direction to Canoochee River near Moodys Bridrre up the branche of Black Creek, cro e Ogeechee River to Guyton, and pa - "- t of , pringfield and lyo to 'axannah River near Hognose Point.
The I'enholoway terruce is so flat that it is poorly drained and a large part of iL i swamp:-. In many places the surfaee is marked by a erie of low, wav -like undulations (old bars) whieh run generally parallel to th margins of the t rrace and direct the drainacre into north or south lines. The country i broken into narrow l w and 1idge ep-
a.rated by narrow . trip. of . wamp. Th riclg may he as much
twenty feet higher than the adjacent . wamp , but the lop are o entle that the diller nc in altitud .i incon picuou . 1he area drained by Penholoway Bay and Penholoway Creek forms somewhat of an exception to this rule, for its drainage pattern is an intricate system of curves like that of tidal marshes (see Plate VII).
The altitude of the southern part of the Penholoway terrace varies from a foot or two less than 70 to about 95 feet above sea level. The highest paru are not at the foot of Trail Ridge which forms lh w leru e carpment, but on the low ridge O\"erlookincr a.tilla River. The lo narrow peninsula ea t of atiUa Ri,er i a little 1 wer than the mainland . . ltitudes in the Penholoway Ba~ region range from 55 to 5 feet aboYe ea level, and on the ri lge east of it, between Win low and Brown town, reach 85 feet. The liLLie peuinsrtla running southw t :from Mt. Pte -
ant lies between .-o and 6 fe t a-hoYe. ea level. Wet of Hiue 'iUe i a
broad e.'<panse of Penholowa~ terrace ~tandinc:r I tween 7 and 0 feet above sea. le,el anti imperf Lis drained b a ramifying y. tem of wamp . Boggy Pond and the adjacent bay , near Pembroke, are t the same altitude. .:oulh of .'priugfield ar s v ra l parallel ridae(one reaching 95 fee ) eparat I h~r wamps little more thao 50 fN't above sea level.
OKEFENOKEE TERRACE
The Okefenok ten-a e occupies a rn ater area in Ge01 ia than either tl1e Penholoway or tlt atilla. (,' e Plate X-A). fL is as mu h as 50 mil wide at orne place~. It ea tern border in the outhem part of the 'tate i' formed by th' nearly traight Trail R.id!!e, (see Plate IX) which pa . a f w mil wesl f 't. George. ptomille. and Hoboken, and i ut of:l' by an embayment of Penholoway terrace up atilla River and Little 'a.liUa Rin~r. From Way r to Doctortown the divi-ion betv.-een th kefenoke and the Penholoway lie. not far east of the Atlantic Coast Line Railway. North of Altamaha RiYer, it is a very crooked line passing through Pemhroke and Guyton.
The western boundarr of lhe Okefenokee l rrace ran be ac ura.tehdefined only north of AJ l:lullaha. River where it ca.n be traced on topographic maps. In this area it i. almost strairrbt, except for embayment runiring up Ogeecltee and anooch riYer , and pa one mile we ~t of Newington, through.Brookl t. and 4 miles east of Gleunville. outh of the Altamaha jt po- ition i known only approximat ]y. II ap-

PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY OF GEORGIA

PLATE IX

Part. of the Monlac sheet

OKEFENOKEE TERRACE, TRAIL RIDGE, AND PENHOLOWAY TERRACE NEAR ST GEORGE

.

Scale if'Zhio

0
'----'~~--'---'--~~>-~--- --

_

_

_

_

_

_

__

_ 1.
__..~.

_

_

_

- - - - --''t MileS

Oontour interval 10 teet
Datum ia 'ft'tea.n ua letll

,
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)I

COASTAL PLAIN OF &EORGIA

~7

pear to cro th outhern Railway between Odum and Brentwood, t o pass outhwestward to 1.\Iillwood. thence southward, between Homer'";ll and Argyle, and to make a broad UITe west ward past Lake Park and up the Witblacoochee Vall y to Ousley thence southwestward t o Monticello Fla. A small embayment of Okefenokee terrace extends up Ochlockonee River into rady ounty, and a much larger emba ment, entering at the outhwe tern corner of the ., tate, pa es between Donaldsonville and the foot o th Tifton pland east of Bainbridge and extends up the valley of the Flint almost to Ba conton. (See Plate X-A.)
The Okefenokee is the flattest of the coastal terraces. In spite of its altitude of over a hundred feet above sea level it has suffered little dissection, and areas of many square miles show a total relief of less than ten feet. Because of its flatness, much of it is incompletely drained and swampy. Okefenokee Swamp, the second largest swamp in the United States, forms part of it and gives its name to the terrae~.
In the bend of St. Marys River at the extreme southern end of the State, a few high points on the Okefenokee terrace reach 130 feet above ea lev 1, !Jut hy far the grea ter part . 'tnds witJ1in three feet abo,e or below 12 . Those part of Okefenokee wamp tha hav been mapped ar a! o >erv n ar the ame alti tude and sho"- little difference. in level. Profil along lh Atlantic Coa t Lin Railway show a ri from 187 feet above sea level at Waycross to 163 at D andy ' Lill, ');4 mile. east of Homerville, or 26 feet in 23 miles, tIt dir t ion being . 65 W. From ::y(jJe . nea 1 \ aycross, to Mile 1 . near l\lillwoou he r e i f rom 144
to 165 -1 feet in 1 mile~, dir ction _ . 8 \ . ~e and northwest
of .J sup ar r emnant of a . andy plain rangina from 130 to J60 feet above ea. leY l which ha. been on iuerably 11' ected bec.'lu,e of its nearness to Altamaha River. This plain is bordered on the ast by a
low andy ridge whi h lopes from 15 feet down to 120 feet. At the foot of this ridoe and ex-t ndinc:r from Slover to Oglethorpe Bluff and Je up i a wed e of l wer land mnging from 90 to 120 feet above sea le,el hich borders the l.>enholoway terrace, here about 60 feet above sea level. A peninsula i:x mil long and a mile and a half wide pro-
ject outhwa:rd into th Penholoway terrace.
Between Altamaha River and Canoochee River the Okefenokee
terrace is a narrow strip ranging in altitude from 120 feet to no feet
above sea level and 60 feet below the Claxton terrace on the west and about ~ feet a.bov t he Penholowa terrace. North of the Canoochee,
the terrace i much wider but e.rr irregularly indented on the outer
margin. Along the 'a""annah & .' tatesboro Railway the plain slopes outh~i.ward from an altitude of nearly 160 feet at Brooklet to 100 feet above sea level near Hubert. The rate of slope at the western boundary is nearly 20 feet per mile, but it flattens out within a mile and a half to less than 3 feet per mile. In the region between Ogeechee and Savannah rivers, the Okefenokee terrace slopes from 150 feet above sea level at Newington to 1~9 at Kildare, 124 at Shawnee, and 100 at Guyton.
Trail Ridge. Trail Ridge (see Plate IX) is sufficiently interesting
to merit separate description. Starting north of the lakes at the head

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF GEORGIA
of Santa Fe River in Florida, a few miles south of latitude 80 N., Trail R idge r uns north to latitude ~no near the northern boundary of Charlton County. North of this line it has not been traced, but the soil, as mapped by the U. S. B ureau of Soil , indicates that it continues with a slight easterly trend t o the swamp bordering atilla River. Its continuation beyond Little Satilla River is shown on topographic maps of the H ortense and Jesup quadrangles as far as 81 38', 4 miles northwest of Jesup. The ridge j about ISO miles long.
From an altitude of 240 feet above sea level at 30 N. latitude, near tarke, Florida, the crest of Trail Ridge gradually becomes lower until it reaches 166 feet two miles outh of t. Mary River. For 14 miles north of 't. Ma:rys River, its crest is approximately 170 feet above sea level and reach 178 west of t. George. A ag 6 miles north of th latitude of St. George aud a. narrower ag 10 miles northwest of Homeland are only 187 and 139 feet above sea level. The crest in the intermediate 'region is everywhere below 160 feet.
As Trail Ridge nort.h. of Highland, Fla., is built on the outer edge of the Okefenokee terrace its eastern side, which slope down to the Penholoway terrace, is nearly 50 feet higher than its western. Near St. Georae (see Plate IX), the ummit is 55 feet above the Okefenokee terrace on the west and 95 feet above the Penholoway terrace on the east. Camp Cornelia on the Okefenokee Canal is 40 feet above the plain on the west and 80 feet abo e the plain on the east. In the latitude of Folkston, the side are 25 and 70 feet high. The sag 10 miles northwest o Homeland is only about 10 feet above Okefenokee Swamp and about 65 feet above the swamp on the east. The ridge west of Jesup, which appears to be the continuation of Trail Ridge, i several miles back from the edge of the Okefenokee terrace. It is only 10 feel higher than the region we t of it and 35 feet h1gber than that to the ea.sL Its altitude is 158 feet above sea leveL
There is little difference :in the steepnes of the two ides of Trail Ridge. The slope a,-erages between one foot and a foot and a half per hundred, except near the top which i gently rounded. The width of Trail Ridge :in Georgia measured between the edges of the plains on each side ranges from " to 4 mile .
Because of its gentle lopes and con iderable width, Trail Ridge is nowhere a conspicuous topographic feature, and would escape notice altogether in a r~gion of greater relief. It is further obscured by the forests which clothe it ide and summit and the surrounding plains.
The greater height of Trail Ridge as viewed from the east has made erosion proceed more :rapidly on that ide than on the west. The inner side of Trail Rid e i ribbed with rather evenly paced little valleys, whereas the outer side is much more irregular} corrncrated. This megulari:ty is noticeable on Plate IX, but is more conspicuous farther nol'th. l\1ost of t.hese little valleys are the normal product of erosion, and lead directly down the side of the ridge. The upper cour e of Comhouse Creek, headinu 10 miles north of t. George, is an exception to this role and flows northward along the fla.nk of Trail Ridge before turning towards St. Marys River. Thi$ tream occupies a hollow

PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY OF GEORGIA

PLATE X

A. MAP OF THE COASTAL TERRACES OF GEORGIA

B. LAND AND SEA IN OKEFENOKEE TIME Islands near Tallah888ee and Interlachen, Fla., were Inadvertently omitted

CO.dST.dL PLAIN OF GEORGI.d

29

behind a spit-like projection from Trail Ridge which was probably formed when the sea covered the Okefenokee terrace. (See Plate X-B.)
CLAXTON TERRACE
The flat area shown on the topographic map of the Claxton quadrangle (Plate XI) 4 to 8 miles south of Claxton at an altitude of 180 to 200 feet above sea level, is regarded as characteristic of the Claxton terrace. Claxton, Hagan, and Bellville are built on dissected remnants of this plain. The altitude of the Claxton terrace ranges from about 160 feet above sea level at the outer margin to about 215 feet at the inner margin.
Becau e of the lack of topographic maps of much of outhern Georgia and because much of the part i.ha.t has been surveyed is considerably dissected, it is not po sible here to define Yery precisely the limits of the Claxton terrace. In the large area. between AJt.amaha River and the Fl0rida line there appear to be no marked break at the boundary of the Claxton terrace and the Okefenokee terrace and the line as shown on the map, Plate X -A, is merely provisional audno doubt will be considerably modified when new topographic map- become available. The western boundary, at the few places where it has been observed, i a low scarp.
The Claxton terrace, where not trenched by streams, is as level as
any of the lower terraces. In the area south of Claxton the slope is 1.%'
ft . per mile toward the southeast.
Like the lower terraces, the Claxton includes much_ swamp land' but the total area of swamp is considerably less than that of the Okefenokee terrace. Grand Bay, in Lowndes and Lanier counties; i perhaps the laraest swamp on the Claxton terrace in Georgia.
The southern part of the terrace in southern Brooks and Lowndes counties, is modified by numerous sinks and ponds caused by the solution of the limestone beneath the surface, but these are neither so numerous nor so large as the ponds on the adjacent part of the Okefenokee terrace.
HAZLEHURST TERRACE
The area chosen as the type of Hazlehurst terrace is crossed by the road from Hazlehurst to Baxley. Because of the lack of topographic map of all the region included in the terrace except a small highly dissected area east of the 82nd meridian it is not possible at this time to give a detailed description of the Hazlehurst terrace. Its outlines, very much generalized, are shown on the map (Plate X-A). It is separated from the adjacent t errace on the east by a low scarp which probably in few places exceeds 20 feet in height. The western boundary, at least in the interstream areas is marked by an abrupt transition to the rolling hills of the Tifton Upland.
The altitude of the Hazlehurst terrace ranges from about ~15 feet at the foot of the scarp separating it from the Claxton terrace to ~60 feet at the edge of the Tifton Upland. The slope from Adel to Mineola is at the rate of 1;4 feet per mile toward the southeast.

so

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF GEORGIA

CONTINENTAL SHELF
A description of the coastal terraces would be incomplete without mention of the Continental Shelf of which they were once a part.
The Continental Shelf is the submerged part of the continent, and is the continuation, beneath the sea, of the Coastal Plain. Off the Georgia coast it i- a platform 80 to 85 miles wide which slopes gently hom ea level to a depth of about 300 feet beyond which the bottom drops off abruptly to great depth . The outer boundary of the continental elf is by mo t writer placed at the 100 fathom lin~ depth of 600 feet- but off Georgia the eep lope begin at a depth of 50 fathoms or less. The 50-fathom or 300-foot contour Line might more appropriately be regarded as marking the outer edge of the Continental Shelf.
Near -hore the lope of the continental shelf is variable, bnt much teeper than off shore. Between the 5-fathom line and the 50-fathom line (SO to 300 feet) the slope i at the rate of 3.6 feet per mile. Between 10 and 20 fathoms (60 and 120 fee) the slope aYerages 2 feet per mile. Th slopes are omewhat greater than t.be gradient of the coa tal terraces which ~ verage about a foot and a half to the mile, but it i natural for terrae to be flatter than the slope from which they are formed, for in their making the high parts are planed off and the lower places filled in.

ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE COASTAL TERRACES
The coastal terrace were f01med hy proces which are still continuing. Each le:rra. e indit~J.Le a long rtand of the sea at a definite altitude with re_pect to the land during which the waves cut a wide or a narrow notch into the shore and with the debri' from the land built up a platform in the deeper water off-shore. At the end of each such long period of stability came a time of readjustment, when the land rose or the water level fell; the shoreline retreated seaward and what had been the bottom of the ocean became dry land. The wave-cut bench, the sand bars, and part of the built-up platform were exposed to view.
A marine terrace may be defined a t.be part of Lhe sea bottom uncovered and converted into land by the withdrawal of the sea from one level to a lower. The most significant factor to be taken into consideration in tracing marine terrace therefore is the position of the shore line before and after the period of emergence which brought each terrace above the water. the ocean flooJ toda is not ab olute)y :Ba ~O in by-gone ages there were shoals and deeps, sand bars and deltas. The ancient ea floor .x-po ed by the retreat of the ea show all the irregulariti - that th y originally po essed e.."X.<:ept as they may have been modied since their emergence by the action of rain and streams. It is therefore natural that coastal terraces do not slope evenly in one direction and that there are plains or flats at difierene levels with connecting slopes which are nevertheless part of the samt terrace. It also follows that a slight emergence would produce a more

PJlYSICAL GEOGRAPHY OF GEORGIA

PLATE XI

Part of the Claxton sheet

THE CLAXTON TERRACE NEAR CLAXTON
Scale cloo ~1----~~~--~----L---------------~lL --------------~9~
Contour interval 10 feet Da.tum iB tMan esa lnel

I
I

COASTAL PLAIN OF GEORGIA

31

irregular shore line than a greater emergence, for the sea bottom is usually more uneven in shallow water near shore than in deeper water.
During the time when the Hazlehurst terrace was being formed, the Coastal Plain of Georgia stood about 260 feet lower than now. The shore line ran from somewhere near Thomasville through Alapaha and Sylvania. All of the peninsula of Florida was probably under water, and a bay of unknown size probably reached far northward into the Chattahoochee-Flint River basin. The waves of the Hazlehurst sea beat upon the sandy shore of the Tifton Upland.
As time passed, the land emerged about 45 feet. The shore line then stood about 215 feet above present sea level, and the Hazlehurst terrace separated the Tifton Upland from the sea.
The next emergence, about 55 feet, reduced the shore line to an altitude only 160 feet above present sea level. (See Plate X-B). A fringe of land, the Claxton terrace, was added to the mainland, and a group of islands appeared above the sea on the Floridian plateau. From Lake City, Fla., a long, narrow island 40 feet high at places extended eastward along the present course of the Seaboard Air Line Railway nearly to Sanderson, about 25 miles and continued northeastward as a submerged bar to St. Marys River. Another island containing about 125 square miles lay north of Gainesville, Fla. A third island, in the southeastern part of Bradford County and the adjacent part of Clay Co., Fla., formed the southern termination of Trail Ridge, which extended northward as a sand spit as far as the Seaboard Air Line Railway east of McClenny. North of the railroad the Trail Ridge spit continued as a chain of long, low, narrow islands rising from a bar which was completely submerged or awash beyond a point 5 miles north of St. George, Ga., and probably joined the mainland near Beards Creek. The Trail Ridge bar appears to have been constructed of sand transported northward by ocean currents from the Florida islands and dropped at the edge of slack water.
Back of Trail Ridge bar lay a large body of shallow water to which the name Okefenokee Sound (see Plate X-B) may appropriately be applied. Okefenokee Sound was partly protected from the open ocean on the south by Lake City Island and several smaller islands in line with it. In size and shape Okefenokee Sound with its protecting bars and islands closely resembled the present Pamlico Sound of North Carolina. The water at the southern entrance to Okefenokee Sound between Lake City Island and the mainland, was everywhere shallow, and probably in few places exceeded 20 feet in depth. The water over the present Okefenokee Swamp was about 40 feet deep.
The shore of the mainland adjacent to the Okefenokee Sound was low and shelving like that back of Pamlico Sound, but farther north the water was a little deeper and the land a little higher. Near Brooklet, the land rose 30 to 40 feet within half a mile of the shore and the bottom sloped down to an equal depth within a mile or two before flattening out to the nearly level plane of the ocean floor.
The next event in the history of southern Georgia was further emergence of about 60 feet, which left the water line only about 100

32

GEOLOGIC.dL SURVEY OF GEORGI.d

feet higher on the land than the present sea level. As the land emerged, the water of Okefenokee Sound, held back on the east by the Trail Ridge barrier, found a partial outlet to the southwest near White Springs, Fla., but could not all escape at once because the bottom of the sound was lower than any part of its rim. Suwanee River, born of the overflow from Okefenokee Sound, is cutting through the rim and may eventually drain even the more remote parts of Okefenokee Swamp.
Mter the Okefenokee terrace had emerged from the water but still remained about 100 feet nearer sea level than now, the shore lay along the eastern flank of Trail Ridge from Florida to an embayment at the mouth of Satilla rivers (see Plate X-A). North of this point the shoreline was very crooked because the ocean floor before its emergence was uneven. This irregularity of the sea bottom may perhaps be attributed partly to the nearness of three large rivers-the Altamaha, the Ogeechee, and the Savannah-which had built up banks and bars similar to those forming today off the mouths of these same rivers, and partly to the absence of currents strong enough to smooth off the irregularities.
The next period of emergence raised the land only 30 or 40 feet and left the outer edge of the Penholoway terrace awash. The old shore lines of that time now stand 60 or 70 feet above sea level. This position of the sea level lasted long enough for a series of barrier ridges, bars, and islands to be built up in the shallow water near shore (south of Altamaha River) and for an intricate system of salt marshes to form behind them. Satilla River, finding its direct course to the sea obstructed by a wave and current built bar, turned southward along a lagoon until its waters, united with those of the northwardly deflected St. Marys, succeeded in keeping open an outlet to the ocean. This ancient estuary of Satilla River has its modern analogue in Winyah Bay and Waccamaw River of South Carolina. The coast north of Altamaha River was swept by more powerful currents which carried away the sand as fast as it was torn loose by the waves and prevented the formation of bars and islands. The shore line at the close of this period and before the uplift which laid bare the Satilla terrace was strikingly like the present cuspate coast of the Carolinas. The narrow terrace along the edge of the Satilla-Penholoway escarpment between Hinesville and Canoochee River at an altitude of 40 to 50 feet above sea level is probably a wave-cut platform formed at this time. Cherokee Hill, northwest of Savannah, possibly is of similar origin (topographic maps are lacking) but its isolation and its nearness to Savannah River suggest that it more probably was a bank formed of sediment dropped by the river.
The next emergence, about 60 feet, brought the sea level to its present position and laid bare the Satilla terrace. The shore line resulting from this latest emergence, was very irregular because of the many low, delta-like banks or shoals that had ribbed the sea floor during the preceding epoch. Under the combined action of waves, winds, and currents, a series of sand bars began to form ~ff shore, rapidly grew into islands, and formed a new, straighter shore line. The little bays that indented the old shore line and the lagoons back of the islands,

COASTAL PLAIN OF GEORGIA

33

Shut off from the force of the waves immediately began to fill with silt. Mud and sand_ brought down by the streams or stirred up from the bottom by storms settled in the quiet water of the bays and lagoons. As soon as the water grew shallow enough for grasses to take root,
vegetation converted the tidal flats into marshes and furthered the accumulation of silt . Tidal movement became restric~d to definite channels wmch the great volume of water, rushinu in or out four times each day, kept clear of sediment and scoured to depths of more than !!0 feet. Intricate and complete drainage systems for each little subarea of marsh became established. Thus were formed the Sea Islands and the Mar hes of Glynn.
CORRELATION OF THE COASTAL TERRACES
Correlation of the marine terraces in Georgia. with those in other regions is difficult and uncertain because the terrace systems in the adjoining states .have not been studied in sufficient det-ail. Before 1917 little progress could be made in the study and interpretation of terrace because o little of the area was adequately mapped. Although many new map are now available many critical areas till remain unsurveyed.
Terraces in Florida are very imperfectly known. Mat onl in 1913, briefly described three terraces wmch he called Newberry terrace, 70 to 100 feet above sea leveL; T.rala Lf.popka terrace, 40 to 60 feet; and Pen.tacola terrace, less than 40 feet above ea leveL The Newberry terrace is probably equivalent to the Penholoway terrace. The Tsala Apopka terrace and the Pensacola terrace, if the limits of altitude assigned to them by Matson are correct, probably are together equivalent to the Satilla. terrace of Georgia. The terraces recognized in Georgia, at least those below the Claxton, can be traced outhward into Florida on the new maps to Latitude 80 N. and westward to Jon,<ri:tude 8!l0 15'.
Little has been published about the marine terraces in South Carolina. Studies in progress by the writer indicate that conditions there are similar to those in Georgia. The inner margin of the well preserved terraces lies at an altitude of approximately 215 feet above sea level.
The altitudes of the terraces m North Carolina tally remarkably
well with those of Georgia. tephenson! recognizes ve terraces, as follows: Pamlieo, 0 to 20 feet; Chowan. SO to 60 feet; Wicomico, 60 to 100 feet; Suuderland, 100 to 160 feet and Coharie, 160 to 235 feet above ea level The Pamlico and Chowan, together fall within the limit of the atilla terrace; the altitudes of the Wicomico correspond exactly with those assigned to the Penholoway; the Sunderland agrees with the Okefenokee; and the Coharie is only a little higher than the Claxton. B . L. Johnson 3 found remnants of a higher terrace inNorth Carolina, at altitudes from 2~0 to !!60 which corresponds closely with the
1 Matson. G. C., Geology 3lld groUJJd waters of Flodda: U. S. Geol. Survey Water--Supply Paper Sl9, pp. 31-S5, 19IS.
~- tephei!son's conclusions bave beeii slli1Ullllrized by W. B. Clark in The Phy.siography of the Coastal Plain of North Ca;rolina,: North Carolina Geol. Survey voJ. S, Chapt. l, pp. 27-Sl, 1912.
. ScieiiCC. new .series, vol. 26, pp. 640-642, 1907.

34

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF GEORGI/1

Hazlehurst terrac-e of Geor ia. Another terrace '1. 0 to 320 feet above ea. level, noted by Johnson, i probably developed near Portal and Woodcliff in Bullock and re,-en counties, Georgia.
The terrace in ~orth arolina designated Wicomico and underland were o called because of their uppo ed quivalence to tenace o named at approximately the ame altitude in Maryland. In the present report these names are not applied to the terraces in Georgia because of the possibility that the names were wrongly u ed in North Carolina. The geological history of the Coa al Plain in Maryland, as interpreted by Shattuck 1 and other , dille materially from the writer interpretation of the eYents that happened in Georgia. In Maryland there seem to haYe been repe~ted o cillations of sea level which hifted th trand line alternate!) back and forth aero the Coastal Plain. Comparative] recent ubm Jaence of this region i uggested hy the fact that tide water extends up the drowned valley of all the larger rivers be ond the inner edge of the Co tal Plain and for om mile into the Piedmont. ' uth of Hattera the movement wa dominantly emergence interrupted by period of quie cence. Submergence if any occurred, was on a small cale and did not produce con picuou effect . oat charts how no ubmerged river channels outh of Hattera like the aoraes that furrow the continental shelf off tl1e mouths of the northern riYers. AncienL hore line no-w at the same level in Maryland and Georgia may not be contemporaneous.
The Pamlico and howan terraces of tephen on and Clark. a already noted fall within the limit of the atilla terrace as redefined in this volume. That there are extensive fiat! at the altitud as i!med to these uppo ed terraces can not be questioned uor will the tudent of map deny that there are other flat at intermediate levels. In the opinion of the writer these vru~ous fiats represent merely inequalities in the level of the ocean floor corresponding to a single position of the sea-one shore line, different depths of water. Some of these flats may be benches cut by the wa'>es beating against the mainland others may be the remains of islands p]aued off by the sea; still other may be baoJ built up from a lower level but all were formed at variou depths in one ea while it stood at a constant leveL
The names of the terraces in Georgia, Florida, and North Carolina and the altitudes assigned to them by Matson, Stephenson, and the writer, are shown in the following table:

1 Shattuck, G. B., Maryland Geol. Survey, Pliocene and Pleistocene, 1906.

CO/JST/JL PLAIN OF GEORGI//

35

Correlation of l11arine Terrace.r

Florida Matson, 1913
Newberry (100-70) Tsala Apopka (60-40) Pensacola
(40-0)

Georgia Cooke, this book
Hazlehurst (:260-!l15)
Claxton (:215-160)
Okefenokee (160-100)
Penholoway (100-60)
Satilla (60-0)

North Carolina Stephenson, 19l!l
Unnamed (260-!l20)
Coharie (235-160)
Sunderland (160-100)
Wicomico (100-60)
Chowan (60-30)
Pamlico (!l0-0)

RIVER TERRACES
Terraces are not confined to the coastal region. All of the larger streams of the Coastal Plain are bordered by at least one terrace, and many have several at different levels. A river terrace may be defined as the old floer of a valley wi.ll1in which an inner valley has been cut hy t he tream ,..,hen deep nin its channel. River terraces are fo . il flood plains. Rh-er terrace differ from marine coa tal terra in e\7eraJ respect . ' oastal terrace have an upper limit of altitude determined by the height of the water in the ea or lake. The force of the w-ind and \\ave can c ut or huiM a terrace only a few feet above normal water leYel. River terraces, on the contrarv. have a lower limit of alt itude determined by the bed of the stream, below which they can not be cut. The limit of altitude of a coastal terrace is a level surface; but the base to which a river terrace approaches rises gradually up stream, being the grade of the flood plain of the stream at the time when the terrace was formed.
Rivers tend to cut their valleys down to a definite base level. This base may be an ocean, bay, or lake; it may be a mill pond or reservoir; or it may be any natural or artificial obstrnct:ion uch as a ledge of rock in the channel which retards lhe wearing away of the bottom. If, after the lapse of considerable time, the obstruction is removed or the level of the lake is lowered, the stream flows faster, cuts a narrower valley in the floor of the old, and leaves its former bottom land above the reach of floods. Who has not seen this phenomenon on a small

36

GEOLOGICdL SURVEY OF GEORGid

scale in the trenching of the silt in an old mill pond after the dam is broken?
The presence of terraces far above high water mark does not indicate, as one might at first suppose, that the ancient river which formed them was any larger than the modern stream. The ancient river flowed in a shallow valley; the modern river flows in a deeper valley. The volume of water may have remained the same.
Along every large river of southern Georgia are remnants of river terraces corresponding to the marine coastal terraces. Each ri er terrace starts at the alt itude at which the sea stood when the corresponding marine terrace was formed and rises gradually up stream. It has not been found practicable t o map t hese river terraces in detail, but a few of the more conspicuous localities where they may be seen will be cited.
Along the Chattahoochee the first terrace above the ordinary flood plain stands at an altitude of 50 or 60 feet above normal water level. It is popularly known as the "second bottom." The down-town part of the City of Columbus is built on this terrace.
The next higher well deYeloped terrace, about 130 feet above the river, can be seen along the Macon Road one-quarter of a mile to a mile and a half east of the railroad yards at Columbus. Georgetown and Fort Gaines are built on this terrace.
A third terrace, 160 to 170 feet above the river, is well developed on the Georgia side of Chattahoochee River below Upatoi Creek. The road from Columbus to Lumpkin crosses this terrace.
Terraces along the Ocmulgee are not so well developed as along the larger rivers. At Macon the flood plain or first bottom is about 20 feet above low water. I t fring the river at East Macon. Central City Park is buil on the second b ottom but i probably within reach of very high floo . The busine ~ section of J\1acon occupies a natural amphitheater which lopes gently down from First Street to an altitude of about 55 feet above low water mark at the Terminal Station. Hawkinsville, slightly more than 50 feet above the river, is probably built on the same terrace as the down-town part of Macon.
The most prominent terrace on Oconee River lies at an altitude of 50 or 60 feet above the present flood plain. It is well shown in Washington County between Bluff and Gum creeks.
A large part of the City of Augusta is built on the second bottom of Savannah River at an altitude of 50 or 60 feet above the water, and this terrace continues for several miles below . ugusta. For a. long distance below the mouth of ~irit Creek the :flood plain of Sava.n:nah. River lies at the foot of a steep bluff which leads directly to the upland, but the intermediate terra are well developed aero t he river in South Carolina.
TIFTON UPLAND
The Tifton Upland forms a strip about 45 miles in average width extending across the middle of the Coastal Plain from the southwestern corner of the State northeastwardly to Waynesboro, a distance of about

PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY OF GEORGIA
~

PLATE XII

A. PO ND ON THE DOUGHERTY PLAIN AT DUDLEY, LAURENS COUNTY.
C. Jo'ALL LINE HILLS 8 MI LES WEST OF LUMPKIN .

Photu(Jraphs A . a,td B . by ll'ytlle Cook e; C. and. D. by S. W. McCallie.
B. TIFTON UPLAND TEN MILES NORTH OF EASTMAN. D. OUTCROP OF SANDSTONE I N THE TIFTON UPf,AND, JEFF
DAVIS COUNTY.

I -
'
~
I
~

COASTAL PLAIN OF GEORGIA

37

-~:mile . I southeastern boundary, separating it rom the coastal tenace , is a. nearly straight line pas ing a. few miles east of Thomasville, \idalia and ;ylvania.. I northwestern boundary is much more irre!ml.ar. Between Chattahoochee, Fla. and Cordele the boundary between the Tifton Upland and the Dou"hert Plain is a well-defined "West;v..-ard-facing scarpment. West of Climax (alt. ~79) the drop to the Dougherty Plain is 140 feet. Ea t o Acree it is 100 feet. Between Cordele and Waynesboro the 'l'iiton "pland merg into the Dou herty Plain and the Louisville Plateau.
The traveller on the Tifton Uplanc.Lreceives the jm-pres ion of gently rolling hills hroad, rounded ummit , no marked parallelism oi ridges and smoothne of connguration ( ee Plate XII-B) . Few gullies like those in the Fall Line Hill are to b found. Near the larger river Jopes are steeper and even precipitou-, but the steep slopes do not a-tend far back. The areas between the streams tend to be broad rolling plains which break into irregular rid ()' . Plate XII-D show an un t 1all rug ed part of the upland.
As topographic maps are lac.king in the Tifton pland except in the extreme northeastern end. few details can be given. In Jenkin County altitudes range from 120 fe t al>ove ea. level on Ogeecbee River to S60 feet on the higbe t hill . a m:L\.'imum relief of 240 feet but ordinary hill are about 100 feet high . North and we t of Millen is a f:l.attish area averagina 200 feet aboYe ea leYel in wruch the presence near the udace of bed of lime tone i shown by many shallow sinks. (See Plate XIII). Magnolia 'pring and other prings is ue from this rock. This :flat area extends northward a far a Perkins and westward on hoth ides of Ogeechee Rher about to 1\Iidvill .
The following description of Dodge County, most of which lies within the Tifton Upland, is quoted from the Soil Survey by Ely and Griffin 1 :
In a general wa y the topography of Dodge otmly .is that o1' a gently 1olliog plain, cut by sluggish streams with only moderate slopes along their courses. Ultimately the drainage of nearly the en Lire county Bows into Ocmulgee River. but in the northeastern part of the cou:nty the waters enter several good-sized tributaries before entering the larEer slrea.m. The LitUe Ocmulgee River, or ''Gum wamp," o iL is popularly known, pa es through the county in a gellerallv southeast direction, a few miles to the northeast of its center. Waltons Creek enter this tream some si:r miles north or Eastman. ugn.r Creek-a lream rising within the county-is only a lew miles southwest of t.hcse streams, and flows in the sa.me general direction. These three, with their tributaries drnin nearly all the ceDtral, northeastern, and southeastern parts of the county. .All the treaiilS. ex.cept the Ocmulgee River, are characterized by lla.UOW bol t.oms entirely co,ered ,,;th water during most of the winter and other rainy cason . In summer the stream. dry up to such 1~n e.~ent that the current entirely ceases. and the lrealll course i marked only by pools. For a great part of their length on each side of the present bottoms wide, .llat or very gently rolling areas of sand ar seen. On t.he. edge of the e the land rises, usually gradually, bnt omelimes abruptly, from 30 to 60 feet.
A more or less prominent ridge separates the waters of ugar Creek from those of the Little Ocmulgee River. The Southern Railway runs along the crest of this ridge, and Eastman, Chauncey, and Empire are situated thereon.
Ely, C. W., and Griffin, A. M., Soil Survey of Dodge CQnnty, Georgia; Field operations of the Bureau of Soils, 1904, p'p. 233-234, 1905.

38

GEOLOGICAL .SJJ./W-E-Y 1Y1' GEORGI.d

East.man i 301 feet and Ch&uneey ~ lilet abo\e se<l le,el. Similar ridg
heg:wmily -occur lietwcen the smaller streams. The crests of these tidg on: covered With Norfolk sandy lorun and Lhe slopes with the Norfolk sand. and their location can be made out on the soil mn"p from llus circumstance.

To Lhe southwest of uga.r reek a divide, somewhat similm in cltaracter to the

one just described, separates the waters which enter the 0 mu.lgee River from

tllos which flow to the southeast1vard. This ridge is not so pronounced as the

others but is more like a. gently rolling plain of higher lan,d, ~i lb ridg"-like

outliers e~tending down lJetwee n lhe tren~ . Beyond this the drainage is to

the southwest. In orne plac at L11e edge of this divide. facing the river or ils

tributaries, even lhe smaller stream have cut \"- haped channels 40 to 60 feet

deep, and some of lbe mo t hilly land in t9e county is een here. Nearer lheriver

th.e la.nd becomes gentry rolling agaiD. wfth shallow tream courses. A flat. low-

lying deposit of sand, similar to that found along the other streams, occurs near

the rher and the bordering bottom lands. In the vicinity of Rhine this fia t

land widens out up the creeks. and there is o. slight rise near the river of 10 to)!{)

feet. The it extends

upla.nd alwnrs meets to the river bn.nk iu

the few

bottom place i

land in a it over

1g5enotrleosolofpeee,t

and even where above the bot-

toms.

An area in Telfair and Wheeler Counties extending for several
miles in all directions from Scotland is described by Hull and Teas 1 as
follow :
The topogr pby is ch:uaclerized by gently rol ling hills t hat a.re genr.rally not lllgher than 50 or 60 feet ubov tream I ,el. The surface of the Rlain slopes sou thea tward at a rate nolles t hau4 f t per mile. :treams flow _.ggishly southeastward in meandering cour es Lhrouoh broad shallou v~'~ys. 'rl1e maximum relief of the area. is probably less than 150 feet. Eacl1 of Lbe three ri,ers. Oconee, Little Ocmulgee, and Ocmulgee, is border diu places by distinct terrace plains, OllC 10 to 20 and the other 40 to 50 feet above low-~aler level. Northea t of LittiP. Ocmu~ee River is a. belt of sand h.ilis in plo.c J 1. ~ miles wide and a$ lllgh n.s 50 Lo 75 feel above stream level.

Ben Hill County, which, with the possible exception of the south-
east corner, lies wholly within the Tifton Upland, is described as fol-
lows by the soil urveyor : '
Den Hill County mbraces llir e dislind lopographic divisions. The fir t is the "flatwoods,' which occur along the oulhern l>oumlary of th county east of Ashton ~chooL continuing ";lh an uxera,ge width of om what more Lhnn n mile, with the Broxton road as it npproxim11te northern boundo.ry for the entire distance. .\.no thcr small area of 'llatwooli occurs uloug the eastern county line, about t1 mile From the southeastern orm:r. and :LI o smaller 11rea..~ !:! or $ miles east of Fitzgerald. The next topographic clivi ion i the undolalin lo genlly rolling country found in tLe soulhern part of th \Hila, u uall ur
Tounding the "Butwooru." in lllJUlr cases tl1e change from one lo tie olhl!r
being very grad1Jal. lt extends uor lu Croru FiLzgernJd n di lance of -llo S mil . Tn the western part or tbc ('Ounly, wht>r. Lbc clrainuge is lownnl the .\llapahot River, this undulating to gently rolling Nlltnlry Oc<'upics tue gre~tter portion of this section. It extend~ ea l acros lloe r]i,itle, 1vber lbc tlr:~inuge is in the olloer direction, and toward Ute Ocmulgee.
The large~t portion of the countr is included in the wiling to rough and hilly country in the norlltcrn pnrt of the a rea. There the drniuage is toward the Ocmulgec Rher. A . lrikmg featur of tbi section is Lhe large number of streams which p1 through it, forming u tomplcle tmd very intricate druiua.ue system. Where this rolling to hilly <.-ountry joiru th undnlntin ection there is usually a more or less distinct C3~1Tpmenl from 25 to JO feet in Lt:~ght. ::;trcarns

1 Hull, J. P. D., a.nd Tea L. P.. :\. preliminary report on lle oil prospect near
Scotland, Telfair County, Ga.: Georgia GeoL nrvey, p . ~. 1919. . Higgins. _-\.. L.. and Long, D. D., . il ur\'e,r of Ben Hill County, Ga.:
Field operations of the Burenu of oil, 191.\!, pp. ,1.96-497, 1915.

PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY .OF GEORGIA

PLATE XIII

Part of the Millen sheet

THE TIFTON UPLAND NEAR MILLEN S('ale 62",:Iooo
o.___ _ _ ....:.._ _ _ _;.__ _ _ _ _ _ ____c.__ _ _ _ _ _ __.:~~ .MiL,s
Contour interval 10 feet
Datum is mca11. sea lewl

COASTAL PLAIN OF GEORGIA

39

that flow through the gently rolling area head on the very brink ot this es<:a+pment, the country above it being nearly leveL Occa.siono.lly a stream :has cut back through the bluff and drains some distance back in t'he more level section, but such cases are rare. A peculiar and very noticeable feature is the occurrence of amphitheater-like excavations about the heads of streams which rise below the escarpment. This feature is common all through this rolling to broken area, especially where it is roughest.
In this section the- topography is so rolling that erosion has been extensive and interferes greatly with farming operations. Leaching is also injurious to crops in this section, particularly when fertilizers are applied to the soil.
The streams throughout the county have generally small strips of bottom land along their banks, varying in width from a few rods to a quarter of a mile or more, as along House and Stergeon Creeks. The streams usually head in areal! of wet lowland, the bottoms proper developing and widening downstream, where the drainage channel becomes better defined. In the rougher section of the county the limits of the bottom lands are clearly defined, although there is no pronounced bluff. In the more level areas the rise from the bottoms is so gradual that the difference in soils determines their outlines rather than any topographic difference. The bottom lands of all the larger creeks are subject to overflow in times of heavy rainfall and their channels as a rule are not distinct, the streams ha-ving a tendency to meander over the lowland. Along the Ocmulgee there is a fairly large area of bottom land, or "river-swamp, " as it is known locally, averaging from a quarter of a mile to a mile in width, although for some distance alantrthe border of the county the river iollows the southern bluff, the swamp being all in the county to the north.
The elevation of the county is about 800 feet above sea level at Fitzgerald, and slightly higher to the north.
Sinks and ponds are not uncommon in the Tifton Upland. Besides those already mentioned in the vicinity of Millen, they are especially numerous in the southern half of the Upland. They are circular, elliptical, or elongated depressions varying from less than an acre to many acres in area. Most of them are shallow and thickly overgrown with cypress and other water-loving trees. Several good-sized ponds are found in Turner County. Colquitt County cantain.s many small ponds and "bays." The deep lime sinks of northwestern Grady are well known.
The soils of the Tifton Upland are chiefly gray sand with clay subsoil. The entire region formerly supported a superb growth of open pine woods carpeted with wire-grass which afforded pasturage for many cattle. Most of the land has now been cut over and part of it is under cultivation. Cotton and corn are the principal crops. Much sugar cane is grown. Canteloupes, watermelons, and tobacco are raised in considerable quantity, and pecan groves are increasing in number.
Much of the Tifton Upland has been settled only recently, and parts of it still have a sparse population. Thomasville, one of the oldest towns, is a fashionable winter resort. Other growing towns are Cairo, noted for its production of cane syrup, Moultrie, Tifton, Sylvester, Ashburn, Ocilla, Fitzgerald, Abbeville, McRae, Eastman, Mount Vernon, Swainsboro, Wrightsville, Millen and Sylvania.
LOUISVILLE PLATEAU
The Louisville Plateau extends eastward from Oconee River to Savannah River, a distance of about 90 miles, and lies between the Fall Line Hills and the Tifton Upland. Its maximum width is about

40

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF GEORGIA

20 mile . It outlines are determined, in large part, by the areal distribution of brilliant red and 1 which contrasts with the gray or yellowish and that forms the urlace of lh.e Tifton Upland . The plateau is typirally developed on the divide between 13ig Creek and Duhart Creek in. Jefferson County between Louisville and Stapleton. It i characterized by wide flat areas which lope gently southward

at a rale of about ten feet per mile. The altitude of the upland surfac~ ranges from about 500 feet above ea level near tapleton to about
320 feet near Lou.i ville. Brier Creek near Waynesboro and Rocky

Comfort Creek near Louisville have cut their valleys 100 feet below the upland. Near the northern edge the plateau is considerably dissected, and its separation from the adjoining Fall Line Hills is not

precise. Part of the Louisville Plateau is shown in Plate XIV.

The staple products of the red sandy soils of the Louisville Plateau

are cotton and corn. The principal towns are Lou.isville, Sandersville, and Gibson. Waynesboro lies partly on the Louisville Plateau and

partly on the Tifton Upland.

DOUGHERTY PLAINS

.

The Dougherty Plain receives its name from Dougherty County

It extends from Chattahoochee River to Oconee River, and lies be-

tween the Fall Line Hills and the Fort Valley Plateau on the northwest

and the Tifton Upland on the southeast. (See Fig. 2.) It adjoins

the Louisville Plateau on the east.

Starting on Chattahoochee River at the mouth of Cohelee Creek,

80 miles south of Columbus, the boundary follows the divide between

the waters of Chattahoochee River and Flint River to Richland, zigzags north of Americus and south of Perry to Ocmulgee River, circles

northward to Dry Branch and down Big Sandy Creek to Oconee River,

down the Oconee below Dublin, westward to Cochran, southward to Abbeville, circles near Pinehurst to Cordele, and thence in a broad

curve east of Camilla and Bainbridge to the Florida line at Chattahoochee. This area embraces the entire drainage basins of Spring Creek

and Ichawaynochaway Creek as well as the greater part of the basins of the other tributaries of the lower Flint, an area of nearly 7000 square

miles.

The Dougherty Plain, as the name implies, is nearly level. It is not, however, a single plain, but is more complex, and could be divided

into several units if detailed topographic maps were available. The

plain slopes from nearly 600 feet above sea level along the northwestern

border outbeastward to about 160 feet at the foot of the Tifton Upland. The lowest point i at th:! mouth of Flint River which is about 50 feet above sea level. The slope from Kimbrough (altitude 558 feet)
to Camilla (altitude 167) is at the rate of about 6.7'5 feet per mile.

The northwestern part of the Dougherty Plain is rolling, but even

in this region, where long gentle slopes are the rule, the wider areas

between the streams are very flat. Such flat areas are common in Sumter County.

Barnwell formation, of upper Eocene age, see table of geologic formations, P. 6. Alum Bluff group, of Miocene age.

-~~~----~"c~:;::::~~~--------~2 Miles ontour interval 20 feet Datum. is mean sea le-vel

COASTAL PLAIN OF GEORGIA
In the l.ru:ge area lying for the most part west of Flint River where limestone forms the country rock the surface i even flatter than el ewhere in the Dougherty Plain, but the monotony of flatne s is relieved by many hallow aucer- haped sinks or depressions of all sizes up to many acres in extent. ( e Plate XTI-A). Most of these sinks are nearly circular, -flat-bottomed, and with gently loping sides. They ha. e been Iormed by the collapse of ca\erns in the oft, soluble limestone.
ome of them contain large jagged lump of flint or silicified limestone. me of the depressions hold water all the year around but many are
dry except in rainy weather. Most of the drainB.oe in this part of the Dougherty Plain is 11bterranea.n. There are >er few small streams. Rainwater falling on the sand surface rapidly sinks and find its way through underground channel in the poro limestone to issue as beautiful blue prings along the banks of the larger creek and rivers.
Included in the area d cribed as the Dougherty PJain i an embay-
ment of the Okefenokee terrace (seep ae -2) which extends up the
Chattahoochee-Flint RiV'er ba~ a. considerable di tance and includes mo t of the area tanding below 160 feet above sea level. The precise limit of thi embaymen are not known but the boundary probably runs from Donaldsonville northwestward pa t olquitt cro ses Flint Ri:ver in the neighborhood of Baconton, and wings outhward past
amilla to the edge of th Tiflon Upland. It is al o altogether likely that detailed map will how frinaes of Cla..'..-ton and Hazlehurst terraces bordering the Okefenokee embayment and e:;...-ten ing inland almo t to Blakely and Leesburg.
The most distinctiv oils of the DougherL. Plain are black clay loam deri,ed from limestone and orange or red rravels sands, andy loams and clay loams. Lump of flint 1 a distributed over most of the area. inks and other poorly drained d pr ion contain black carbonaceous soil.
Albany, the metropoli of the Dougherty Plain, i an important railroad and di tributing center and a. "'reat p can and peanut market. Other important large towns ar A.mericu , Bainbrid re Cordele, Cuth-
t Dawson Dublin. and Hawkin ville. Camil.la i a center of canteloupe production.
FORT VALLEY PLATEAU
The Fort Yalley Plateau occupie ~ an area of about 300 quare miles between Flint River and Ocmnlgea River in Houston Crawford, and :Macon Counties. It adjoins the Fall Line Hills on the west, north and northeast, and the Dougherty Plain on the outheast and outh. On the w t it terminate tn a rath.er steep de cent of about 300 feet to the valley of Flint River. From the edge one can look westward for miles acros th_e valley through the blue haze lothe distanthills. The lopes on ~ north and northeast are somewhat less abrupt. The
southeastern boundary is markei by the lope of Ross Hill and Mo sy Hill. which rise about 17.5 feet above Mill Creek.
1 The flint or silicified limestone is derived from the Glendon formation and Ocala limestone, which underlie the Dougherty Plain.

42

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF GEORGIA

The ity of Fort \;-alley :rom which the plateau take it name, stands at an altitude of 522 feet a.bo~e ea level. The plateau is nearly flat but lopes gently outheastward. Its we tern rim is the divide between the dra.i.nage of the Gulf of Mexi o and the Atlan c Ocean. The plateau itself drains outhea tward throuo-h Mossy Creek and Big Indian Creek into Ocmulgee Ri, r. These <:reeks have <'Ut well into the plateau and how wide terraces along their lower courses. The plateau i capped by a thin ,. neer of I rill iant r d . and but the underlying light color d ands a11d kaolin are \ri. ible in many na.lural exposures.
The prevailing oil of the Fort VaiJey Plateau are gray or yellow loams with brick red andy day ub oil. The most important agricultural product is the peach whi h has given it name to :Peach ounty. The largest peach or hard. in the world a.re on the Fort\ alley Plat au.
Fort Valley, Perry, and Marshallville are the largest towns.
FALL LINE HILLS
The Fall Line Hill lie immediately south of tbe Central Upland. They extend t>.ntir I aero the tate, from aYannah River to t he Chattahoochee. On the south, or rather outheast they adjoin the Dougherty Plain and the Fort "\alley and Loui ville plateau . The Fall Line Hill Ya!J in width from a maximum of 0 mile along the Chattahoochee to a minimum of three or four mil ea ' t of Flint River (see Figure 2 page 18) .
The northern or inner hotmda.rv of the Fall Line Hills is a inuous line passing through luruiJ , :Macon and . u~ta., and coinciding, theoretically with tle contact between the old hard cry talline rocks that underlie the Central pland and the younger, ofter sedimentary and and clay of the ,o tal Plain. Becaus many ;treams flowing across this line ut throu b the covering of ands into the underlying crystalline rock thi contact i irregular and min utel ' jagged. The hills and ridges separating the water coursel; are capped by sediments of the Coastal Plain but th old cry talline rock are \ isi ble alon~r the stream channels. It L impracticable ther fore, to fix a sharp line as the boundary hetween the ]j'all l,ine Hills and the Central Upland. The line chosen mu t be g neralized and in a m a ure arbitrary.
The outhern boundary f the Fall l,ine Hills i even more crooked than the northern. "'tartin from Chattahoochee River near the mouth of Cohelee Creek, we of Blakel , about 80 mile south of Columbus, the line folio the divide between the Chattahoochee and the Flint to Richland, pa es north of Americus and ro.. Flint River west of Vienna, thence northward, circling around the Fort Valley Plateau to Ocm.ulgee River below Echeconn Creek. From Ocmulgee River it passes northward to Dry Branch, turns southwestward down Big
andy Creek to Oconee River, thence northward alon" the western rim of the divide between Ohoopee River and Oconee River circles the head water of Williamson wamp Creek, thence eastward and down , pirit Creek to avannah River about 15 mil outh of Augusta.

PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY OF GEORGIA

PLATE XV

:Part of the Columbus sbeet

THE FALL LINE HILLS NEAR CUSSETA Seale 62~-(0

0

J.

'Z.:.\.f:iles

~~~~----~----------~----------~

Contour interval 20 feet Datum is mean sea level



COASTAL

.

'

PLAIN OF

'

' '

GEORG.id.

The Fall Line Hills include several types of hilly country. The partnearestto the Central Upland is a region of long gentle lopes and rolling lrills. Farther outh, the region i a JeYel to rolling plateau Cllt by deep steep-sided valleys and gulli . T.he dark Ted oils of the outhern part of the Fall Line Hills contrast bongly with the lighter tones of the oils farther north.
Columbus. Augusta, and Macon are the principal citi of the Fall Line Hills. Ft. Gaines Georgetown, Lumpkin Cus ta Buena Vista, Preston Ellaville, Oglethorpe, Montezuma, Butler I:rwinton, and Thomson are co1mty ea or otherwis noteworthy towns.
The hilliest part of the Fall Line Hills lies within the drainage basin of Chattahoochee River, particularly in Stewart County. The divide between the waters of the Flint and the Chattahoochee lies so near the latter that the short, swift tributaries of the Chattahoochee have intrenched their intricate drainage pattern 400 to 500 feet below the divide, which stands at a maximum altitude of about 700 feet above ea le el. Manv of the e little streams head in eep-walled gulli or cave ' which range in width from a few feet to a quarter mile. orne of them are m01e than 100 feet deep. The e intri ate ravines lend pictur quenes to the landscape but gre-a.tly interfere with cultivation of the oil and with trav i!. (See Plate XII-C). Growth o this type of ravine take place rapidly. Removal of the protective covering of fore t and brush expo e lhe oft, uncousolidated sands and clay; to the erosive a tion of rain. Coal cing rills of rainwater gouge out an incipient gully in the ltitl.side. The dislodged sand preads on below in a fan- haped mound while utting continues a the heads of the rillwa s. The loo e sand is undermined, falls. and carried away by- the water and little ampitheatre with nearly vertical walls are formed. These gradually eat back farther and farther into the hillside until they encroach upon the upland plateau itself. The coalescing of adjacent ampitheatre gives ri e to knife-edged rid e and pinnacle like tho e in
the 'Badlands ' of the West.
The owest altitudes in thi western part of the Fall Line Hills are found along Chattahoochee River, which drops from about 185 feet above sea level at Columbus to about 76 feet at the mouth of Cohelee Creek. The highest part is probably near Brooklyn, Stewar County, the altitude of which, according to railroad levels, is 691 feet above sea level. On the Colombus quadrangle, the onJy part of this area yet covered b a topographic map the highest point a hill ea t of Cus eta, is somewhat le tl1an 600 fee above sea level (see Plate XV). The topography eha:racter.ized by long, narrow ridges with level or gently rounded ummits, eparated by deep V-shaped valleys. A ~ulia.rity of the valley of Lhe larger stream , uch as Upatoi Creek, Ochillee
reek and 0 wiehee reek, i that they are narrow at the mouth but widen up-stream into broad, gentle slopes. Most of the tributaries of Chattahoochee River enter it through gorges. This is because the land was once considerably lower than it is now. The Chattahoochee and its tributaries then had broad valleys. As the land rose a fall or rapid developed at the mouth of the river and gradually ate its way

GEOLOGIC.dL SURVEY OF GEORGI.d
up-stream as far as Columbus where it is still gnawing at the h ard rock~ of the Piedmont. Each tributary tream below the rapid quickened by its increased fall to the river intrenched rts lower reaChes within its valley floor, but the more distant part of the stream till flowing at its former level.
Between the Chattahoochee slope and Flint River the Fall Line Hills are not so steep as near Chattahoochee River. Long, gentle slopes and broad, flat-bottomed valley are the rule. Many of the areas between the streams are nearly level plateaus. Between Ellaville and LaCro se, for instance the land i rollin to level, the oil i red and
and the country i dotled with peach orchards and pecan grove . In
many respect this part of the area included in the Fall Line Hills losely
resembles the Fort ' alley Plateau.
Between Flint and Ocm.uJgee river the belt of Fall Line Hills i narrowed by the encroachment from the outh of the Fort Valley Plateau, and is diYided into two parts by the long gentle lopes leading to Echeconnee Creek. The highest point known in lhis area i Rich Hill, who e nearly level ummit stands at an altitude of about 707 feet above sea level. Rich Hill i one of a group at the edge of the Central Upland between Kno~ ille and Echeconnee Creek. The heads of several small streams have excavated deep gullies in the ides o these hills, which expose a capping of brilliant red and which contra t vividly with the white limestone and white micaceous ands and clays expo ed in the steep walls.
East of Ocmulgee River the hills are steeper than west of it. A multitude of little lateral creeks and branches have cut an originally nearly le' el plateau into numerous narrow, :Bat-topped ridges which fork and eros in a. very complicated pattern. 'rhis type of topography is well hown on Plate XVI. It might be said of this country that there are no hills in it-nothing but valleys. Most of the remnants of the plateau in which these valleys are carved tandataltitud between 400 and 500 feet above ea level. The major treams, that is Ocm.ulgee and Oconee River, have cut down to about 170 feet. The maximum .relief, therefore i in the neighborhood of 330 feet, although most of the shorter streams have cut their V-shaped valley:; only about 150 feet below the plateau level. Nearly all the roads in this area follow the ridges. The clearings and houses also, are most numerous on Lhe ridges, although the Town of Toomsboro, built in t he wi~ \at. valley of Commis ioners reek ( ee Plate XVI) forms an important exception. The site o this town wa probably determjned by the location of the Central of Georgia Railway, whiCh follows the easy grade of Commissioners Creek.
East of the divide between Ogeechee and Oconee rivers, the Fall Line Hills have long gentle slopes with no very defurite pattern. The summits are rounded. There are few sharp ridges. catteri.ng outliers of Eocene ands form little plateaus, but such flat-topped areas are less numerous than farther west.

PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY OF (;EORGIA

PLATE XVI

Part of the Irwinton sheet

THE FALL LINE HILLS NEAR TOOM&BORO
Scale 62-ioo
L._~~~~~~~._!l___ _ _ _ _ __ _ t__ __ __ ________].hfiles
Contour interval 20 feet
Datum ia t7Uian 844 levsl

C04ST4L PL4IN, OF GEO]/.G/4

45

DRAINAGE OF THE COASTAL PLAIN

THROUGH-FLOWING AND INDIGENOUS RIVERS
The six principal rivers of the Coastal Plain of Georgia are what may be called through-flowing streams; that is, they rise outside the limits of the Coastal Plain and flow across it. These rivers, named from east to west, are the Savannah, the Ogeechee, the Oconee, the Ocmulgee, the Flint, and the Chattahoochee. The Chattahoochee and the Flint unite at the southwest corner of the State to form the Apalachicola, which flows across Florida into the Gulf of Mexico. The Ocmulgee and the Oconee together form the Altamaha, which empties into the Atlantic Ocean. The Ogeechee and the Savannah, likewise, enter the Atlantic. The through-flowing rivers differ from the maHer streams in the quality of their water . At all times the water of the large rivers is more or less turbid, and usually it i tained red or reddish yellow by fine particles of mud derived from the red clay of the Central Upland.
The streams whose sources rise within the Coastal Plain are much cleaner than the through-flowing rivers. They are rarely muddy. Their sand_y bank filter the water before it enters the streams. Although the water in these streams is clear, it frequently contains in suspension Yety :finely divided particles of decayed vegetable matter which color it with shades of brown ra.nging from pale amber to almost black. This discoloration does not affect the wholesomenes~ of the water for drinking. Some of the Coastal Plain streams such as pring Creek in southwestern Georgia and Spring Mill Branch near Mille.n, derive most of their water from large springs. The water in these streams, at least near the source is beautifully colorless and limpid. Farther down streamthe become more or less di colored by the swamp through which they pass.
DIRECTION OF FLOW
The general direction of flow of streams on the Coastal Plain is south-southeast. This direction, which is at right angles to the Fall Line and down the natural dip of the rocks, may be considered the normal course. In the eastern part of the tate it is the hortest route to the sea, and for a much larger area it was the most direct route to the sea when the ocean extended farther inland than now and the coastal terraces were submerged.
Study of the map reveals many exceptions to this rule. Why does the Flint, below Albany flow southwestward to Chattahoochee River? Why does the Ochlockonee flow southwestward? What is the explanation of the southwestward jog of the ithlacoochee? What causes the Ocmulgee to deviate from its normal coUISe and :fl.ownortheastward before it joins the Oconee? Why does the atilla run south and the St. Mary north before turning toward the sea? Why does the Suwannee, with its headwaters not far frmn the Atlantic, box the compass and at last find its way into the Gulf of Mexico? These are some of the anomalies that need to be explained.

GEOLOGICdL SURVEY OF GEORGI.d
An explanation of the anomalous courses of the Satilla and St. Marys has already been suggested (see page 82.) After the emergence of the Penholoway terrace but while the Satilla terrace was , still under water, barrier ridges were built up by the waves across the ancient mouths of these streams. When the Satilla terrace emerged, the rivers, finding their direct courses to the open sea effectually blocked by these ridges, turned southward and northward in the lagoon behind the ridges until they found a passageway through.
The history of the Satilla and St. Marys rivers offers a clue to a possible explanation of the anomalous directions of several other streams. Ocmulgee River, along Jeff Davis County, flows parallel to and not far from the supposed inner margin of the Hazlehurst terrace. The diversion of this river might very readily have been brought about in the same manner as but at an earlier date than the diversion of the Satilla River. The diversion of the Withlacoochee and of the Ochlockonee may be due to similar agencies.
The explanation of the erratic course of the Suwanee is a little more complex. When the Okefenokee terrace emerged, the water of Okefenokee Sound, cut off from the Atlantic by Trail Ridge, found an outlet at the southwest, and Suwanee River incised its channel there. As emergence proceeded, Suwanee River extended first across the Penholoway and later across the Satilla terrace, but was obliged to search out passages across several old barrier ridges that had been built up parallel to successive shore lines.
The course of Flint River is determined primarily by the physical properties of the geologic formations across which it flows. At the mouth of Lumpkins Creek in Dooly County Flint River enters a region underlain by limestone, which is soluble and therefore more rapidly worn away than the sandy beds adjoining the region on the southeast, and continues on the limestone to its mouth. Although it must have attained this course, the line of least resistance, only after a long series of repeated readjustments, the present order has been established for such a long time that evidences of the changes in drainage are probably obliterated.
RIVER SYSTEMS
Savannah system.. The part of the drainage basin of Savannah River lying within the Coastal Plain of Georgia includes about 2,030 quare miles. It gradually narrows from a maximum width of about 30 mi1es near Augusta to our or five at Savannah. Savannah River, a through-flowing stream, always muddy, is navigable by small boats to Augusta.
Brier Creek, rising near the edge of the Central Upland in Warren County, enters Savannah River east of Sylvania. It is a swift, deep stream with clear, brown water. At Bryans Bridge, below Hilltonia, it flows in many runways through a swamp half a mile wide. The main channel is about 100 feet wide. At Millhaven there is no swamp and only one channel.

COASTAL PLAIN OF GEORGIA

47

Be~ver~am Creek, the largest tributa-ry of Brie_r Creek, is a pretty
stream about 50 feet wide near its mouth . The water is very clear but slightly tinged with brown. Shallows alternate with deep pools.

Ogeechee system.. The area oi the Ogeechee :Basin within the Coastal Plain is approximately -4,450 square miles. Tlle Ogeechee is the shortest of- the through-flowing rive . It carries Jess mud from the Central Upland and is not so red as the other Jarge rivers. At Midville
it is about 1751eetwide. The banks are low, swampy and closely over-
g:t"own by cypress. Below the mouth of Canoochee Ri er the Ogeechee isJ600 feet wide, the water is amber-colored, and subject to a 5-foot tide.
Rock-y Comfort Creek, entering from the east and Williamson Swamp Creek, entering from the west, are the principal tributaries of the upper -part of Ogeechee River. Buckhead Creek at Millen, is a deep, luggish t ream 75 feet wide, with_ clear wat er appearing dark-green in depths. The bottom i ~andy. The banks are den ely overhung by cypress.
The largest tributary of the Ogeechee is Canoochee River. At Claxton Bridge the Canoochee is about 100 feet wide. A rapid is caused by a ledge of sandstone in the bed.

Altamaha system. The Alta.maha., drainin 8,800 quare miles within the Coastal Plain is the largest river wb.ose drainage basin lies wholly within Georgia. It is fo.rmed by the union of the Oconee and the Ocmu1gee which bring into it great quantities of red mud from the Central Upland. The volume of water carried by the Altamaha. is somewhat les than that ofthe a.vannah andperhap a little greater than that ef the Chattahoochee.
Ohoopee River i the largest tributary of the Altamaha. below the junction of the Oconee and the Ocmulgee. It is a typical Coastal Plain tr.eam, with amber-colored water and sandy bottom. At Cow Ford
Bridge, 1:U miles above its mouth, it is about 150 feet wide at low water.
It swings against a 60-foot bluff on the east side, but the west bank is low a:nd swampy. A rapid at hepards Bridge, west of Reidsville, i caused by a ledge of sandstone that forms the right bank. Near Adrian Ohoopee River flow in several channels through a swamp.
The Oconee and the Ogeechee are both large muddy, navigable streams averaging within the Coastal Plain about UO feet in width. They unite to form the Altamaha. The principal tributarie- of the Oconee are Buffalo Creek, on the east, and Commission.ers Bia San.dy, and Palmetto Creeks on the west. Tobe ofkee and Echeconn.ee creeks, both rising in the Central Upland, enter Ocmu1gee River from the west. lJig Indian Creek and Tucsawhatri.hee reek also enter from the west.

Satilla ysteDL All the tributaries of Satilla River rise within t.he Tifton Upland or the coastal terraces. They are rather sluggish streams with sandy banks and bottoms, amber or coffee-colored water, and fLow through swamps.
Near Waycross, Satilla River is about 150 feet between banks {see Plate VI-C). Little Satilla River! Alabaha River (Hurricane

48

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF GEORGIA

Creek), and Seventeenmile Creek are the principal tributaries. The area drained by Satilla River and its branches is approximately 3,500 square miles.
St. Marys sy tem. t . Marys River drains an L-shaped area containing about 731.5 square mile in the southeastern corner of Georgia. It rises in Okefenokee wamp, flows southward, turns east through a gap in Trail Ridge, then north, and finally east again to the Atlantic at Cumberland Sound. It forms the boundary between Georgia and Florida. Its water, like that of most Coastal Plain streams, is stained coffee-colored by vegetation. No large tributaries enter St. Marys River.
Suwanee system. The uwanee Basin in Georgia contains about 5 520 quare miles in the outhern part of the tate, and includes mos t of Okefenokee Swamp. Only the headwaters of uwanee River, hort streams flowing outheastward into Okefenokee wamp, lie wholly within the State of Georgia. Alapaha .River and Withla.coochee River, much larger streams, enter the Suwanee beyond the tate line.
Alapaha River near Milltown is a rapid shallow stream about 100 feet wide. It rises in Wilcox County.
Wit:hlacoochee River also is a swift stream with occasional rapids. Its principal tributarie are Little .River Allapahooehee Creek, and Okapilco Creek. Okapilco Creek near Quitman flows in a valley that eems disproportionately lar<'e for uch a sluggi~h stream. In the southeastern corner of Colquitt County only a low, narrow divide separates Okapilco Creek from the more~apid waters of Little River. It is not improbable that the headwaters of Little River once flowed
across this sag and down the lower course of Okapilco Creek until a
more active tributary of the Withlacoochee, pushing its head northwestward tapped the bank of Little River and diverted its waters into their present cours~. tream piracy of this type is not 1mnsual, but is difficult to detect without topographic maps.
Ochlockonee system.. Ochlockonee Ri er, which flows through. Florida into the GuH of Mexico, drains an area in Georgia of about 1145 square miles chiefly in Grady, Thomas and Colquitt Co~mties. Like most of the streams in the Coastal Plain, the banks and bottom of Ochlockonee River are sandy, but the water not so deep1y tinged with brown as the river farther east. The country through which it flows i more hilly ,and contains fewer swamps. On the Tallahassee R.oad 7 mile sout heast of Cairo, the river .is deep and about 100 feet wide. (See Plate VI-D). It is bordered on the west by a flood -plain one-hal mile wide and 6 feet above water. The e-ast bank slopes steeply up to a broad, level terrace 40 or 50 feet above the river.
Flint systen:L. Flint River one of the through-flowing strealllii, drains an area of 6,000 square mile~ within the Coastal Plain. It is navigable by small steamboats to Albany. Its water is always muddy, but .is somewhat diluted in its lower reaches by the influx of clear water from several large tributaries. The river receives its nam.e from blocks

COASTAL PLAIN OF GEORGI:d

49

of flint or silicified limestone, which block the channel at many places and cause shoals and rapids.
F lint River is bordered by fewer and smaller areas of swamp than the rivers of the eastern part of the Coastal P lain. The longest swamp lies between Faceville and the mouth of the river. Throughout the greater part of its cour e, the river has cut its channel at least 15 feet below its floodplain.
Muckalee Creek and Kinchafoonee reek, rising near the western edge of the Dougherty Plain. unite to form the M:uckafoonee, which enters Flint River above Albany. Coolewahee reek flows southward through a shallow wampy valley to Flint River at Newton. Ichawaynocha.way Creek and its tributary Chick.asawhatchee have shallow swampy valley . pring Creek at Brinson is a clear, cool stream-flowing over a rock-y bottom. It is fed by many large springs. Il enters the Flint. about. 8 miles aboYe the junction with the Chattahoochee.
No large streams enter the Flint from the east. The river in few places lies more than 15 miles west of the divide separating it from other drainage basins. In the latitude of Fort Valley the head of Big Indian Creek, a tributary of Ocmulgee River, lies less than three miles from the Flint.
Chattahoochee sy tem. Although it is a much longer and la:raer stream than the Flint, Cha tahoochee River drains only 1,800 square miles within the Coastal Plain, less than one-third as much as the Flint. The Chattahoochee receives a much larger proportion of it water from outside the Coastal Plain, and consequently i muddier and more highly discolored than the Flint. Like the Flint, the hattahoochee has intrenched its channel in its flood plain. Except for the lower 17 miles, Chattahoochee R iver has little swamp. Outcrop of rock are many.
There are no large tributaries of Chattahoochee River within the Coastal Plain of Georgia above the mouth of the Flint. Upatoi Creek, Bannahatchee Creek and Pataula Creek are the mo t important. Nearly all the tributaries enter Chattahoochee River through deep, narrow gorges, but upstream the valleys widen. The grades of these treams are not adjusted to a permanent base le"' el, but are steeper near their mouths than intheir intermediate cour es. This fact indicates that the master stream, Chattahoochee River has within recent times cut i channel below its ancient grade and that lhe tributary streams are now in the process of adjustment to the new base level.
Smaller sy terns. An area of about 800 square miles lying between the Ogeechee basin and the Altamaha basin is drained chiefly by North and onth Newport rivers and by Sapelo River. These are short streams, subject to tide throughout their lower cotiTSeS, which flow into the estuaries back of the sea islands. Similar areas of 340 and 100 square miles> between the mouths of Altamaha, atilla.. and t . Marys ri ers are drained by Turtle River Little Satilla River, and Crooked River.
The headwaters of Aucilla River drain a triangular area of 80 square miles adjacent to the Florida line in Thomas, Brooks, and Grady counties

50

GEOLOGICdL SURVEY OF GEORGid.

PONDS, LAKES, AND SINKS
The lakes and. ponds of the Coastal Plain of Georgia may be divided Into three group depending upon the origin of the containing basin, whether it be (1) an abandoned river channel, (2) an original depression. or (8) a olution hollow.
Old cut-offs and other abandoned.ri,er chann on the flood plain and in the wamp of th laro-er reams are fill d with water during floods and the dirty water trapped in them nally r mains until the ucceeding freshet. Lake of this kind are common along avannah River and ome are found along all the large reams.
The old sea floor exposed by the withdrawal of the water from the several coastal terraces has been so little modified by erosion that many of its original inequalities still persist. Rainwater accumulates in shallow depressions with no outlet and converts them into ponds or lakes. Some are so small that they dry up during summer; others retain water throughout the year and are permanent lakes. Most of them are more or less swampy and many are thickly overgrown uy cypress. Okefenokee Swamp occupie the largest natural depre sion of this kind in Georgia and the lakes in. it ar remnant of a much larger body of water. Banks Lake near Milltown. Lanier ounty although its level has been .raised by damming one of its outlet probably i of this type.
Depressions or sinks formed by the solution of beds of limestone underground and the ettling of the overlyin , material are common in many parts oi the Coastal Plain. The Dougherty Plain is dotted w:ith them (see Plate XII-A); there are a good many along the western edge and some in the interior of the Tifton Upland; the Louisville Plateau is not free from them and both large and mall sinks are found in the coa t.al terraces. All gradations of inks occur from pits with vertical walls to shallow saucer-shaped depres ions with gently sloping sides. Many ink contain water in wet weather and orne are perennial ponds. The water level in nearly all varies with the easons; in many it coincides with the ground-water level of the surrounding region. Some of these sinks are connected by open passages with underground channels which carry away water as fast as it enters but the majority have sandy or muddy bottoms through which the water percolates more slowly.
The largest lakes occupying solution hollows are in the southern part of Lowndes County. The town of Lake Park is in the Inidst of them. They are beautiful expanses of clear water fringed with mosshung trees. Ocean Pond, at the southwestern edge of Lake Park is the largest. Its area as mapped by the U. S. Bureau of Soils is a trifle greater than one square mile. Long Pond, less than half a mile north of Ocean Pond, and half as large, appears to have been formed by the coalescing of three or more smaller ponds. Its gently sloping sandy banks afford no exposures of rock. The bottom is gently shelving. The beach at some places is clean sand, but elsewhere it is covered with a scanty growth of water grasses. The water level in August, 1928, was 15 feet below the road at Concord School, but is said to fluctuate with the seasons. Sinks are so numerous in southern Lowndes,

COASTAL PLAIN OF GEORGIA

51

Brooks, Thoma , Grady and Decatur counties that some writers regard this region as an independent topographic division and designate it "Southern lime-sink region. 1

SWAMPS

It is estimated that eigh million acres, 12,500 square miles, of land in Georgia lack good drainage. ot this enormous area, all but 700,000
acres lie within the oastal Plain. Three million, eight hundred thou-

sand acres are swamp or subject to periodical overflow. Tidal marsh accounts for about 352,000 acres. 2

Leaving out of account the tidal marshes, which are discussed on

page 22 swamps may be divided into two classes, river swamp and upland swamp. River , wamps are simply flood plains that lie so little

above the normal water level of the streams that they are flooded by even a slight r h t. Upland swamps are not flood plains in the usual meaning of the term. and are generally not associated with well defined water com . They a.re ituated in inter tream areas. By the use of the word upland it is not intended to imply that the swamp so called lies at a considerable altitude for many swamps classified as

upland are less than ten feet above ea level.

Nearly ever tr am in the Coastal Plain of Georgia, particularly in the area east of the Flint River basin is bordered by strips of v;ramp.

Along orne tream the wamps extend to the very head and may merge there with wamp of the-upland type. Other streams that head in better drained country enter swamp in !.heir lower courses. The river swamp rang in width from a narrow fringe to several miles. The swamp along the uavannah at the mouth of Brier Creek is 47{ miles wide; the Ogeechee swamp oppo"ite Egypt is S miles wide the wamp above the head o:f tide on Altamaha River i more than 6 miles wide.
The width of river swamps depends, in large measure, upon the topo-

graphy of the adjacent area.

mer Most

"ramp are overflowed only occasionally. The greater

part of the tim they ar above water level . Peat can accumulate in

them ont in exceptionally low places. The soil in them, therefore, is

chiefly sand and mud mingled with leave and pie<.-e of wood. 'I'hese

swamps are crossed by a labyrinth of runways which carry off the

flood waters. Abandoned channels, frequently full of water, are common. The river wamp as a rule, are forested mth a con idera.ble

variety of trees. Beside bald cypress, black gum, and other water-

loving tr.ees, the higher parts of the swamp contain many SQeCies that

are not injured by occasional floods but will not tolerate constant ub-

mergence. Underbrush, except in the cut-over places, is generally

thinner than in the upland swamps.

The water level in upland swamps fluctuates less than in river swamps. It is affected little, if at all, by distant rains. The effect

1 Veatch, Otto, Geology of the Coastal Plain of Georgia: Georgia Geol. Survey Bull. 26, p;p. 34-35, 1911.
. Brantley, J. E., and Phillips, J. V., Wet and overflowed land in Georgia:
Georgia Geol. Survey Bull. 32, p. 108, 1917.

52

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF GEORGIA

of droughts is shown chiefly around the edges w.here a slight lowering of the level may expose a large area to the air. Many aquatic plants which do not thrive in the river swamps find a congenial habitat in the more uniform upland swamps, but trees and shrub that need to be dry during the growing season are drowned out.
Upland swamps develop wherever the rainfall is in excess of the loss of water by run-off, by evaporation, and by the expiration of plants. The prime .factor affecting the rate of run-off is the lope of the surface but even on teep lopes the run-off may be greatly retarded by a tangled mas of vegetation. Evaporation also is diminished by a cover of vegetation. H sufficient water is retained to prevent the complete decay of the veg table wast w.hicb falls to the ground, peat is formed and may accumulate to a considerable depth.
The flatnes of the coastal terraces of Georgia. the humidity of the atmo phere. the even distribution of the rainfall throughout the year and the mild climate are conditions e pecially fa, orable for the formation and pe tence f -wamp-. Lar e areas on all the oastal terraces are swamp.

Olmfenokee Swamp. Th large l aucl:mo ;t notabl upland wamp
in Georgia i the Okefenokee. It extends from a point about 5 miles
south of W-aycross southward a di-tance of about 39 miles to an ill-
defined termination a few miles beyond the tate line. It east ern edge, part of which shown ill plate IX i sharpl marked by Trail Ridge,
and i nearly straight it western edge is made ver ' crooked by pro-
jection that extend from the main area of the swamp up the valleys of all the tributary treams. The area of the swamp i computed to be
about 660 AUare mile . Okefenokee wamp occupies part of the
divide between the Atlantic 0 ean and the Gulf of Mexico. Part of
it drains outbward into the headwater of 't. 1\Ia:rys River, but the !!Teater part of it water pa ses westward into uwanee River. Much of the wamp i for sted but there are withill it pat he ' of gras y p:ra.irie imilar to the EYerala.de of Florida many quare mil in extent, the monotony of which i relieved by occa ioual clttrnp of bushes and trees. Although there are man, small lake within kefenokee wamp none are compruable in size to Lake Drummond in Dismal wamp or to Lake keechobee in the Everglade .

The 1rrface of Okefenokee ' wamp slope ver. gently toward the south~-est. Tb northeastern part lie a little higher than HO feet above e-a le,el; the outhwe tern part a few feet lower.

Okefenokee wamp contain - many islands which do not differ

much from the urrow1ding mainland. They are fiat that rainwater

drains awa Yery slowly. The ground is carpeted with aw palmetto,

heath pl.'l.ot~ uch a huckleberries, blueberrie and all berrie-, sedges,

and otl1er small herb . The andy interior part of Lhe islands are

forested with lonu-leaf and sla h pine but th more fertile margins of

hammock land support a luxuriant growth of live oak, water oak.

magnolia. bay arid et gum. Plate :A.rvii- . bows a pine forest

on Billy I land. Black .Jack Island Bugaboo I: land, and C'owhouse

Island are worthy of mention.



PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY OF GEORGIA

PLATE XVII

A. PRAIRIE .

Photographs by S. W. McCallie.

OKEFENOKEE SWAMP B LAKE AND CYPRESS BAY.

C. BILLYS JSl,A:'<D

COdSTAL PLAIN OF GEORGid

53

Many of the island adjoin cypress "bays" in which the swamp muck is too deep for pines to grow. Pond cypress, black gum, and several kinds of bay trees, all heavily festooned with Spanish moss, are the principal trees of the bays. The undergrowth of shrubs is tied into an impenetrable jungle by smilax, muscadine grapes, and other vines.
Some of the islands are surrounded by sphagnous bogs in which the muck and water is covered by 4 to 6 feet of sphagnum moss, thick and dense enough to walk upon but quivering under foot in a manner to suggest the name Okefenokee, which means "trembling earth." Great numbers of large pitcher plants carpet the boggy places.
Much of the eastern part of Okefenokee Swamp consists of great everglades called "prairi~" (see Plate XVII-A). These everglades are not prairies in the usual meaning of the term, for they are partly covered by water. The water over most of them is shallow enough to permit a rank growth of grasses and water lilies but in some places is deep enough to form open lakes. Grand Prairie, which contains more than 50 square miles, is probably the largest. Within it are Gannett Lake, Buzzards Roost Lake, Coward Lake, Seagrove Lake, and several smaller bodies of water. Chase Prairie, Territory Prairie, and Durdin Prairie, which connect with Carters Prairie, lie farther north. Okefenokee Canal passes through several of these prairies and cuts across Trail Ridge at Camp Cornelia. Within the prairies are many small islands or cypress "heads" covered with cypress trees and evergreen vines and bushes (see Plate XVTI-A and B.)
The water in Okefenokee Swamp is not stagnant but most of it is perceptibly in motion. The current is strongest in the runways which cut through the cypress bays and form a very crooked system of watercourses which finally unite to form Suwanee River.
The fastnesses of Okefenokee Swamp form a retreat for many kinds of wild animals which have been almost exterminated on the mainland. Alligators and turtles find a congenial home in the bays and ponds; ducks and other water fowl frequent the prairies; great owls doze in the shady cypresses while wild turkeys and quail seek their livelihood on the islands.
As has beenexplained on page 31 of this volume,OkefenokeeSwamp occupies what was once the deeper part of "Okefenokee Sound," a body of salt water partly shut off from the open ocean by a sand spit and barrier reef now called Trail Ridge (see Plate X-B). When the shoreline retreated to the inner limit of the Penholoway terrace the sound was reduced to a shallow lake with islands and with an overflow outlet through Suwanee River. During the long time that. has elapsed since this lake came into exi t.ence the ~:,rradual accumulation of vegetable waste has nearly filled the ba in with peat. The sandy bottom of the remaining patches of open water and the sandy soil of the islands probably are remnants of the original bottom of the sound, little changed from its original condition. In its earlier stages, Okefenokee Swamp may have resembled Dismal Swamp or the Everglades, both of which are much younger than the Okefenokee.

54

GEOLOGICdL SURVEY OF GEORGld

More detailed accounts of Okefenokee Swamp are contained in the following publications:
Loughridge. R. H., Report on the cotton production of the State of Georgia, with a description of the general agricultural features of the State: Tenth Census of the U.S., vol. 6, pt.~. p. 817, 1884.
Nesbitt, R. T., Georgia: Her resources and possibilities, pp. 244-~48, Atlanta, 1895.
Carr, M. E., and Tharpe, W. E., Soil survey of the Waycross area: Field operatiom of the Bureau of Soils, 1906, p, 880, 1908.
Harper, R. M ., Okefinokee Swamp: Popular Science Monthly, vol. 74, pp. 596614, 1909.
Veatch, Otto, Physiography, in Veatch and Stepheson, Geology of the Coastal Plain of Georgia: Georgia Geol. Survey Bull. ~6, pp. 44-49, 1911.
McCallie, S. W. Drainage Reclamation in Georgia: Georgia Geol. Survey Bull. 25, pp. 14-19, 19ll.
Wright, A. H., and Harper, Francis, A biological reconnaissance of Okefinokee Swamp: The Auk, vol. 80, pp. 477-505, Oct., 1918.

THE PROVINCES OF APPALACHIAN GEORGIA

I

By Laurence LaForge

LOCATION AND DISTINCTIVE CHARACTERS
Northern or Appalachian Georgia. including about 40 pet cent of the area of the tate, i a part of the Appalachian region, which comprises much of the eastern portion of the United tales and all of Canada south of St. Lawrence River. In Gwrgia, as throughout the Atlantic eaboard outh of New York, the Appalachian region is bordered on the outheast by the Coastal Plain, already described. On the northeast north and we t the boundarie of the Appalachian region lie far outside the limit of the State.
Appalachian Georgia differs from the Coastal Plain in several wa s. It is an upland area, who e upland surface i nearly everywhere more than 500 feet above sea level and rises to about 2 000 feet at the north. lVIost of the valleys that trench the upland are several hundred feet deep, and here and there eminences rise seYeral hundred feet above the general surface of the area which thus has considerable relief. The northeastern and northwe tern parts a.re mountainous and in the northwestern part the mountains are mainly long, narrow ridges that have the _ame general trend . In all these respects Appalachian Georgia differ notably rom the Coastal P lain.
The rocks of . ppalachian Georgia. ~re indurated and t hose of the greater part of the area are also crystalline. Everywhere they have been much deformed, o that the structure of this part of the 'tate is of the ort known as disordered. On most 1 vel or gently sloping areas the rocks are d:i integrated to a depth of many feet and the surface i largely formed of residual materiaL Outcrop of olid rock are, in general, confined to summits steep lopes tream channels, etc. In all these respects, also, Appalachian Georgia diHer from the Coastal Plain.
DIVISIONS AND BOUNDARIES
Appalachian Georgia can be divided into two quite unequal portions. fu the larger one ometimes caUed the ' crystalline area," from the character of it rocks the topo~aphy in its broade. aspects, seems to lack sy tern, and, with only rumor exceptions the relief features and the course of the treams, except. Chattahoochee River, show little indication of conforming to a prevailing structural trend. This part also, has rather trong relief, e pecially in the northeast, developed on crystalline rocks of highly disordered structure.
The smaller portion, sometimes called the "Paleozoic area," from the geologic age of its rocks, lies northwest of the other, from which it differs in several respects. Its topography is not so diverse and is more systematic. Most of the larger features of the relief are linear, with a well-defined trend, which is shared by the courses of the main

56

GEOLOGICdL SURVEY OF GEORGIA

streams except in the broadest valleys. The structure, although much disordered, is less so than in the "crystalline area," and the valleys, especially the wider ones, owe their existence and trend to the structure instead of being merely stream trenches. The rocks are not crystalline, except in part at the eastern side of the area.
The boundary between the "crystalline area" and the "Paleozoic area" is nearly everywhere well marked by a bold westwardfacing or northwestward-facing escarpment, 300 to 700 feet high. This crosses tne Georgia-Tennessee boundary at a point 2 miles east of Tennga, on the L . & N . Railroad and extends southward just east of Chatsworth Fairmount and Cartersville to Etowah River. Thence it continues southwestward and westward, a little west of Braswell and a little south of Rockmart and Youngs, and crosses the Georgia-Alabama boundary at a point a mile south of Esom Hill station on the Southern Railway. On the whole this boundary is better defined than that between Appalachian Georgia and the Coastal Plain.
Each of these two parts of Appalachian Georgia includes two divisions of very unequal size. These four divisions: the Highland, the Central Upland, the Valley and the Lookout Plateau, are the four physiographic provinces of Appalachian Georgia. Each is part of a province of the Appalachian region and includes all of that province within the State. Thus the Highland is part of the Appalachian Mountains, the Central Upland is part of the Piedmont Upland, the Valley is part of the Appalachian Valley and Ranges, and the Lookout Plateau of the Appalachian Plateaus.
The Highland and the Central Upland on one side and the Valley on the other side are separated by the escarpment just described. The boundary between the Valley and the Lookout Plateau is defined by the eastern slope of Lookout Mountain. The Highland and the Central Upland, however, are not separated by a definite boundary, but by a zone in which spurs of the mountains and fingers of the Upland are so mingled that any boundary that can be drawn must be very crooked and so much generalized that its delineation is largely a matter of personal judgment.

THE CENTRAL UPLAND

57

THE CENTRAL UPLAND
GENERAL RELATIONS
The greater part of Appalachian Georgia is a broad upland which crosses the middle of the State between the Highland and the Valley on the north and the Coastal Plain on the south. It has an area of about 18,100 square miles and comprises approximately 78 per cent of Appalachian Georgia or 31 per cent of the whole State.
This Central U_pla:nd is part of the Piedmont Upland province of the Appalachian region. In Georgia it occupies ten times as much area as the mountainous Highland, so that most of it cannot be literally "at the foot of the mountains," and the name Piedmont is therefore in a measure misleading. Hence the name Central Upland has has been given to the part of the province within the State, to express its relation to the other divisions.
In its general character the Central Upland is essentially an upland area of fairly strong relief, developed through repeated and long continued wearing away of a region of disordered crystalline rocks which nearly everywhere have been deeply weathered and disintegrated. The rocks have not been much deformed since -remote geOlogic times and the movements of the earth's crust in this area during and ince the development o the general upland surface have been of the gentler sorts. Nevertheless they were so numerous and so varied in their effects on the genesis of the present urface r-elief that the Upland is by no means so uniform in character as is often commonly assumed after a hasty general view of it.
A_ knowledge of the Central Upland aerived only from what can be een on a few journeys across it on different routes would seem to justify the conclusions that, excE'pt in two or three relatively smaJl district its topographic character is much the same throughout, and that no well marked subdivi ion ean be recognized. Detailed study of the field, however upplemented, as is necessary in uch a region. bv equally detailed study of the topographic maps, shows that a number of different types of topography can be distinguished. In making such distinctions it is ueces-ary to consider not only the general form of the surface and the larger features of the relief, but all the elem-ents of the topography as outlined in a previous chapter, including the drainage pattern, which in many districts, ls one of the most important elements.
SUBDIVISIONS AND BOUNDARIES
The Central Upland is bounded on the northwest by the Valley, on the north by the Highland and on the south by the Coastal Plain, and extends northeastward into outh Carolina and westward into Alabama. The boundary between it and the Valley is nearly every-

58

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF GEORGIA

where well defined by an abrupt escarpment, 300 t o 700 feet hiah facing the Valley. Although there i a marked difference in Lhe general topography of the Upland and of the H ighland the boundary
bet ween them is not well defined . This is because t he two type-S of topographv are intermingled in a belt se,eral miles wide in whiCh
spurs of low mountains extend from the Highland into the Upland and lobes of plateau from the Upland penetrate the Highland. The upland surface and the foothill slopes merge so that any boundary must be, in a measure, arbitrary in many places.
On the southern side of the Upland the boundary between it and the Coastal Plain is also difficult to delineate, but for a different reason-lack of sufficient topographic distinction. In only a few places in Georgia, are the two provinces separated by an escarpment or other marked topographic line. As a rule the generally flat surface on the main divides extends from one province into the other without a break and the main valleys are of about the same depth in each.
The Central Upland may first be considered as comprising two sections here named Midland Georgia and Piedmont Georgia. (See fig . 3.) The line between them crosses Tugaloo River just below the gorge through Chattooga Ridge and follows rather closely, as far as Newnan, the divide bet ween Chattahoochee Riv .r and the streams flowing southeastward. Beyond Newnan it is rather indefinite, but it continues on a southwesterly course, crossing the Chattahoochee near Franklin and passing into Alabama near Texas in Heard County. These two sections correspond roughly to the two regions long recognized in central Virginia and there called Piedmont Virginia and Midland Virginia. The southeastern section includes the indefinite area locally called Middle Georgia, and the name Midland is appropriate for other reasons also. The northwestern section is called Piedmont Georgia, although perhaps less appropriately as very little of it is a true Piedmont area, nevertheless it is analogous in several important respects to the Virginia Piedmont.
The most striking difference between the two sections is in their drainage patterns, which are quite unlike, and they are more easily distinguished on a drainage map of the State than on a contour map. The streams of Midland Georgia flow southeastward to the Atlantic and southward directly to the Gulf, those of Piedmont Georgia flow southwestward and westward to reach the Gulf. The drainage pattern of Midland Georgia is dendritic, that is, each river system resembles a branching tree. The main streams flow across the trend of the rock structure in the direction of the general slope of the upland, and branches flowing directly along the trend of the structure are rare. The drainage pattern of Piedmont Georgia has no definite system or relation to other elements of the topography. The main streams, however, are for much of their length of the sort called longitudinal, that is, they flow along the trend of the rock structure, and there appear to be vestiges of a former trellised drainage pattern, one resembling the arrangement of the stems of a grapevine on a trellis. Another striking feature of the drainage patterns is

THE CENTRAL UPLAND

59

that, on a drainage map of the State, Midland Georgia is not distinguishable from the Coastal Plain, as both areas have the same sort of dendritic drainage pattern. ....imilarly :Piedmont Georgia ha;s the same sort of drainage pattern as the Coosa Valley portion of the Valley, from which it is not distinguishable on a drainage map. The Hi<rhland also is barely di tinguishable irom Piedmont Georgia on ucb a map .
Although the difference in their types of drainage patterns is the most striking distinction between the two sections, they are also distinct in other ways. Piedmont Georgia has considerable diversity of relief. Its general upland surface, which slopes in different directions in different parts, is broken by scattered residual hills and small mountains, technically called monadnocks, which stand 100 to 1,000 feet above the general surface. In some areas these form small mountain groups. Excluding the numerous monadnocks the general upland surface is not very smooth, and some parts of it are so completely and deeply dissected that its upland character is disguised and it appears to be an irregularly hilly tract It is drained in several directions-southeastward to Savannah River, southwestward by the Chattahoochee, westward by the Tallapoosa, and northwestward to Coosa River. Variety, therefore, characterizes the topography of most of Piedmont Georgia.
Midland Georgia differs from Piedmont Georgia in all the respects recounted above. Except in some rather small areas it has little diversity of relief and the strikingly smooth surface of the upland slopes generally southeastward. Outside of one district, monadnocks are few and small and in large parts of the section there are none. The main river valleys, though deep, are narrow, and the upland character of the region is still distinguishable close to them. The drainage is all in one general direction and most of it flows directly to the Atlantic. Uniformity, therefore, characterizes the topography of most of Midland Georgia.
Each section includes several districts with different types of topography, (Figure 3). These districts so merge that in many places no definite boundaries can be drawn between them, even though the types of topography are fairly distinct outside the zones of merging. The boundaries as now drawn are to be regarded as merely approximate except in a few places. The districts that they separate are of minor rank and seem hardly worth recognition. Their use is justifiable, however, for convenience in description, if for no other reason, but they are by no means without scientific value as well.
Another help in the delineation of the districts is the fact that the Central Upland is not a single upland, but is made up of several that lie at different altitudes and are to some extent of different origin. Piedmont Georgia comprises three fairly distinct parts, each of which can be subdivided into several. Those of higher rank are fairly distinct and deserve recognition and naming. They are: the Dahlonega Plateau, in the northern part of the section; the Atlanta Plateau, across the middle part; and the Tallapoosa Upland, in the western

60

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF GEORGIA

part. Midland Georgia also comprises three topographic districts. They are : the Washington Plateau, in the southeastern part of the section; the Midland lope, in the northern and central parts; and the Greenv ille Plateau in the southwestern part. The Greenville Plateau, moreover, includes a district-the Pine Mountain district-which is so distinct as almost to warrant giving it rank as a fourth subsection. It is sufficiently important so that it i named and described separately. The positions and boundaries of the several districts are shown on the index map of the Central Upland, fig. 3.
TOPOGRAPHIC CHARACTER
Some idea of the topographic character of the Central Upland is conveyed in the preceding paragraphs, but the statements are mainly general and in abstract rather than concrete form. A more concrete outline de cription is given below.
The Central Upland is a its name indicates a upland area. It includes some deep valley , but no lowlands and orne mountains and small mountain groups but no highlands such as mountainous area or high plateaus. Its general altitude above ea level is a little less than ~.000 feet along the oulhern base of the Highland and 1 100 to 1,500 feet along its northwe tern margin, ne>..'t to the Valle . Along its outhern margin, adjoining the Coastal Plain, -its altitude i 500 to 700 feet above sea level. The surface, as a whole, de cends southeastward from one ide of the Upland to the other, but the slope is not uniform nor is it everywhere in the same general direction. Several plateaus and upland areas, l ing at different altitudes, are separated from one another, in orne places by loping escarpments, in other places by slopes too broad and gentle to be called escarpments, and in still other places by slopes so gentle that they are not een as slopes in the field, but are brought out by contom maps. The surface of some of the plateaus is made up of two or more platforms, lying at somewhat different levels, and separated by sloping escarpment-.
. The general surface form is also diverse. In some areas residual hills and mountains, standing above the general surface, are so numerous that the true nature of the district is obscured and it appears almost mountainous. In others, the uniform sky line of a nearly smooth upland smface is broken if at all only by a few scattered knobs. Again, in ome place e pecially along main divides, the surface of considerable areas is nearly level and is unbroken by sharp ravines or deep va.lleys. In other places the valleys ar~ deep and
the dissection is o complete that little oi the upland urface is left
and the district appears to be a maze of sharp-topped hills and narrow, winding ridges.
A belt of hilly country earcely recognizable as part of the Upland, so many and large are the re..o;idual. mountains that stand above the general level, and so deep and sharp are the valleys that are cut below it, forms the northern portion of the Upland, along the southern base of the Highland. This is the district _named the Dahlonega

THE CENTR.tJ.E UPL.dND

61

Plateau (See fig. 3.), the only truly "piedmont" country in Georgia. The general altitude of its surface is 1,800 feet or more close to the base of the Highland and about 1,400 feet near the southern margin of the district.
Southwest of the Dahlonega Plateau lies the Atlanta _plateau (See fig . 8.) a. broadly rolling area that extend across Piedmont Georgia from the Valley t o the Midland Slope and whose plateau sudace lies 1,000 to 1,300 feet abo e the sea level. A few residual mountains, most of them rather large and high, stand above it, and it is traversed by several deep but rather flaring river trenches.

[~---

.\ VAL

,..
t
COA5TAL PLAIN
Figure 3. The topographic divisions of the Central Upland.
Southwest of the Atlanta Plateau the general altitude of the surfaces increases again to a fairly rugged upland that extends into Alabama, w.here it becomes almost mountainous along its -western margin. This is the Tallapoosa Upland (See fig. 3.), whose surface, in Georgia, lies 1,100 to 1,300 feet above sea level but is rather more deeply and sharply dissected than that of the Atlanta Plateau. In this district residual summits bold enough to be called true monadnocks are few and small.
These three districts constitute Piedmont Georgia. Southeast of that section is another-Midland Georgia-which occupies the larger part of the Central Upland and i:n which three, possibly four, other districts are recognized. There are no topographic maps of

62

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF GEORGIA

a large part of this section and detailed knowledge of its surface form is incomplete. If it were as well mapped as Piedmont Georgia possibly more districts would be distinguished.
Southwestern Midland Georgia-roughly all that part west of the divide between Flint and Ocmulgee rivers-is the Greenville Plateau (See fig. 3.) This is a nearly level plateau whose generally smooth surface lies 800 to 900 feet above sea level. Southeastward it descends to 600 feet and southwestward to 500 feet at the margin of the Coastal Plain. Except in the P ine Mountain district the plateau is almost unbroken by monadnocks, and it is not deeply dissected except along the ,-alleys of Flint and Chattahoochee Rivers. Outside of the Pine Mountain district it is the most generally uniform part of the Central Upland.
The Pine Mountain district is very different from the rest of the Greenville Plateau, which it extends completely across a little south of the middle. It is a district characterized by long and, in part, very inuou , bold r idges that stand 300 to 500 feet above the plateau surface. The sides of the ridges are steep and rough and the gorges that are cut through them in some places have a wild picturesqueness in riking contrast to the subdued character of the scenery of most of the Plateau.
The Washington Plateau (See fi . 3), occupies the southeast ern p a.rt of Midland Georgia, nearly half of the section. I t is a broadly rolling area whose general urlace lies 600 t o 800 feet above sea level in mo t of the dist rict , but descends gently oulheastward t o about 500 feet along the margin of the Coast al Plain and in the valley of SaYannah Ri er. Grave M oun tain in Lincoln County, is almost the only conspicuous monadnock in the whole district, though there are half a dozen other small ones. In most of the area there are none. Near the valleys of the main rivers, especially toward the southern margin of the district, the surface is rather deeply dissected, but on the divides great areas of nearly level land extend for miles.
The Midland Slope (See fig. 3) is a belt 15 t o 30 miles wide extending from avannah River southwe tward t o Ocmulgee River and thence southward west of the Ocmnlgee to the Coastal Plain. This belt lie between t he Dahlonega Plateau, the At lanta Plateau, and the Greenville Plateau on one side and t he Washington Plateau on the other side, and across it the surface descends 300 to 600 feet from the higher districts on the north and west to the lower plateau on the southeast. A few small monadnocks stand above its surface, which, on the whole, is smooth, but is rather deeply cut by the valleys of the streams flowing southeastward across it.
The diff.erences in the drainage patterns of the two section. of the Central Upland haYe alreadv been briefly discussed. There are few individual peculiarities in the several districts, as in each of the sections the whole area, besides much adjacent territ ory, has the same general drainage pattern. All Piedmont Georgia, except its southeastern margin, is drained by four main streams with sout hwesterly cour es roughly parallel to the structural trend but largely in-

THE CENTRdL UPLdND

63

dependent of the directions of slope o the upland surface. All Midland Georgia., with a fringe of Piedmont Georgia, is drained by six main river with southeasterly or southerly courses directly across the trend of the structure but in the direction of the general slope of the upland urface.
The Dahlonega Plateau is drained by short streams flowing down from the Highland in rather direct courses to the lower districts beyond. All these streams except some of those in the Coosawattee Basin flow southeastward across the northern part of the Atlanta Plateau and join the master streams nearly at right angles. The southern and western parts of the Atlanta Plate.au are drained in everal dir ctions to Etowah and Chattahoochee riYer . The Tallapoosa Upland has its own drainage sy tem nearly all it surface water flowing southwestward to Tallapoosa. River. Piedmont Georgia. therefore, shows little evidence of system in its present drainage patt ern, except the fact that the main streams flow southwestward in the general direction of the struct ural trend.
In Midland Georgia, almost the only noticeable differences in the drainage patterns are those between the Greenville Plateau and the rest of the section. All the urface water of the Midland lope and the Wa hington Plateau flows directly to the Atlantic through four main river system . The nrlace is rather closely dissected by hjghly developed dendritic drainage and nearly all tributaries join the trunk streams at acute angle . Only a few of the larger ones flow for any considerable distance parallel to the structural trend and the courses of the minor ones are independent of the structure. The Greenville Plateau, however, is drained southward to the Gulf, through two river systems, and the surface is not so closely dissected as in the Washington Plateau. The drainage pattern in the Flint River basin is partly dendritic, but about half its tributaries flow nearly parallel to the structure Almost all those of the Chattahoochee from the Greenville Plateau flow parallel to the structural trend, but some have begun to develop dendritic patterns in the upper part of their basins.
These differences in the drainage patterns of the different parts of the Central Upland and the extension of those patterns into adjacent territory are among the most striking topographic features of Georgia. They must not be overlooked in discussing the topography, as they furnish important and critical evidence regarding its manner of development.

64

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF GEORGIA

PIEDMONT GEORGIA
THE DAHLONEGA PLATEAU
The northernmost and highest sub-division of Piedmont Georgia is called the Dahlonega Plateau, from its extensive and typical development about Dahlonega, in Lumpkin County, where large areas of it can be well seen(See pl.XVIII-A),from points, like Crown Mountain, which stand slightly above the general upland level. This sub-division is an irregular belt stretching across the northern end of the Central Upland and borclel.'ing the southern margin of the Highland from the great escarpment on the west to the eastern boundary of the State. It ranges in width from more than ~0 miles in western Gilmer and Pickens counties to only a few miles in western Dawson County and again on Tugaloo River. It is sharply cut off on the west by the escarpment and eastward it extends into South Carolina. Its northern boundary is the irregular and ill-defined southern margin of the Highland, and it southern boundary, although somewhat less irregulal', is le well defined and is not easily represented by a line. This boundary begins at the gorge of Pinelog Creek, in western Cherokee County and extends in a general northeasterly direction past Tate and Dawsonville and a little south of Dahlonega and Cleveland to a point near Clarkesv-ille, where it loop back southwestward around Alto and thence extends nearly direcUy northeastward to Tugaloo River.
The Dahlonega Plateau is an irregular bench or platform lying at the base of the mountains and overlooking the lower country on the southeast and southwest. Throughout much of its extent its plateau character is well preserved and is well seen from commanding points, such as Crown ::Vlountain, near Dahlonega, but where the hills and mountains standing above the general surface are numerous and the valleys cut below the general level are sharp and deep the true character of the district as a plateau is neaTly ob cured. The general level of the upland surface is 1,600 to 1,800 feet above sea level. Although it stands several hundred feet higher than the Atlanta Plateau on the sonlh and overlooks that plateau, the two districts are not separated by an escarpment or by a relatively steep and clearly defined slope, but by an irregular belt of broken country aero s which the surface descends from one to the other. Northeast of Alto, however, where the district is bounded on the southeast by the Midland Slope, the two are separated by an abrupt though rather irregular escarpment about 500 feet high which is one of the prominent features of that part of the tate.
The rocks of the Dahlonega Plateau are wholly crystalline and have been greatly deformed, hence the structure is highly disordered. They comprise a number of types that differ considerably in their resistance to erosion and these differences have affected the., development of the minor details of the topography. There is, however, no general relation between the broader features of the surface and

PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY OF GEORGIA

PLATE XVlll

Pholog rnphs (A) Ry Jcrthur Krillt, (R) by .T. P. D. liu/1 , rt11<l (0) b1/ Lourrnce LaForge.
A DAHLONEGA PLATEAU LOOKING EAST FROM CROWN MOUNTAIN, DAHLONEGA. B. CRUMPJ,ING OF ClAY RESIDUAl, FROM SHAllY LIMESTONE UNDER AC'fiON 0~,
GRAVITY ON A STEEP SI,OPE . C. SPHEROIDAL WEATHERING OF A TRAP DIKE

,

THE CENTRd.L UPLd.ND

65

the kind of rock on which they are formed, and these broaderfeatures seem to have been controlled mainly by the course of events during the development of the topography. This was developed entirely by erosional processes affected to a minor extent by the structure. The development has extended through several cycles, separated by uplifts that were possibly accompanied by a slight warping of the surface, but not by strong deformation of the rocks. It seems probable that throughout its history the district has been at or near the heads of the streams, where erosive processes went on vigorously and the resulting surface form was strongly marked. This should be remembered in interpreting the following description.
In the western part of the district the axis of the Burnt Mountain salient of the Highland is prolonged southwestward in the Sharp Mountain range of Pickens County, and in the eastern part the group of large outlying mountains in White County is a wrt of prolongation of the similar but less pronounced salient of the Tallulah Mountains. Because of these broader irregularities in form the district can best be treated as comprising several minor subdivisions, which are not sufficiently important to be named, but are recognized chiefly for convenience in description.
The westernmost of the minor districts comprises that part of the Dahlonega Plateau lying in the drainage basin of Coosawattee River. It forms a lobe of the Central Upland extending northeastward between the Cohutta Mountain salient of the Highland on the northwest and the Burnt Mountain salient on the southeast. It is continuous through the gap at Blue Ridge with the Ducktown Plateau of the Highland province. Its western margin is well defined by the escarpment facing the Valley and it is almost shut in on the other sides by mountains. Its general upland surface, which is rather uneven, lies 1,500 to 1,800 feet above sea level and is so deeply cut by narrow, steep-walled valleys that its true character as a dissected plateau is evident only from a few commanding points. Throughout most of the length of the escarpment along the western margin the upland surface is a little higher than it is a few miles back in the Plateau, but this difference is not marked. In the southeastern part of Gilmer County Talona Mountain and a few other small masses stand 500 to 800 feet above the general upland surface.
The northern part of the area is drained directly to Coosawattee River, which is formed by the junction, at Ellijay, of Ellijay and Cartecay Rivers. The Coosawattee flows in a tortuous trench which is 300 to 600 feet deep, has steep walls and is for the most part very narrow, with practically no flood plain. This trench is one of the striking features of the area. N orth of the Coosawattee the surfa-ee is rough and hilly and the valleys are deep and narrow, but in the southern part of the area, e pe-eially in Pickens County, the upland surface is broadly rolling and the v alleys are mainly shallow and rather open. Two parallel small valleys, separated by a ridge about 300 feet high, e.nend southward from Ellijay t o Talking Rock and constitut e almost the only part of the district in whiCh the topography

66

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF GEORGIA

reflects the rock structure, although traces of the same structural control are revealed in the valley extending northeastward from Ellijay toward Blue Ridge. The eastern one of these two valleys affords an easy route through the district and across the Blue Ridge divide that has been utilized by a railroad line and by a main highway. The topographic character of this part of the district is illustrated by Plate XIX.
The area is rather sparsely settled and a large part of it is still in woodland. The only town of importance is Ellijay, the county seat of Gilmer County. It is adjoined on the southeast by East Ellijay, which is the railroad point and a lumber manufacturing town. The two are situated at the broadest place in the longitudinal valley, where Ellijay and Cartecay Rivers unite to form Coosawattee River, and where the natural routes of travel from several directions converge and cross.
The area just described is separated from the next sub-division by the bold ridge of Sharp Mountain, which extends from a point 3 miles west of Jasper southwestward for about 8 miles (See Pl. XXXII-B.) At the northeast it is separated by a gap of only 5 miles from a western spur of Burnt Mountain, and on the southwest by a gap of only 2 miles from the bold range of Pinelog Mountain. Sharp Mountain is, on the whole, a linear ridge, though it has several prominent spurs on both sides, and its crest is distinctly toothed. Near its northeastern end is a bold conical knob which stands more than 2,400 feet above sea level and is one of the conspicuous land marks of Pickens County.
Sharp Mountain, Burnt Mountain and Pinelog Mountain form the divide between the drainage basins of Coosawattee and Etowah Rivers. Jasper, the county seat of Pickens County, is situated in the gap between Burnt and Sharp mountains, and on a spur of the Dahlonega Plateau just east of the main divide, so that it is easily accessible by railroad and by main highways converging from all parts of the county. Other small areas of the Dahlonega Plateau form the upland surface southwest of Jasper and in the southeastern corner of Pickens County, but most of the county southeast of the divide lies in the belt of broken country where the surface descends to the Atlanta Plateau.
The next sub-division of the Dahlonega Plateau is an irregular bench lying at the base of the Blue Ridge escarpment and extending northeastward from Burnt Mountain to the Tallulah Mountains. Its upland surface lies at a general altitude of 1,500 to 1,800 feet but is deeply trenched by the valleys of the streams that flow across it to the Etowah and Chattahoochee valleys on the southeast. It is not sharply separated from the Atlanta Plateau on the south, but merges into that plateau by a general descent of the upland surface from one district to the other. On the east it is separated by the valley of Soque River from the next sub-division to be described. In Dawson County and the southwestern part of Lumpkin County the upland surface is not much broken by residual eminences, but else-

PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY OF GEORGIA

PLATE XIX

Part of the Talking Rock sheet

THE DAHLONEGA PLATEAU SOUTHWEST OF ELLIJAY Sc ale a~-5-oo
L-~--~~--------'~' ----------------~f~--------------~2b@e~
Contour interval 50 feet Datum is mean sea ltnlel

THE CENTRAL UPLAND

67

wbere they occupy much of the u:rface and give the country the aspect of a belt of foothills rather than that of a plateau. The plateau is well developed, however, in the broad valleys of Chestatee, Chat-

tahoochee and oque Rivers ( ee pL XVITI- .) This ub-division is, therefore, truly a piedmont area, almost the onl - one in Georgia.

As just stated, monadnocks are numerous in this district, especially

in White and Habersham Counties. Three of them, Yonah, Pink, and Walker mountains, stand more than Q,500 feet above sea leveL The summit of Mt. Yonah-one of the most picture,que and famous mountains in the State (See pl. XX-A)-attains an altitude of 3,173 feet and is the highest point in the Central Upland of Georgia. The

view from it is reputed to be the finest in the State. Surrounded as they are by broad stretche of plateau and valley lying :for the mo t

part below 1,600 feet these mountain together with al Pine Skitt,
and Lynch mountains, are among the mo t conspicuou features of northern Georgia. They are aU visible from the Main Line of the
outhern Railway on a. clear day and they add greatly to the attractiveDes of the view in that direction from the train especially if, as is ometimes the case they are seen against the background of the great wal1 of the Blue Ridge in the remote distance, as t.hey are hown in
plate XXX-A.

In striking contrast to the conspicuous monadnocks of the district are the broad, level-bottomed and highly fertile Sautee Nacoochee, and other valleys. The Nacoochee Valley in parti ular i~ far-famed for its beauty which has been celebrated in song and legend, dating

back even to the days of the early Spani h e.'.'plorers. A well-known

Indian mound still remains at its western end and this picturesque

spot and the towering precipice of Mt. Yonah, which overlooks it

on the south, are the cene of many of the romantic Cherokee Indian

legends. and it

A view of part of the Nacoochee Valley i topographic urroundings are hown in

psl.hoxwvn min .pl.

XX-B

Because of the fertility of its broad valleys, the beauty of its scenery, and it mineral weallh formerly more important than now, thi part of the Dahloneaa Plateau is more generally cleared and more thickly etLled than the other part . It is penetrated by only one railroad,

the Gainesville and Northern, which extends northward through Cleveland to the lumber mills at Robertsto wn and Helen, situated

where Chattahoochee River emerges from the mountain gorge at it. head. The area i cro ed, .however, by veral of the main highways

that eA'tend northward acros the Blue Ridge into the Highland. Dahlonega, Lhe county eat of Lumpkin ounty and the chief

town of the district, was, a century ago, the mo important gold mining town in the United States. The gold mines are now nearly all abandoned, but the town still -retains considerable importance as a summer resort and as an educational center. Cleveland is the county seat of White Connty and is growing in importance as a market town mce the construction of the railroad.

The easternmost division of the Dahlonega Plateau is the bold

upland that lies southeast of the Soque Valley and forms the divide

68

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF GEORGIA

between the basins of the Soque and the Tugaloo. This upland is part of what is called the Chattahoochee Ridge. That name. however, is ordinarii. rather loo ely applied to the divide bounding the drainage basin of the Chattahoochee on the southeast and is often used as far southwe t.. a Atlanta or even beyond there, wherea the upland here described extends southwe tward only a few miles beyond Alto. Its surface lies at a genera.! altitude of 1,400 to 1,600 feet and descends slightly northwe tward toward the valley of Soque River and the base of the Tallulah Mountain . It is bounded on the southeast by a bold but rather irregular escarpment where the sur-
face descends about 500 feet in a few miles to the Midland Slope. Southwestward the surface descends more gradually to the Atlanta
Plateau.

Only one monadnock of importance tands above the general
level of this part of the plateau-Griffin Mountain just outh of Cornelia. Although its summit is only a little more than 1,800 feet above sea level, the view from it probably not exceeded in e..'!Ctent and in the
variety of topography displayed by that from any other point in Central Upland, except po ibly Mt. Yonab. "'ituated as it is on the southeastern margin of Piedmont Georgia Griffin Mountain commands an extensive prospect of the eastern part of Midland Georgia
on the southeast and outb. On the north and northwest the eye ranges across the width of the Dahlonega Plateau, with Mt. Yonah and the other monadnocks of White and Habersham counties in the
middle distance and the Tallulah Mountains at the right. Still far-
ther, beyond the Sautee and Nacoochee valleys, is the great escarp-
ment of the Blue Ridge, several of the highest peaks of which can be seen on a clear day. A part of this view to the northwest is shown

in pl. XXX-A.

.

The e carpment that bound this part of the Dahlonega Plateau on the outheast i deeply trenched by the short, swift streams that flow down it and the scenery here is rather different from that elsewhere in the district. The Main Line of the Southern Railway climbs the carp from Ayer rule to Mt. Airy, where it attains the upland and begins the long descent to Atlanta. No exten ive view are presented to the traveler along thi tretch. but the wild mountain gorges in the escarpment are ex"t:remely picturesque. After the train passes Cornelia on the other ide of the divide, howe,er, extensi e and attractive views of the region on the northwest are seen from the trains at several points.

Much of this ea tern part. of the Dahlonega Plateau is a rather rut?aed and wild country, thinly settled and only partly cleared. This
is well illu trated by the view shown in pl. XXX-B of the Talluleh
Gorge, at the northeastern end of the district. Its western side, however descends to the fertile oque ValJey,where there are everal im-
portant town along the line of the railway extendingfrom Cornelia
northward past Tallulah Falls and into North Carolina. Cornelia, at the junction with the Southern Railway, is the most important town in the area. Demorest the site of Piedmont College, is situ-

PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY OF GEORGIA

PLATE XX

A. MT. YONAH J>ROM NAf'OOC'HEE Y ALLEY. C. CANE CREEK FALLS, LUMPKIN COUNTY

Photogra1>hs by S. W . McCallie. B. NACOOCHEE VALLEY. D. TALLY MOUNTAIN, NEAR TALLAPOOSA.

THE CENTRdL UPLdND

69

ated a few miles to the north, and Clarksville, the county seat of Haherham County is a pretty town a little farther up the line. Mt. Airy, just east of Cornelia and on the crest of the divide is apopularsummer resort. Besides the two nilroads mentioned this part of the Dahlonega Plat eau is crossed by the main highways that penetrate the northea tern counties of the State.
The !!Teater _part of the Dahlonega Plateau i drained to the Chattahoochee, either dll:ectly or through Chestatee, oque, and Sautee Rivers. The eastern end is drained by short streams !lowing to the Tugaloo and the western end is in the basin of Coosawattee River though ome of the treams that drain tbis part, especially Pinelog and Sallacoa ereeks flow well out into the Valley before they join the master tream. That part of the plateau lying in eastern Pickens, Dawson, and we tern Lumpkin counties is drained by Etowah River and it- tributaries.
Except in the par drained to Tuga'oo Ri,~er the general course of lhe drainage is, therefore, southwesterly and some portions of the main st ream , e peciaDy in White and Habersham countie , flow in nearly tra.iaht outhwesterly cours parallel to the trend of the structure. Other streams flow outheastward and join the first ones nearly at riaht angles hence there are some trace in the district of a trelliBed drainage pattern, but it is not very conspicuous, and the drainage pattern of most of the area i rather unsystematic. Ther~ are many small ca cade in the district, two of them being pictured in pls. X:X-C and XXIII-B.
THE ATLANTA PLATEAU
The A tlanta Platea.u, which is named from the capital city and metropoli of the tate, situated on the l'lateau near its southeast margi n, occupies the central part of Piedmont Georgia. The district is a broadly rolling upland that ext ends for mile outhward and outhwestward from the belt of broken country that bounds the Dahlonega Plateau on the outh and is about 50 miles wide in its widest -parts and more than 100 miles long. It i bordered on the north and northeast by the Dahlonega Plateau, on the southeast by the Midland lope and the Greenville Plateau and on tbe west by the Tallapoo Upland and the \ alley. It margin facing the ' alley is marked by the escarpment already mentioned several times but the boundary between the Plateau and the Tallapoosa Upland is indefiwte and i a zone of merging rather than a line.
The Atlanta .Plateau compri es two fairly distinct plateaus or platforms, "hich differ in altitude by about ~0 feet. The higher one occupies the northern and northeastern parts o:f the district and the lower one mot of the remainder. They are not separated by escarpment , but by broad slopes descending from one to the other, neverthele each i di tinctly a separate plateau and they clearly lie at dlffe.r nt altitude . The general altitude of the higher one is 1 300 feet or more and that of the lower one is from 1 000 to 1,100 ieet. T he higher one named the Gainesville platform, from its

70

GEOLOG!CdL SURVEY OF GEORGI.d

development about Gainesville, especially just east and southeast of that city. The lower one is named the Fairburn platform, from its development on t.he main divide near Fairburn. So far as been determined, the altitude of the Gainesville platform is about the same throughout its extent. The Fairburnplatformseemsto be highest along a line drawn through Smvanee and Kennesaw mountains and to descend somewhat both northwestward and southeastward from that line. Large areas of the upland surfa<'e in Bartow, Cherokee, and Cobb counties lie below 1,000 feet, y~>t they seem to be parts of lhe Fairburn pla;tfonn.
The rocks and geologic structure of the Atlanta. Plateau are in all respect similar to those of the Dahlonega Plateau and nearly aU the geologic formations of one district extend into the other. The same is true of the relation of the surface form to the structure and the same general statements regarding the development of the surface form hold true in both districts.
Considered, as a whole, the Atlanta Plateau is topographically a mther homogeneous district, as. with only minor exceptions, there are no striking differences in topography in its different portions, hence there are no important minor morphologic divisions. For convenience in description the district may be regarded as being di,;ded longitudinally into three parts by Chattahoochee and Etowah rivers, both of which flow soutltwestward along its length .
The northwesternmost and smallestoftbe three sub-dhisions just mentioned, lying northwest of Etowah River, has so much relief and is so much dissected by valleys that its true character as part of a plateau is obscure. For these reasons, however, its s~enery is more picturesque than that of other part.s of the district, and it is less cleared and less densely settled.
This part of the district is occupied ma.iuly by the higher or Gainesville platform, considerable remnants of which are preserved in northern Cherokee and central D a"son counties. 'f.his platform merges northward and northwestward into lhe broken, hilly country by which the surface ascends to the Dahlonega Plateau. An area in western Cherokee County and the adjacent part of Bartow County is occupied by a group of hills and mountains. The chief of these, Pinelog Mountain, is the largest and, because of its situation at the edge of the upland, perhaps the most conspicuous monach1ock in Georgia. though by oo means the highest, as the altitude of its summit is only a little more than 2,800 feet. Southward from Pinelog Mountain a chain of hills and sm..1.ll mountains whose summits stand 1,000 to 1,800 feet above sea. level e:s.i.ends to Pumpkinvine Creek, a few miles beyond the Etowah. East of the hills, between them and the river, is an area in which most of the upland surface is part of the lower or Fairburn platform, \'ery little of which is developed elsewhere north of the Etowah.
The main valleys of this part of tl1e dislrict are several hundred feet deep and sharply cut, so that the area, as a whole, gives an impression of being a distinctly hilly region, rather than p~Lrt of a. plateau.

PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY OF GEORGIA

PLATE XXI

Pa.rtofthe THE VALLEY AND THE MARGIN OF THE ATLANTA PLATEAU

Stilesboro sheet

SOUTH OF CARTERSVILLE

Sc ale 6'!~oo

t

o

z Miles

~~~~--~~----------~----------~

Contour interval 50 teet

Datum is mean sea level

,.
,'
, .
. .

THE CENTRAL UPLAND

71

The largest and most important valley, that of Long Swamp Creek, has a flat bottom a quarter of a mile or more wide, which has been opened out by the stream along a belt of marble. .Along the west side of th.is marble belt, but on the upland surface where the railroad was built, are ituated the only important towns, T ate, ~elson and Ballground. These are dependent lara-ely on the marble indu try, a t p resent on e of th mo L imporl:ant mineral industries of the Stat e.
The next sub-division of the Atlanta Plateau is the belt, 10 to 25 miles wide, that lies between Etowah and Chattahoochee Rivers and extend southwestward the entire length of t he district . E.~cept at its nort heastern end, which lie wholly in the Chattahoochee basin, t he divide between the two ri ,-er~ lies approximately in he middle of t he belt which thus has tJJe general form of a broad upland. hjghest alonu it. central line and declining somewhat t oward both ides. At its northeastern end this upland merge int o the hilly country bordering the Dahlonega Plateau. Southwe t of thi border zone, the greater part of the upland in Hall, Dawson, and northern Forsyth counties is part of the Gainesville platform, which is well preserved in this area. The remainder of the ub-dh-i ion i occupied chiefly by the Fairburn platform but at its southwestern end it merges into anot her area of broken country where the general levf'l of the urface ascend again to the T allapoosa Upland. In the basin of
weetwat er Cr ek, in Cobh County anrl in that. of AIJ atoona Creek, in obb. Dartow and Paulding counties, large area of the upland surface lie at 1,000 feet or le aboYe sea leYeJ but t hey appear to be part of the lower platform.
The most striking features of this part of the Atlanta Plateau are the mountains which are scattered at intervals along a nearly straight line extending southwestward from Skitt Mountain, at the edge of the Dahlonega Plateau, in northern Hall County, to Lost Mountain, in Cobb County. The largest and most important of these are Suwanee Mountain, in Forsyth County, and SweatandKennesaw mountains, in Cobb County, the last named being one of the most famous mountains in the State. In some parts of this line the adjacent hills or mountains are not far apart, but in other places they are separated by gaps of 12 to 15 miles. Southwest of Chestatee River, which joins the Chattahoochee, these mountains stand on or close to the main divide traversing this section of the Plateau. Several smaller residual eminences stand a few miles to one side or the other of the line, but in most of the rest of this sub-division there are no true monadnocks. The characteristic topography of a small part of the Plateau near its northwest margin is shown in pl. XXI.
As much of the surface is fairly smooth, this part of Piedmont Georgia is more largely cleared and more generally settled than the parts already described and small towns and villages are situated in all parts of it. Most of the sub-division, however, is out of the main lines of travel and there are no railroads, except those radiating westward and northwestward from Atlanta, and few cities. The most important cities are Marietta, Canton, and Douglasville, in all of

72

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF GEORGIA

which there is some manufacturing. A characteristic feature of the settlement of the region is the fact that, except Canton, which is on Etowah River, all the cities and larger towns are on the upland and away from the rivers and larger valleys.
The third division of the Atlanta Plateau lies southeast of Chattahoochee River and includes a northeast-southwest belt, from 6 to 15 miles wide and a little more than 100 miles long, between the river and the southeastern boundary of the Plateau. Northeastward it merges into the Dahlonega Plateau in an irregular hilly tract in eastern Hall Count y. Its southwestern termination is indefinite. but it appears t o die out in western Coweta County where it may descend to merge into the Greenville Plateau. Like the central division, it is a rolling upland that is highest along an a.'<:ial line and whose surface descends gradually in both directions from that line. It is unlike that divi ion, however, in that it also decrease steadily in altitude from northeast to southwest.
The outheastern boundary of the Atlanta Plateau i part of the boundary between Piedmont Georgia and Midland Georgia. From ea tern Hall County out hwestward thi line i rather indefinite and not easily determined. In general however it is marked by a change in the attitude of the upland urface from the nearly level Atlanta Plateau t o the . lope descending to lhe lower country on lhe sontheast. This line of change in slope is approximately parallel to the divide bet ween the t ributaries of ihe Chattahoochee and the treams fiowing directly to the Atlantic, but it is everywhere a few miles southeast of the divide. This is because the streams flowing to the Atlantic are slowly encroaching on the other through headward growth and are hifting the divide northwe tward. They do not lower the surface abou t their heads a rapidly as i.hey are growing hea.dward, hence t he line of change oi lope not being shifted northwestward to keep pace with the divide although probably th e t wo line coincided in position when the shifting began.
In the northea tern part of the ub-divi-ion. in Hall County, are seYeral areas of upland that are remnants of the higher or Gaines~viJle platform of the AtJanta Plateau. There are, al o, some rugged areas especially one outh of Flowery Branch. that Land above the level of that platform, but are not sufficiently pronounced to be called monadnocks. Southwe. t of Hall County the upland surface is mainly part of the Fairburn platform. which descend southwestward very gradually to only a little more than 1,000 feet about Newnan, beyond which place there are no t opographic maps of the area. cattered irregular tracts of rougher country due to more resi tant rocks, rise above the upland here and there as far outhwest as northern Clayton County.
f- TheJonly true monadnock in the sub-division is the famous Stone Mountain, in DeKalb County. This great boss of rock, one and onehalf miles long, three-fourths of a mile wide, and rising 650 feet above the upland about its base, is a typical granite dome, such as are common in some parts of the country, but are rather rare in Georgia.

PHYSiCAL GEOGRAPHY OF GEORGiA

PLATE XXIl

l'lwtograp/A by lf. 8. Armu .H Ss>'1!iC .'1/Jll'J,JINF: Vmw OF 8T0l(E MOl!N1'A.TN, T,OOKlNG SOUTHWIN'I.7',

THE CENTRAL UPLAND

73

The mountain owes its shape to the process of weathering known as exfoliation (See pl. XXIII-A), and its sides are now so steep and its t op o well rounded t.hat the loo e material formed by the slow breaking down of the granite under the action_ of the weather is washed away or blown away almost at once and does not accumulate to form soil. There is. therefore, little vegetation on the mountain w.hich is a huge, light gray dome of almost wholly ba.re rock and a conspiciuous object in the landscape, as can be een from the airplane photograph shown in pl. XXII. Because tone Mountain stands so entirely alone and ri es above a rather smooth upland the view from its sum-
mit, although the eye ~anges over hundreds of square miles oi the upland, is impressive only for its extent and is otherwise .rather monot-
onous. On a dear day several of the lone mountains of Cobb and Forsyth counties can be seen, and these and the tall office buildings of Atlanta, 16 miles to the we t are almost the only objects that break the uniformity of the sky-line.
This southeastern division of the Atlanta Plateau, like the central one, includes so much relatively smooth and level upland that it is la.rgely cleared and rather densely settled. The Southern Railway runs approximately along the main divide from Mt. Airy to Atlanta, beyond which city the Atlanta and West Point Railway continues on the divide to Newnan. Along this line are situated the chief cities of the subdivision: Atlanta, Gainesville, Newnan and East Point. Other railroads radiate from Atlanta and main highways reach all parts of the subdivision, which is rather thickly dotted with small cities and large towns.
Except in the narrow strip along its southeastern margin where the streams flow to the Atlantic, the drainage of the Atlanta Plateau is carried entirely by Chattahoochee and Etowah Rivers. Both streams flow southwestward approximately parallel to the trend of the geologic structure, but the Etowah turns westward, breaks through the bold hills at the western margin of the Plateau and flows across the Valley to join the Oostanaula to form the Coosa. The Chattahoochee, on the other hand, turns southward across the Coastal Plain directly to the Gulf. In the western part of the Plateau, where the general surface rises somewhat toward the Tallapoosa Upland, Pumpkinvine and Raccoon creeks, tributaries of the Etowah, and Sweetwater Creek and Dog River, tributaries of the Chattahoochee, flow eastward or northeastward for much of their length before turning to join the main streams. The existence of this "back-handed" drainage, as it is called and its relation to the general slope of the upland, throw light on the probable sequence of events during the development of the drainage and the surface form.
One ef the most important and striking topographic features of the Atlanta Plateau is the great trench of Chattahoochee River, which flows the entire length of the district on a nearly direct southwesterly course. Although rather sinuous in some places, especially in the stretch where it crosses the 84th parallel five times in a few miles, the course of the Chattahoochee in the Atlanta Plateau is remarkably

74

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF GEORGIA

straight compared with those of the o_ther large rivers of Georgia. The stream flows in a trench from 150 to 400 feet or more in depth and from 2 to 5 miles wide from rim to rim. For a little distance below Roswell the trench is practically a gorcre but nearly everywhere else there is some flood plain, nowhere more than half a mile or o in width and generally only a few hundred yards wide. Below the mouth of Peachtree Creek there are remnants of terraces here and there but owing to the lack of good t opographi map and of deta.iled observation no definite statements can be made regarding them. In e\eral plac-es, too, there are trong indications that lhe >alley i double, coru ing of a deeper narrow ,alJey cut in the floor of a wider, high-level valley but on this point again, owin to the lack of detailed information no positive statement can be made.
One of the striking features of the Chattahoochee valley in its course across the Atlanta Plateau is the narrowness of the drainage basin of the river compared with its length. This basin extends almost across the State, from its northeastern end only 5 miles from Tugaloo River for 150 mile outhwestward to the Alabama. tate boundary. Except near it head, where it receive the drainage o the outhern -lope of part of the Blue Rid"'e through Che tatee and oque Ri'ers as well as through it o1Y-n head-waters, Chattahoochee River is joined by no important stream in its ourse aero the tate and most of its tributaries are short and mall. Hence the divid bounding its basin are fairly close to the riYer and the basin i nowhere more than SO mile aero and in some places only 10 miles. Neverthele s the ri er ha cut jt Yalley to such a depth that it trench is, a stated above, on of the notable topographic. features of the Atlanta Plateau.
THE TALLAPOOSA UPLAND
The outhwestern part of Piedmont Georgia i compri ed in lhe district named the Tallapoo a Upland, from the town of Tallapoosa in Haralson County. The district is di tinctly an upland, ;tanding above the surrounding country on all ide and having a di,ersified surface partly smooth_plateau, partl 'ruggedhills, and partl pecially in Alabama, mountainou . It is bounded on the north by the Valley, from which it. i eparated bv the great escarpment, here trending nearly eastward and facing northward already described a the northwestern boundary of Piedmont Georgia. On the ea..t .it i bordered by the dilanta .Plateau from which it is separated by a slope everal miles wi.de, too irregular and gentle to be called an escarpment. On the southeast the Upland is bordered by a strong slope almost pronounced enough to be called an escarpment, descending to the lower country through which hattahoochee RiYer flow . Westward the pland extends some distance into Alabama.
Much of the surface of the Upland seem to be part of the same higher platform at about 1 <100 feet above sea level, of which many remnant are preserved in the Atlanta Plateau, where it is called the Gainesville platform. Other part of the urfac:e have been cut below

PHYSICAL (;EOGRAl'llY CF CE(1RG IA
Photograph s by S. W. M<'Callie , A. SO U THWEST S JJOPE OF STONE MT . SHOWI:\'G EX~' OLIATION CRA CKS B FAI,LS OF SOQU E RIVER.

- ..
,.

THE CENTRAL UPLAND

75

that level and a considerable area in the basin of Little Tallapoosa River seems to be a part of the lower or Fairburn platform, lying between 1,000 and 1,100 feet above sea level. A few small knobs stand well above the general surface, but there are no definitely mountainous tracts in the Georgia portion of the district.
The geologic formations of the Tallapoosa Upland, at least of the part of it in Georgia, are essentially the same as those of the rest of Piedmont Georgia, and they have been deformed in the same fashion. The district has, therefore, essentially the same structure as the others described. Its surface has been developed in the same manner as that of the rest of the section and the development of surface form has been affected to about the same degree by the rocks and structures. Its story, therefore, is practically the same as those of the other districts.
There are no well marked topographic subdivisions of the part of the Tallapoosa Upland in Georgia. Except its northern and southeastern margins the whole district is drained by Tallapoosa and Little Tallapoosa Rivers, which flow southwestward in roughly parallel courses into Alabama, where they eventually unite. Hence, viewed broadly, the district may be regarded as made up of three upland divides, partly separated by the two river valleys, but uniting at their eastern ends into the main divide between the streams flowing southwestward across the Upland and those flowing eastward into the Atlanta Plateau.
The northern stretch of upland extends from the crest of the bounddary scarp, here only 200 to 300 feet high, southward to Tallapoosa River. Its surface is, in general, higher along the crest of the scarp and slopes gently southward, and the divide, which in general traverses the highest ground, is known locally as Dugdown Mountain. The streams that flow northward into the Valley and are tributary to Coosa River are busily engaged in breaching the scarp. Some of them have cut great gulfs in its face, but nowhere in Georgia do any of them appear to have cut through so as to tap any of the drainage on the back slope. On the other hand, one small tributary of the Tallapoosa still rises on the northern slope, just north of Felton, sweeps in a semicircle, and flows southward through the higher ground to the river.
The central stretch of upland, lying between the two rivers, has a more diverse surface, consisting of an irregular and sinuous central ridge, flanked on both sides by smoother upland areas. Scattered over the area are about a dozen irregular tracts of rougher country standing somewhat above the general surface, but only a few of them are sufficiently bold to be classed as monadnocks. Of those only two, Reeds Mountain, east of Bremen, and Tally Mountain, southeast of Tallapoosa (see pl. XX-D), are high enough to be conspicuous as landmarks. Several of these knobs stand almost directly in the prolongation of the line of mountains crossing the central part of the Atlanta Plateau, as described in a previous section, but this apparent relation in position may be purely fortuitous.

76

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF GEORGIA

The southern stretch of upland is neither so smooth as the northern stretch nor so strongly diverse as the central one. The general upland surface along its axis stands 1,100 to 1,200 feet above sea level and rises in places to 1,300 feet. Only one definite monadnock, Blackjack Mountain in the southwest corner of Carroll County, stands well above the general level. The higher tracts along the divide are presumably remnants of the upper platform of the Atlanta Plateau, but they are rapidly being cut away by the short vigorous streams that flow southeastward to the Chattahoochee. These streamsfare actively contesting for possession of the divide with those flowing northwestward to Little Tallapoosa River, and the result is that the upland surface is more completely dissected than in other partsof the district. Along the eastern margin of the Upland there appears to be a similar contest between the tributaries of Tallapoosa and Little Tallapoosa rivers and the streams flowing eastward into the Atlanta Plateau. The eastward-flowing streams appear to have the advantage and already to have made several breaches in the eastern wall of the Upland.
The Tallapoosa Upland is a district of such diverse surface conditions that it is fairly well cleared in some portions and but little so in others. Although crossed by two main railroads, most of the district is rather remote from through routes and there are but few large places, the chief ones being Carrollton, Tallapoosa, Villa Rica and Bowdon, all of which have some manufacturing. As in most parts of the Atlanta Plateau, the settlements are nearly all on the upland and there are no large towns in the valleys.

THE CENTJUL UPLdND

77

MIDLAND GEORGIA
THE GREENVILLE PLATEAU
The westernmost and highest district of Midland Georgia is named the Greenville Plateau from Greenville, the county eat of Meriwether County, near which place the characteristic topography of the district is well displayed. The district is bordered on the north by the Tallapoosa Upland and the Atlanta Plateau on the east by the Midland Slope, and on the outh by the Coastal Plain. Westward it extends into Alabama a considerable distance. Along the southeastern margin of the Tallapoosa Upland the urface descends several hundred feet in a few miles to the level of the Greenville Plateau, which may be regarded as extending to the base of the lope. Owing to lack of detailed information, the position and character of the boundary between the Greenville Plateau and the Atlanta Plateau in Coweta County is uncertain and one district may merge into the other, in the unmapped area in the northern part of the county. The eastern boundary of the Greenville Plateau i of the same sort as the southeastern boundary of the Atlanta Plateau, an indefinite line marking the change from the nearly level surface of the Plateau to the sloping surface of the district called the Midland Slope. The position of this line is not definitely known, because there are no topographic maps of the area, but it coincides approximately with the position of the divide between Flint and Ocmulgee Rivers.
Except in the Pine Mountain district which is so different that it almost deserves to be regarded as an independent division, the Greenville Plateau is a rather smooth upland area lying 800 to 900 feet above sea level in the part north of Pine Mountain. South of Pine Mountain the surface de cends gradually to 700 feet or less at the southern margin of the district. Chattahoochee and Flin rivers flow southward across the district in valleys cut down 200 feet or more, and near these streams the upland surface is considerably dissected by the valleys of their tributaries, but elsewhere there are broad tracts of upland with little relief.
The rocks of the Greenville Plateau, like those of the rest of Midland Georgia, are in general similar to those of Piedmont Georgia, and the geologic structure is also very similar. Midland Georgia differs from Piedmont Georgia, however, in certain respects. Except in snch areas as the Pine Mountain district, the individual sorts of rock generally occupyrather large areas and broad belts of country, instead of narrow strips and small lenticular areas. In these broad areas the strneture, as a rille, is not so highly disordered, or at least so diverse, as elsewhere. Thls comparative uniformity of structure is reflected in the similarly Tather uniform topography.
The Pine Mountain district, which is strikingly different from the rest of the Greenville Plateau in most respects, extends completely across the part of the Plateau in Georgia, and thus furnishes a basis for subdividing the Plateau for convenience in description.

78

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF GEORGIA

The _northern subdi,ision of the Greenville Plateau including somewhat more than ba.lf of its area in Georgia, is a smooth and nearly level upland who e surface stands 800 to 900 feet abovesea level. Here and there are patches of rougher country ri ing a little above the general urface, but there appear to be no true monadnock,unles a small ridge in the northwest corner of Harris County, just southeast of West Point, could be so clas ed. The surface is occupied largely by alternate broad belts of hard r and softer rock, trending southwestward, and the main streams traYer e the belts of softer rock, the divides being formed by the harder belts. There is thus a difference of 100 to 250 feet in altitude between the divides and the valley bottoms. As the streams approach the two main rivers that flow southward across the district, the valleys are omewhat deeper, but nowhere is the upland so deeply and sharply dis ected as i the margin of the Dahlonega Plateau, for example, and there is very little really
rough country.
Because of these favorable conditions thi part of the di trict is largely cleared and ettled, being part o the belt of greate t density of population in the State. The population i al o rather evenly di tributed there being many small towns and villages, but LaGrange and Griffin are the only important ities. Railroad find easy routes across the mooth upland and the district is eros ed by several lines reachin nearly all part of it.
The southern subdivi ion of the Greenville Plateau, including about two-fifths of the area of the Plateau in Georgia, lie- south of the Pine Mountain district. between it and the margin of the Coastal Plain. It is in most respect similar to the northern subdivision, just described, but differs from that subdivision in orne important particular . East of Flint River its upland surface lies nearJy everywhere a little more than 700 feet aboe ea. level, but is rather deeply and sharply trenched by the valley of Flint River and other streams flowing outl1eastward to the Coa tal Plain. In tbj part too the margin of the Coastal Plain lie far up on the upland but the valleys have been cut down through the sedimentary rocks so that the cry talline rocks of the Central Upland extend several miles down the valleys. There i , therefore no well-defined topographic break between the two pro,inces.
West of Flint River the conditions are different. The upland surface slopes gently southward from an altitud of nearly 800 feet at the ba e of Pine and Oak mountains to about 700 feet in eastern Talbot Count and to les than 600 feet in southwestern Harris County. Although a few areas of Coastal Plain rocks are preserved on the margin of the upland, they have been stripped from most of it and along this stretch the upland i bordered by a low but distinct escarpment facing outhward. This escarpment is less than 100 feet high and
scarcely perceptible m eastern Talbot County, but its base descends
westward toward the Chattahoochee and northeast of Columbus there is a marked de. cent of 300 feet or more from the rim of the upland to the margin of the Coa~tal Plain.

THE CENTR.dL UPL.dND

79

Thi ubdivision of the GreenviJJe Plateau i not so much cleared and settJed as the northern ubdivision, and there are relatively few towns. The most important places are Thomaston, East Thomaston and Talbotton. The eastern part of the djvjs.ion in particular is so spar ely settled that for miles along some main roads there are no villages larger tha.n cross-roads hamlets. Columbus the fifth city of the tate, although situated chief! in the Coastal Plain, is just at the southwest corner of the Greenville Plateau and partJy within it. There i a dense suburban population in the part of the district adjacent to Columbus, and several :railroad radiating from that city traver e parts of the di trict. Barnesville the county seat of Lamar County, is situated at the ea tern margin o the Greenville Plateau, a the point where the three divisions of the Plateau adjoin hence it can hardly b said to be in any one of t1tem, but rather to be in all three.
The third subdivi ion of the Greenville Plateau the Pine Mountain district. differ so greatly from the rest of the Plateau that it might well be regarded as an independent di,i ion. In Georgia it completely divide the Greenville Plateau into two parts, but it does not conlinue as a distinct ubdivision, into Alabama where tl1e westward e..""rten ion of the Greenville Plateau is continuou... from its northwestern margin southward to the border of the Coastal Plain.
The Pine Mountain district is a roughly lenticular area, 65 miles long and 10 miles wide at :its middle. It begin on the west at the end of Pine Mountain, on the east bank of Chattahoochee River about 18 miles north of Columbus, and extends east-northeastward to Barnesville, where it appears to die out. The district is characterized by bold, rough. and steep-sided, though not very high, linear ridges, locally called mountain , and they well de erve the .name, for they are mountainous in every respect except their size. At the eastern and western end of the district there i but a ingle ridge which is almost eontinuou throuo-hout it length and which i called Pine Mountain. A line of interrupted short ridges, standing a few miles south of Pine Mountain and known throughout as Oak Mountain begins on the west at Hamilton, in Harris County, and extends northeastward to the outheast corner of Pike County.
At its end Pine Mountain is a rather small and narrow ridge, only 150 to 200 feet above the upland. In it middle portion, in southern Meriwether and northwestern Upson counties, it is extremely irreguJar and sinuous and stands at some places about 400 feet above
the upland. J u t southwest of Warm Springs it i about S miles wide
at its base, and has a broad flat summit standing between l,!WO and l 300 feet above ea level. Southeast of Woodbury, where it is crossed by Flint River the range is looped in nCb. complicated fashion that the river which is there fairly straight, ha cut three gorge through it in 6 miles. These gorges are more than 400 .feet deep and very narrow with nearly precipitous wails, and the scenery of t;his part of the range, as, in fact of nearly all of it is extremely picturesque. Hence, the district has attained some popu1arity as a summer resort, especially

80

GEOLOGICdL SURVEY OF GEORGIA

at Warm Springs, in Meriwether County. The topographic character o this part of the cllstrict is shown on pl. XXIV.
The series of disconnected knobs and short .ridges that make up what i called Oak Mountain is not o sinuous as Pine Mountain and the ridges are not so high o.r broad. In some place~ their UIIllllits stand 800 feet or more above the upland, but most of Oak Mountain is rather low and in some stretches it rises scarcely at all above the surrounding country. It also has its picturesque cenery however, especially where it is crossed by a line of the Southern Railway in e~tern Harris County. In this part of the district the two .ranges are 3 to 5 miles apart and the broad vale between them is essentially part of the general upland of the Greenville Plateau and does not greatly differ from other parts of that upland.
The mountain ridges of the Pine Mountain district owe their ex istence and form to belts and lenses of coarsely granular quartzite that is highly resistant to erosion, much more so than the orts of rock that fonn. the nrrounding upland. 1'he whole mass of the mountain is not formed of quartzite but it is in sufficient quantity and in ufficiently thick bed o that it make a very esistant formation . Furthermore, although it breaks down rather rapidJy when weathered and forms a mass of rubble con istin!? of pebbles and cobbles from the size of a pea up to small boulders, it is very slightly soluble, hence the sheet of rubble, which covers the mountain slopes from top to base, acts as a protecting blanket and has had much to do with pre erving the height and boldness of the ridges.
The belt of rocks that forms the Pine Mountain ridges extends into Alabama, but in that State the quartzite is in rather thin layers interbedded with much les resistant rocks. Hence it does not form bold ridges, as in Georgia, but occupies belts of rough ground ri ing only a little above the upland.
The Pine Mountain district is so rough and the soil is so stony that it is hut sparsely settled and remains largely in woodland. The only important town is Manchester, in Meriwether County, which is a railroad junction and has some manufacturing. Warm pring has considerable repute as a summer resort and summer homes are situated here and there throughout the district.
THE MIDLAND SLOPE
The district here called the Midland Slope includes a belt of territory 20 to 80 miles wide and nearly 150 miles long, in the central and northern portions of MidJand Georgia. It is not straight. hut makes a bend of nearly a right ang1e at South River. From Savannah River it extends southwestward, with a width o SO miles, to South River, w.hench it extends south- ou_thea tward, just west of Ocmulgee River, with a width of ~0 miles, to the border of the Coastal Plain. This part of the district nearly coincide in extent with the part of the drainage basin of Ocmulgee River lying west of that river. The general character of the district is sufficiently inclicated by its name. It is a broadly sloping belt across Midland Georgia by which the gen-

.PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY OF GEORGIA

PLATE XXIV

Part o.t the
Talbotton sheet

PINE MOUNTAIN AND THE GR.F:BNVILLE PLATEAU NEAR WARM SPRINGS

SeeJe 12~10f

. I

.r.

n

_ _ ji Mil tHi

Contour interval 60 feet Dat.wm is mean Sda level

THE CENTRAL UPLAND

81

eral level of the surface decreases from that of the higher Greenville and Atlanta plateaus on the west and northwest to that of the lower Washington Plateau on the east and southeast.
The district is bounded on the northwest and southeast by the others just mentioned and at its southern end by the Coastal Plain, and it extend northeastward into South Carolina. Because of its nature its boundaries are indefinite and not easily determined. Those on the west and northwest have been discussed in the de criptions of the Greenville and A-tlania plateaus. That on the east and southea t is a similarly indefinite line between the sloping sutface of the district and the nearly level upland of the Washington Plateau. The southern. boundary i defined by the margin of the Coastal Plain. Only along the part of the northwe tern boundary where the district adjoins the Dahlonega Plateau is the line which there lies along the base of the escarpment, fairly well defined. OnJy part of the area included .in the district has been topographically mapped and on most of the maps the contour int erval is too large for close determination of the position and slope of the upland surface. None of the part of the district lying west of Ocmulpee River has been o mapped and knowledge of its surface form is meager.
The rocks and st ructure of the Midland lope are nearly the same as those of the rest of Midland Georgia aside from the Pine Mountain district. Its mode of development and the effect of the rocks and structure on the surface form are in general similar t o those elsewhere in the ection, but differ somewhat in detail because of the attitude of the surface. The district may for convenience, be regarded as divided by South River into two parts.
As has been stated, the western part of t.he district nearly coincides in extent with that part of the drainage basin of Ocmulgee River, in Midland Georgia, lying west of the :river. Considered broadly, it is the slope by which the surface descends from the divide on the west to the upland Jevel near the river. The altitude of the upland along
the divide decreases gradually from about 1,000 feet above sea level near Jonesboro, in Clayton County, to about 700 feet near Knoxville, in Crawford County, at the margin of the Coastal Plain, and the surface descends eastward 2.50 to 800 feet from the divide to the margin of the river trench. The area, as a whole, is rather smoothly sloping, without marked topographic features, other than
the valleys of the tributary streams. These valleys are deeper and wider near South River, hence that part of the area has more relief than the part near the divide.
Situated as it is, on the routes from Atlanta to Macon, which is just at the southeastern corner of the area the belt is traversed by two railroads and by the main highway joining the two large cities. The principal cities in addition to Macon are Forsyth, Ja,ckson, McDonough, and Jonesboro. Griffin and Barnesville axe just outside
the district, on the eastern margin of the Greenville Plateau. The western and more level part of the area is generally cleared and settled, but the eastern part, near Ocmulgee River, where the surface is much rougher is less settled.

82

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF GEORGIA

The eastern part of tl1e district lying between outh and avannah rivers, is a similar broadly sloping belt by which the surface descends from the southea tern margin of the Atlanta Plateau and from the base of the escarpment bounding the Dahlonega Plateau to the nearly level upland of the Washington Plateau. The altitude of the northwestern margin of the district is 1,000 to 1,100 feet, and that of the southeastern margin is 750 to 800 feet
Thi sloping belt i rather strongly furrowed by the valleys of the many small streams that flow southeastward across it to be gathered finally in the trunk stream of Ocmulgee, Oconee, and Savannah rivers, but otherwi e it is fairly mooth. Only a few small residual mountains, really only bold, steep-sided hills, .stand above it. The most conspicuous of these are a half-dozen such knobs scattered along a northeast-southwest line extending from west of Covington, in Newton County, to some distance east of Monroe, in Walton County. The best known of these knobs is Alcovy Mountain, south of Monroe, whose summit stands 1,108 feet above sea level and 360 feet above the flood plain of the Alcovy River. The mountain, which is a small knob of quartzite rises almo t directly from the bank of the river, an almost unique ituation for a mona:dnock standing above a baseleveled plain. The topographic character of this part of the district is shown on pl. XXV.
In the northeastern part of the district, a .few mile. onthwest of Toccoa, is Currahee Mountain, whose summit stands more than 1,700 feet above sea level and overlooks all the Chattahoocbee Ridge except Griffin Mountain. Currahee Mountain i so clo e to the base of the escarpment that it might almo t be regarded as an outlier of the Ridge, but it is completely -eparated from the Ridge and surrounded by upland, o it is best considered as a monadnock on the Midland Slope.
Although much of the rougher portion of the area is only partly cleared and i sparsely settled, this division of the district is, on the whole, the mo t densely settled part of Georgia, because it contains more small cities and large towns than any other area of comparable size. This is due to a combination of favorable circumstances, such as fairly good soils, healthful climate, and situation on or near the main routes of travel eastward from Atlanta. Chiefly, however, it seems to be due to the fact that this is the principal water-power district of the State and hence, taken by and large, the princjpal manufacturing district. It contains no uch larg manufacturing citie as Macon and Columbus, but it does contain a number of maller cities and towns, such as Athens, Covington Oxford, Porterdale, Monroe, Social Circle, Lawrenceville Winder, Jefferson Commerce, Canon and Toccoa, to mention only a few of the principal ones. Waterpower for manufacturing is developed at a larger number of places in this section than elsewhere because of its ituation on a slope, where the streams have steeper grades and more rapid currents than in the parts of their courses lower down, where the streams have less steep grades across the more nearly level Washington Plateau.

PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY OF GEORGIA

PLATE XXV

Part of the .Monroe sheet

THE MIDLAND SLOPE EMIT OF LOG-ANSVILLE

~ ('HJ P. 125~no

l

v

~l

~-

Contour Interval 50 feet Datum is mean s1a lev4'!l

fl Milt!.,. -'

..
~

THE CENTRAL UPLAND

83

THE WASHINGTON PLATEAU
The district comprising the ea tern and southeastern portions of Midland Georgia j named the Wa hlngton Plateau from Washington, in Wilkes County _nea;r which place the charact~r of the :Plateau i well displayed. It i bordered on the west and northwest b- the
Midland ...lope and on e outhea t by the Coasta1 P1am and probably
extends northeastward into ~outh Carolina, but inormation on tills point is lacking. The boundary on the west and northwest has already been described. Its exact position, as has been said, cannot be d termined., but it crosses Midland Georgia from Savannah to Ocmulgee BITers a little outheast of Hartwell, Athens, Social Circle, and Covington, and reaches Ocmulgee River at about the point where that stream is formed by the junction of South, Yellow and Alcovy rivers. Thence it follows the course of the Ocmulgee to Macon.
The southeastern boundary is an extremely sinuous and somewhat indefinite line at the inner or northwestern limit of the sedimentary rocks of the Coastal Plain. In eastern Georgia this line is not marked except in a ,-ery few places by any triking difference in the topography of the area eparated by it. On the main divide the upland surface extends contilluously from one province to the other and the main -vall ys are cut down to about ilie same depth in both provinces, without a marked change in grade at or near the line. fu some place detailed study of the topogra.ph shows that the surface of the entral plano i. omewhat more closely dissected by raingullies and small rav-in than is that of the Coastal Plain, and most of the larger valleys that are cut mainly in Coastal Plain rocks have wider bottom and mor naring ide than tho e in the Central Upland. H carefully drawn the boundary between the two provinces probably should follow mo of the sinuo ities of the margin of the Coastal Plain edi:ment hence i:t can be repr ented accurately only on the Jaraest cale map and for most purpose must be greatly generalized.
The boundary between the Piedmont pland and the Coastal Plain is often called the Fall Line, although the two are no strictly identical. The Fall Line is a line connecting the points, on the streams that flow from the Upland into the a all'lain, at which they lea-ve the harder rocks of the Piedmont for the softer sediments of the Plain and at or close above which falls or rapids have been formed on nearly all the streams that cross the line. It is, therefore, really a succession of points and, if shown as a line, it should be drawn directly from the point where it is crossed by one stream to that where it is crossed by the next. The boundary of the Coastal Plain sediments, on the other hand, does not, in most places, cross the divide between two streams directly from the Fall Line on one stream to that on the next, but, as the sediments lap up on the divides and are cut away in the valleys, it is a sinuous line, looping up on each divide and back down each valley. In some parts of the Atlantic Slope, as in the stretch between Delaware and Rappahannock rivers, the two lines so nearly coincide on the divides as well as at the streams that little error is in-

84

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF GEORGIA

volved in using the name Fall Line for both. Throughout this stretch too there is a marked descent, really an escarpment, from the upland of the Piedmont to the Coastal Plain. As the Fall Line is at the base of the escarpment, it may be spoken of as the province boundary without serious error.
In eastern Georgia the conditions are 'ery differ~nt . There is no escarpment o:r other marked topographic di tinction at the province boundary which can be drawn only at the margin of the Coasta1 Plain sediment . As cah be seen from the geologic map, plate IT. such a line is very different from the true Fall Line, as the two coincide on1y where crossed by the streams and are miles apart on some of the divides. To avoid too great complexity in the province boundary on the maps in this book, it has been ~Jeneralized so that it does not extend down all the valley to the limit of the crystalline rocks and hence it does not, as drawn c.oincide with the Fall Line, which is southeast of it, except at a few places.
Only a part of the Washillgton Plateau has been topographically mapped and very little known_ in detail of the w:fa{:e form of the rest of the district. In general, it i a nearly smooth upland whose surface descends gently and almost imperceptibly southeastward from about 800 feet abme ea level at its northwestern margin to about 500 feet at its southeastern margin. It is of nearly the same topographic character throughout and no subdivisions have been distinguished in it The character of part of it is shown by pl. XXVI.
Not much is known of' the rocks and the geologic structure of the Wa hlngton Plateau, but they appear to be in essential respects substa.ntially the same a tho e of the Greenville Elateau aside from the Pine Mormtain district and to have had about the same effect on the development of surface form. The mode of de,elopment o_f the urfa.ce of the district has been substantially the same as in the other parts of Midland Georgia.
Becau of the la - of detailed kno wledge of the suriace form in much of t he di trict only Tather general tatem.ent s can be made regardin"' it but the general form i much the arne throughout. and in uclt an area general statements give a fairly accurate idea of the appearance of tbe country, The upland urface i- as a who1e remarkably even. It i of course omewhat hlgher on the main divides and descends somewhat toward the main valleys. but :uch slopes are very gentle and S{:arcely perceptible in the landscape, which gives the impres ion of a nearly flat plain, trenched by the valleys of the numerou streams, large and small, that take a general southeasterly course across it to the Coastal Plain. In more than two-thirds of the area the altitude of the upland surface, a far as known, is between 650 and 800 feet, being greatest along the northwestern margin. outhea.st of a line passing approximately through Gray, Sparta, and Warrenton the surfa.ce de-cends more rapidly to not much more than 500 feet above ea level at the margin of the Coa-stal Plain. It also descends eastward toward avannah River to about the same altitude uear the brink of the trench of the river.

PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY OF GEORGIA

PLATE XXVL

Part of the Crawfordville sheet

THE WASRIKGTON PLATE.AU NEAR WASHINGTON
S t:ale i -:!5"6oo
~--~}----L-------~------~~~------~~----------------~~biDP~
Contour interval 50 feet Datum is m8an 86a le?Jsl

THE CENTRAL UPLAND

85

Scarcely any residual knobs or ridges break the uniformity of the sky-line throughout the district. A low ridge of resistant rock in northwestern Jasper County, nearly in line with Pine Mountain and possibly a continuation of that range, though separated from it by nearly 30 miles, stands 100 feet or so above the upland surface. Far eastward, in Lincoln County, Graves Mountain, a small knob of quartzite containing great dikes of pegmatite, stands 900 feet above sea level and 350 feet above the surrounding upland, and is possibly the only true monadnock in eastern Georgia. Because of its isolation and the smoothness of the surrounding plateau, it is, although small, conspicuous for many miles from all directions. One or two smaller knobs, especially in eastern Columbia County, and a few irregular ridges of rougher ground stand a little above the general lev~l, but the district, as a whole, is conspicuously free from such emmences.
In the northwestern part of the district and along the main divides throughout the upland the valleys are broad and sha'low, with long gentle side slopes. The valleys of even the main streams, except Savannah River, although deeper, are not sharply cut in this part of the district. Toward the southeastern margin of the district, however, especially along Ocmulgee and Oconee rivers, the streams have intrenched themselves more deeply and the main rivers flow in steep-walled valleys 200 to 300 feet deep, into which the tributaries descend through similarly deep and narrow side valleys. The southeastern margin of the district is, therefore, considerably and rather deeply dissected near the valleys of the main streams. Because of the gentle descent of the surface eastward toward Savannah River, the valley of which has been cut considerably lower than those of the other three main streams draining the district, the valleys of its tributaries do not become much deeper as they near the main stream. The eastern side of the district, therefore, is also rather completely dissected by valleys, though not deeply.
The surface of the upland on the main divides is very little dissected along the southeastern margin of the district and the upland surface continues on a uniform southeasterly slope from the crystalline rock surface of the Central Upland to the surface formed by the unconsolidated sediments of the Coastal Plain. In some places there is no break in the surface between the two provinces and the two sorts of rocks, and no marked topographic distinction in the form of the surface. Close examination of the surface and of good topographic maps reveals two minor differences which seem to be systematic. The surface of the Coastal Plain, in the region adjacent to the boundary between the two provinces, is as a rule smoother and less dissected by rain-gullies and small ravines than is that of the Central Upland. This is probably because the strata of the Coastal Plain lie nearly level and because, although formed of soft and unconsolidated material, they are protected by a covering of fine gravel and coarse sand which is strongly resistant to dissection by rills and rivulets, whereas the surface of the Central Upland is covered with a thick

86

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF GEORGIA

layer of disintegrated rock waste and residual clay, which is rather rapidly removed by running water.
The other minor difference in the surface form is due to the fact that the structure of the rocks of the Central Upland is not uniform and that there are some layers and lenses of considerably more or considerably less resistance to erosion than the average. Such bodies of rock tend to divert or to guide, as the case may be, the courses of the smaller streams, as well as to cause minor differences in the surface form. In orne _places along the border of the two provinces the part of the upland de,elop d on the crystalline rock can be distinguished from tha t developed on th oastal Plain by uch minor charac-
ters. orne of these differencp,s are illustrated in pl. X' II.
The northwestern part of t he Washington Plat eau, adjacent t o the Midland Slope, har s w it h that district the di t inction of I eing one or the mo t dens ly ettled portion of Georgia, nd this part of the district is rather generallv cleared and contains a considerable number of mall citie and large towns t hough there are no lar e cities. The principal places are Elberton, Washington, Eatonton, Madison, Hartwell, Greensboro, Monticello, and Comer. The eastern and southeastern portions of the district, where the surface is somewhat rougher, when the soil conditions appear to be somewhat less favorable, and when communication is more difficult, are less cleared and less densely . ettled except along and near the railroad connect ing Aug uta and At lanta . onsiderable lumbering h developed .in this part of the d" trict in recent ear and ome of Lhe mailer towns are growing rapidly . The principal places in thi part of the district are Thorn on, parta, nion P oint and Wa rl'enton. - l acon and A:ugu ta, two of the chief cities of the t ate a:r ituated at the outhwestern and outhea tern corner , respectively of t he d" lric and MilledgeYille, another important cit , i s itua ted at its. oulhern margin. All three cit ie are on th Fa ll Line and 1\Iacon and _ ugu t<l are a much cities of the Coastal !~lain as of the Central Upland. They owe their importance to their situations with respect to the whole surrounding territory and are not primarily related to the Washington Plateau by itself.
The Washington Plateau is crossed by several railroads connecting Augusta, Milledgeville, and Macon, on one hand, with Atlanta, Athens and Elberton on the other hand, and intersecting at several points so that the district is rather well supplied with transportation facilities. It is, also, crossed by several main highways extending from Atlanta and Macon into the eastern part of the State and on into South Carolina.

PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY OF GEORGIA

PLATE XXVII

Part of the Milledgeville sheet

'fHE COAS'l'AL PLAIN AND THE CENTRAL UPLAND NEAR DEVEREUX S~al<' r,z ~o o
2 Miles
Contour interval 20 feet Datum is mean sea level

THE CENTRAL UPLAND

87

DEVELOPMENT OF THE SURFACE
The development of the present surface of the Central Upland has been almost entirely through the process known to the students of earth forms as degradation, in other words, through the slow wearing down of the land surface, mainly by the action of running water. It has already been pointed out that the surface of the earth is undergoing constant change and that it has not always appeared as it does now. The study of land forms and their development has reached the stage where it is possible to make out much of the past history of the surface of a region from its present form and the relation of that form to the drainage pattern, the geologic structure, and the character of the neighboring regions. It is even possible to learn something of the form of the surface at an earlier time, when the development of the present surface began. That earlier surface may not have been the original one but it was at least the initial surface from which the present one was developed by the processes presumably still in operation.
A study of the rocks and geologic structure of the region, including the determination of their geologic age, throws light on the probable position and form of the surface when the processes that have taken part in the development of the present surface began to operate. Such things are part of the geologic history of the region and do not properly come within the scope of a book of this sort except in so far as they throw light on the origin of the present surface form. The origin of the rocks, the processes by which they were formed and deformed, and the series of events through which they reached their present position are unimportant of themselves for the present purpose and need not be discussed here. They are important, however, for the light they may throw on the original form of the surface and the effect of that form on subsequent events. They also tell something of the movements of the earth's crust during the development of the surface.
A part of the rocks of the Central Upland are made up of material derived from the breaking up of still older rocks, and deposited as nearly level layers of sediment in standing or running water. Some of them were evidently laid down on what was then the sea bottom, but they are now found up to 2,000 feet above the present sea level and there is reason to believe that they once extended much higher, before the surface was worn down to its present form. They are now folded and contorted and are nearly everywhere inclined at a considerable angle, and they now consist almost wholly of crystalline minerals, though their nature and texture show that they could not originally have been formed of such material. Geologists believe that the present position and condition of these bedded rocks are evidence that, since their deposition, they have suffered intense deformation. In other words, the part of the earth's crust in which they are found has been strongly compressed and greatly raised. Such deformation of the crust must necessarily have affected the form of the surface.

88

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF GEORGIA

There is other evidence as well. Intermingled with the bedded rocks are many large and small masses of rocks of another sort which were not laid down as beds, but were solidified by cooling from a molten condition. While still fluid they melted their way amongst the other rocks or were forced between those rocks by pressure from beneath, and then solidified. As a large part of the present surface of the Central Upland is occupied by rocks of this sort, there must have been a great deal of such molten material intruded, as it is called, into the bedded rocks. Geologists believe, from the composition and structure of these rocks, and from their relation to the rocks of other kinds surrounding them, that they solidified at a considerable depth below the surface at the time when they were formed. The fact that they are now exposed on the surface, therefore, indicates that there has been a great amount of rock material removed which formerly covered them, yet they are now found more than 3,000 feet above sea level. Hence their character and present position also lead to the conclusion that, since their formation, there has been a great uplift and defomation of the earth's crust in the region.
Furthermore, the geologic relation of the Central Upland to a-djacent regions also helps to explain the development of the present form of the Upland. The province is bounded on the northwest by the Valley, where all the rocks are of the bedded sort, laid down in nearly level layers on the sea bottom. There is evidence that the land from which the material forming the bed wa derived lay southeast of the area where they were deposited and in the general position of the present Central Upland. omewhere between the two regions there must have been a shore who e po ition would be shown, if nothing had happened since, by the margin of the beds deposited in the sea. There is no indication of a shore along the present boundary between the two regions and this is regarded as evidence that a great amount of material, including the former southeastward extension of the beds to the old shore, has been removed from the Central Upland during the formation of the surface.
On the southeast, along the border of the Coastal Plain, there is similar evidence. The rocks of the Coastal Plain are also beds of material derived from the waste of older rocks and laid down on the sea floor. The present northwestern margin of these beds lies on the surface of the rocks of the Central Upland at 500 to 700feet ~hove sea level and in few, if any, places is there any indication of a former shore along the present boundary. This indicates that, since the deposition of the beds of the Coastal Plain, there has been uplift of the land and removal of the former shoreward margin of the beds.
As already stated, all these things are part of the geology of the region and are not immediately connected with the development of the surface of the Central Upland. They are important, however, as evidence of the original conditions and as furnishing a starting point for the story of the surface development. Through the study of such geologic data students of land forms lay the foundation for their study of the development of form by obtaining some idea of

THE CENTRAL UPLAND

89

the raw material, as it were, from which the present surface has been developed.
The geologic evidence, therefore, indicates that, at the remote period when the long series of events began that have led to the development of the present form of the Central Upland, the general region now occupied by the province was a mountainous country of considerable altitude. The available evidence also indicates that throughout the development of the surface the dominant process has been that known as degradat ion, that is, the lowering of the surlace through the removal of material by various natural agents mainly, in this part of the world, rliDiling wat er. Possibly part of the surface adjacent to the present Coastal Plain may sometimes have also undergone degradation through attack by the sea but this is not certain.
Although the chief agent of degradation in such a region as central Georgia is flowing surface water, it is generally aided by the preparation of material for removal through brealcing up of the solid rocks by the work of the various natural agents grouped under the general head of weathering. This may not have always been so in the past, but it i trikingly so at the present t ime. The softening and breaking up of the hard rocks by weathering. has proceeded t o a depth oi many feet ov er a considerable part of the Upland and the removal by flow ing water of the material composino- the urface has thus been greatly facilitated. The views shown in plate ill and in plat e XVIII-A and B, illustrate some of the ways in which hard rocks are broken up by disintegration, by solution, and by the penetration of water along joints and cleavage cracks, thus facilitating weathering.
On a surface of strong relief and considerable altitude, such as the region now the Central Upland m ust have had, the first effect of flowing wa1er in modiiying surface form is to deepen the valleys and steepen the bordering slopes and in general to increase and sharpen the re-
lief. As time goes on the v alley floors are widened, the slopes recede
_and become less steep and t he divides are lowered. Thus, though degradation i at fu t confined to the stream channels and steeper slopes, it e-ventually attacks the higher parts of the surface and from that time on its effect i to diminish the relief and lower the surface as a whole. If the process is continued long enough the valley floors are widened and coalesce in their down-stream j:)Ortions, steep slopes disappear, divides are lowered Lo gentle swell and the w.hole region is reduced to a rolling country, no p art of which is much above the grades of the streams. Such a surface, almost a plain, produced in such a manner is called a peneplain. No part of the surface can be reduced below the lowest grade to which the master stream draining the area can cut its channel and the lowest point on this grade is called the base-level of the region. Hence a peneplain is sometimes spoken of as a base-leveled surface. In some parts of the region some areas on divide and. therefore, remote from main drainage lines, may remain unreduced and standing above the surrounding territory. Other areas may remain unreduced because formed of rocks so much more resistant than those surrounding them that they

90

GEOLOGICdL SURT1EY OF GEORGIA

are not worn down so rapidly and hence remain a:s residual knobs
and ridges. Such residual hills and mountains, standing abo,e a. peneplain, are called m onadnocks.
Only rarely is degradation continued uninterruptedly to the stage where a. considerable region is almost wholly reduced to a peneplain. As a rule it is interrupted by some earth mOYement that affects the process or its results, a new cycle is started, and the development of surface form is begun afresh. Such an interruption may occur at any stage in the development of a base-leeled surface and the general form deeloped at the time when it occurs may range anywhere from a mountainous area in which degradation bas hardly more than hegun to an almost completely base-leveled surface.
Sometimes the interruption is a subsidence or tilting of the surface that carries it beneath the sea, where it receives a cover of deposits, and the further de,elopment of the old surface is indefinitely suspended. Sometimes it is an elevation or tilting l hat raises it with regard lo base-level, so that the process of degradation is quickened, and perhaps brings some new surface abo,e sea level where it is ex-
posed to degradation. U the activity of the streams is renewed the relief is again increased for a time, hut when the stage of maturity, as it is called, is passed in the new cycle, the general lowering of the surface to form a peneplain is begun again. The surface of the new peneplain will lie lower than that of the one whose formation was interrupted, hecause the base-leYel is now lower. U. as ~enerally happens, the new cycle is in turn interrupted before the whole region is reducerl, portions of the older peneplain surfaee will remain as residual areas surrounded or bordered by the lower country that has been reduced to the newer one.
In the description of the swface form of the Central Upland it was stated that the Upland is not a single plateau, but comprises several plateaus or platforms lying at different altitudes and separated by distinct slopes or even. by escarpments. Furthermore, there are many knobs and even fairly large mountains thal stand well above the general )e,el and do not appear ever to have been reduced to a base-leveled smface or even approximately so. That lhe region as a whole has been so reduced. one or more times, is 'eyident from several bets. The surface is smooth and almost level over great areas tl1at are occupied by rocks that hase been much deformed. The conclusion is inescapable thal such a surface, truncating the folded and highly inclined layers of rock, bas been formed by some sort of planation. Many of the strea.ms flow directly across the trend of lhe geologic structure with no regard to the relative hardness of the layers of the different sorts of rock whose edges they cross. They could have acquired such courses only on a surface so smooth that the inequalities of relief due to differences in the hardness of the rocks had been obliterated. In parts of tl1eir courses, some streams, notably Etowah and Coosa.wattee rivers, flow-in the peculiar loops called meanders, but at the bottoms of deep trenches that have the same meandering coul"Ses as the streams. This can be explained only on the assumption

THE CENTRdL UPLdND

91

that the streams acquired the meandering courses when flowing on former flood plains, all traces of which have since been destroyed in the cutting of the trenches following a later uplift of the surface.
The general course of events in the earving of the surface of the Central Upland, as far as it has been ronde out by applying the principles of interpretation briefly outlined above, is as follows. At some past time, since the great movement of the earth's crust in the southern Appalachian region that resulted in the folding and squeezing of the rocks and the elevation of the surface to mountainous heights and relief, the:l'e was a long cycle of seemingly uninterrupted degradation of the surface of the region now including the Central Upland. This cycle may have been preceded by otbersof which there is no record preserved, but during iL reduction of the surface proceeded so far that practically all the area of the Central Upland was reduced to a peneplain or generally base-leveled surface. This peneplain probably also t>~:tended over a considerable part of the area now the Appalachian Valley and part or aU of that now covered by the Coastal Plain. Only a few monadnocks stood aboYe the general surface in the northern part, adjacent to the region that was still mountainous and that now Forms the Highland. Remnants of this peneplain are presered in the surface of the Dahlonega Plateau, which is clearly part of an old planated, or nearly base-leveled, surfac~.
The formation of this peneplain was e\entually terminated, as all such cycles are, by some sort of crustal moYement. The area in which its remnants are now preserved was uplifted a few hundred feet and renewed degradation began the carving of a second peneplain, now preserved in the Gainesville platform of the Atlanta Plateau. Before this had been developed over so greaL an area,astheolder one another movement of the crust brought its formation to an end and inaugurated a new cycle, in which a third surface was developed, now represented by the Fairburn Platform of tbe Atlanta Plateau. Its formation was in turn interrupted and at least one, if not two, younger peneplains were subsequently developed over parts of the area now comprised in Midland Georgia. Each cyc1e seems to l1ave been sh.orter than its predecessor, or else the rate of degradation became progressively slower, as each peneplain in turn was de,eloped over a smaller area than the one preceding it. H this were not the case the older ones would have been completely removed by later degradation and no evidence of their existence would have been preserved in old base-
leveled surfaces. In the later cycles, especially in the one during
which the Washington Plateau was formed, the planation was almost complete throughout the area over which the surFace was developed, for there are only one or two small monadnocks standing above its
surface.
The movements of the crust that closed each cycle in tum were of the sort that affect broad areas without marked deformation of the surface and the underlying r~. Nevertheless, jt is not likely that they consisted of vertical movements alone. More probably each was accompanied by some tilting and warping of different parts

92

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF GEORGIA

of the surface which, therefore, was not everywhere uplifted to the same altitude and which was even depres ed in some parts. At time some parts of the surface now adjacent to or within the area now occupied by the Coastal Plain were depressed below sea level and covered with marine sediments. Later they were, again uplifted and the newly deposited beds were brought above sea level. That the rocks of the Coa tal Plain formerly extended farther northwest than now and covered a part of the preSent Central Upland is certain, but no definite evidence is yet available on the extent of this former overlap. After the re-elevation the beds at the margin of the Coastal Plain were stripped from a part of the surface of the crystalline rocks by degradat ion in the next cycle and thus evidence of the position of the former shore was removed.
Probably, as a ru1e, the elevation of the part of the surface near the mountains and the depression of the part near the coast occurred at or about the ame time, and, if so the surlace of the intermediate belt of country must have been given a tilt seaward. 1t is probable that the present slope of the urface of the district called the :Midland slope originated in such a manner. The tilting also increased the power of the treams and caused them to deepen their valleys and ste pen Lhe slide lopes. ince the la t great movement that affected the region as a whole, the streams .have during the p esent cycle cut their valleys to depths of 100 to 400 feet below the upland surface. The headwaters of the streams that flow southeastward directly to the Atlantic have also been engaged in shiftino- the divide at their
heads to the northwe t, at the expense of the tributaries to the Chattahoochee from the southeast.
At the beginnincr of the Quaternary period of geologic time the period in which we are now living, the seaward margin of the State had been depressed a few htmdred feet and about half the area of the Coastal Plain within the tate wa coYered by the ea for a short time. Since then the depressed area bas risen t o its present position, not. continuously but in several small uplifts separated by intervals of quiescence. During thi time the marine terraces of the Coastal Plain and the associated river terraces which are discussed in the description of the Coastal Plain, were formed . The effects of the submergence of the several small uplifts during the re-emergence were felt in the valleys of the main rivers to points :far above the Fall Line and some of the river terraces extend up the main valleys into the Central Upland. On account of the lack of large-scale topographic maps and detailed field study little is known of the river terraces in the Central Upland beyond the fact of their eristence. As they are directly continuous with the river terraces of the Coastal Plain the explanation of those terraces given in the descriptaon of the Coastal Pla;n holds for them aJso.

PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY OF GEORGIA

PLATE XXVIII

THE DAHLONEGA PLATEAU NEAR MT. YONAH AND THE HIGHLAND NEAR UNICOI GAP

Part of the

Seale i2 ~~oo ~L---~~~--0~-------L------~~~------~~--------~------~~~~

Dahlonega sheet

Contour interval 100 feet

Datum is m-ean sea level

THE HIGHLAND
By Arthur Keith
LOCATION AND BOUNDARIES
The Georgia Highland is situated in the northeast corner of Georgia. It is a part of the much greater ma-s of the Appalachian Mountains. The Highland enters the tate from North Carolina and Tennessee, where it form the largest and highest mass of the Mountains. Beginning in the corner of the State it has a breadth of 92 nriies east and west along the tate boundary, and its southwest end is 48 miles south of the boundary; its area is about 1,850 square miles.
The northern boundary of the tate runs almost east and west and is just south of the 35th degree of latitude; th" is not in the slightest way a natural boundary of the Highland. Its west boundary runs roughly .north and south at the foot of the Mountains where they spring sharply up from the flat Appalacll.ian Valley. The southeast boundary is formed by a similar rise of the Mountains from the Dahlonega Plateau of the Piedmont Upland e.'i:cept for a few miles at its northeast end -where it is formed by Chattooga River. The general course of the boundary is from northeast to southwest, but at each of the larger streams the Plateau indents it rom 2 to 4 miles into the general outline of the Highland. The southwest end of the Highland is far more irregular and is plit open by three arms of the Plateau. The valley of the central of these tnms can be followed entirely through the mountains in a northeast course, although in two places it is barely one-half mile in width. These thr e arms of the Plateau follow branches of Coo awattee River which has a general westward flow into Tennessee River. The southeastern and southwestern boundaries of the Highland follow natural features and can be re.adily distinguished upon the ground. The separation of the Mountains from the Piedmont Upland and the Appalachian Valley is quite as plain from a distance as it is near at hand, and the mountain mass is a very obvious unit high above the Piedmont and the Valley, as is seen .in the photographs, Plate XXIX-A and XXX-A.
Outside of the connected body of mountains there are many separate ridges and peaks orne of them of large size. The peaks are best shown in Yonah and Walker mountains w.hich are respectively 5 and 9 miles south of tlte aeneral mountain mass and midway in its length in Georgia. The ridge type of separate mountains is shown in Sharptop and Pinelog mountains, -which extend southwest fr.om the Highland and in line with its principal axis. Sharptop is 7 miles distant from the Highland boundary and a nearly equal interval separates it from Pinelog Mountain, which is the south~ost high mountain in the State.

94

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF GEORGIA

DRAINAGE
GENERAL PLAN
The natural result of erosion ha been to develop the backbone of the Highland near its southeast margin. It is called the Blue Ridge for most of its lengt)l, and it extends outhwestward through Sharpto_p and Pinelog molinta.ins to the border of the Appalachian Valley. Thi backbone is the watershed of the principal river- in northern Georgia, western North Carolina and a~joinina parts of South Carolina. A section of it with a length of 60 miles in Georgia and 24 miles in North Carolina is the central area from which the important streams radiate in all directions. These are Fnmch Broad and Tuckaseegee rivers in North Carolina: Little Tennes ee and Hiwassee river in Geor ia and North Carolina; Toccoa River of Georgia and its continuation in Ocoee River of Tennessee Coosawattee and Etowah rivers of Georgia; Chattahoochee River of Georgia; and Tugaloo River ot Georgia and South Carolina. All but the last four streams flow into Tennessee River thence to the Mississippi and the Gulf of Mexico. The French Broad flow northeastward the Coosawat tee and Etowah westward, and the Tennessee, Hiwas ee and Toccoa flow in general northwestward .from the main backbone.
Etowah River he-ads on the south side of the backbone, flow westward around its end in Pine Log Mountain into the Appalachian Valley and thence southwestward to the Gulf. Chattahoochee River al o flows southwestward through Georgia to the Gulf from the south ide of the backbone. Tugaloo River flows southeastward from the Highland into Savannah River. discharging directly into the Atlantic and forming the boundary between Georgia and outh Carolina.
RUNOFF
The traveller in the Highland is impr ed by the immense number of treams and springs and the large volume of running water. There are no ponds or natural lake , and the only bodies of tanding water are those artifically created for re ervoirs. The only important ones have recently been developed for water power along the branches of Tugaloo River in the northeastern part of the Highland. The drainage system of the entire region is extraordinarily complete and the streams are nowhere even sluggish. A glance at the Ellijay or Dahlonega topographic map hows at once the perfectjon of the drainage sy tem. This perfection and the teep general slopes tend to cause a rapid runoff, in a region of mnch rainfall but the heavy forest cover and the deep blanket of oil absorb the water and steady its runoff. Where these controls are removed, as in the region around Ducktown and adjoining parts of Georgia, their importance is seen in the swift floods of the streams and the quick cessation of Lheir flow The contrast is violent between these bare hill and gullied hollows. and the forested slopes of the rest of the Highland. This contrast is brought out by comparison of Plate XXXVI with Plate XXXIV and other views.

PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY OF GEORGIA

PLATE XXIX

IKJ&undaries between major divisions

k~ll...J Boundaries between subdivisions

0

25

v-..~ Blue Ridge Divide
l..r--: jMinor Divides
.50
MIL!:S

A. HIGHLAND, PIEDMONT. AND YALLEY, FROM RELIEF MODEJ, . B. THE HIGHLAND, WITH ITS SUBDII'ISIONS AND SURROUNDINGS
The s tippl ed are:! s I'I?Jl!esent plateau s _

THE HIGHLAND

95

PRINCIPAL BASINS
Only the headwaters of the various rivers are found in the Highland, owing to its nature as a watershed. Every river in the Highland has an Indian name and the traveller is everywhere impressed by that fact. The rivers heading in this part o Geonria are as follows begjnning at the northeast with_ the rivers which flow into the Ohio and Mississippi: the Little Tennessee is 9 miles long in Georgia; Hiwassee River i 20 miles long :in the State and its branch., Brasstown Creek, is 10 miles long; these unite in North Carolina a few miles from the border. Nottely River, the principal branch of the Hiwassee is about 30 miles long in Georgia, and joins the Hiwassee 7 .nriles north of the border. Toccoa River is 55 miles long in the tate and becomes the Ocoee ater entering Tennessee. Only headwater creeks 4 or 5 mile long represent Coosawattee River in the Highland and mo t of the stream and its tributaries lie in the Dahlonega Plateau. Etowah River which flows parallel to the main divide and south o'f it, i likewise represented only by hort creeks from 2 to 5 miles long. Its headwaters are on the Blue Ridge at its turn northwestward along the cross range. Chattahoochee River has the same characteristics as the Et owah but its headwater branches in the Highland are slightly longer. The drain a strip of the Blue Ridge backbone 25 miles long in a straight line while the Etowah drains about .20 miles. The principal branche of the hattahoochee are Chestatee River, west of the main stream, and Soque River northeast of it.
The area east of the Chattahoochee and south of the Blue Ridge is drained by tributaries of Tugaloo River. These are Chattooga River which forms the boundary of South Carolina and Georgia and runs southwest close to the margin of the Highland, and Tallulah River, which joins the Chattooga where the latter turns from a southwestward to a southeastward course, just below the border of the Hiahland. Tallulah River i the main tream in the Georgia Highland onth of the Blue Ridge and is 35 miles long. It beads on Standing Indian. in North Carolina 3 miles north of the tate boundary, and its basin pushes the Blue Ridge far to the north out of its usual line. Chattooga River is lightly larger than the Tallulah, but it flows for some distance in North Carolina before reaching Georgia. Two miles above their junction is ituated Tallulah Falls, and below it they unite to form Tugaloo River.
TRENDS
The trend of the large streams in the Georgia Highland is distinctly toward the northwest or southeast. Those which flow northwestward from the main backbone cross almost the entire Highland belt wlLile those flowing outheastward soon emerge from the Highland into the Piedmont plateaus. The southeastward flowing streams are much shorter than tho e wbich flow in the opposite direction and soon are gathered into a system of rivers which flow almost straight outhwestward. These are Chattooga. River at the northeast and Chattahoochee and Etowah rivers at the southwest. Chattahoo-

96

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF GEORGIA

chee and Chattooga rivers are practically in line with each other and the waters of the Chattahoochee are wi:l:hin 10 miles of the main body of Chattooga River the divide being about midway between them. At this point Chattooga river turns abruptly southeastward into the course which as the Tugaloo, it maintains across the Piedmont. At the same point it is joined by Tallulah River the longest southeastward flowing stream in the Georgia Highland.
Parallel to the Tallulah and 5 to 8 miles distant the headwaters of the Chattahoochee (Soque River), flow southeastward. Fifteen miles from the Blue Ridge this stream turns abruptly to the southwest into line with Chattooga River and maintains t1ll course with little deviation for over 100 miles. The chief branch of Chattahoochee River is the Chestatee which heads on the Blue Ridge 17 miles west of the head stream. This river, too, has a long southwestward course, parallel to the Chattahoocheee and close to the margin o the Highland. This southwest line .is taken up by Etowah River S miles distant to the southwest. The Chesta.tee is joined by Yahoola Creek where it bends southeastward, a.nd near their junction is the town of Dahlonega. Yahoola Creek and the head of the Etowah flow southeastward from the Blue Rid e about 5 miles apart. The peculiar plan of the Chestatee and Etowah is precisely the arne a that of the Chattooga and Chattahoochee but is on a smaller scale.
A imilar southwest trend .is found in Ellijay River, the chief branch oi the Coosa.wattee. The association of the Ellijay with the Murphy marble belt will be described in later pages. The two other chief branches of the Coosawattee in lhe Highland are Cartecay Ri>er, which flows northwestward from the main backbone, and J.\!!ounlaintown Creek, which flows e-ast of south from the Cohutta Mountains. These two streams with their northwest-southeast courses correspond to the s.imilar trend of the Toccoa, Nottely and Hiwassee. No uch parallel arrangement is to be ob~er ed in the minor streams of the Highland except in the narrow belt along the Murphy marble, which occupies a very small fraction of the Highland area. Elsewnere the streams have a pronounced dendritic plan, and there is very .slight connection between the location of the streams and the rock formations . This is due in large measure to the great thickness and mass of the individual formations and the slight difference in h.ardne between their parts. The most notable adjustment of this sort .is in connection with the narrow strips of hornblende schist or gneiss which usually make depressions followed by ~mall streams or gaps in which they hea-d.
GRADES
There is a great range in the aJtitude of the streams of the Highland. All that enter the Piedmont leave the Highland at elevations a little above 1 500 feet. Of the streams which_ flow northwestward from the Blue Ridge, Toccoa River leaves Georgia at 1,450 feet and Nottely River at about 1,600 feet; Hiwassee River leaves the State at 1 BOO feet above sea, while the Little Tennessee is about ~ 050 feet. Only the headwaters o the latter are in the State however, while the other rivers are good-sized streams where they cross the bom1dary.

l'fll' /CAL EOGRAPHJ OF GEORCJ.t

PLATE XXX

Photoyruplu~ !Jy .:irfhnr Keith
A. BLUE RIDGE AKD DAHLOKEGA PLATEAU, LOOKIKG NORTHWEST FROM GRIF'FJN MT !\TEAR CORNgLJA.
B. TALLULAH GORG~;, LOOE"!XG SOUTHEAST RF.LOW THE FAJ,LS.

THE HIGHLAND

97

All of the main streams of the Highland head on the Blue Ridge. Nearly .all of the divide is above 3,000 feet, much is above 4 000 feet, and several points approach 5,000. The stream grades are, therefore, steep on all the streams, even on those on the northwest side which flow the farthest efore reaching the 1,500 foot level. South of the Blue Ridge that level is reached in 5 or 6 miles on all streams except Tallulah River, which reaches it just above its junction with the Chattooga, twenty-five miles distant from the Blue Ridge. Just above this point, at Tallulah Falls, it descends nearly 700 feet in two miles. The side branches of the rivers north of the Blue Ridge head upon the Cross Ranges at heights similar to those of the Blue Ridge, and they have very steep grades, like the streams south of the Blue Ridge.
POWERS
The amount of energy which can be fu:rnished by the-e streams is enormous. The main streams north of the Blue Ridge have sufficient volume to render their fall available for water power. The same is true of Tallulah River, but the other tream south of the Blue Ridge are small until they combine into the larger rivers on the Piedmont. Small waterfalls are very numerous and some are of sufficient height and volmne to mak notable elements of the scenery.
Chief of these are Tallulah Falls, shown in the frontispiece Plate I,
and Amicalola Falls near the great bend of the Blue Ridge.
Slight use has been made of this power until very recent years. A few little falls ha,-e been used to drive grist mills and sawmills, but the power developed in that way is insignificant. The power of Tallulah River is now developed y a eries of modern re ervoirs; these are narrow and winding and the largest ( ee Plate XXXVIII-A), is 7 miles Ion in a straight line. The volume of the River is considerable, however, and the fall is so great that a large ag{:,rregate power is developed.
The streams of the Highland have a power capacit which is large in proportion of the size of their basis. The rainfall is high, as in other parts of the Highland the storage is great in the deep soils which cover practically all o the area and evaporation and runoff are well checked by the forest cover. These factors gi'e a large volume. and a steadiness of flow which is high in proportion t o the steep grades which tend to carry the storm water off rapidly and leave periods of low water. There are no natural reservoirs for steadying the flow by storage and the difficulties of securing artificial ones are well seen on the Tallulah. Considerable storage basins can be securedin the upper waters of the northwestward-flowing streams where their channels are not cut deeply into the plateau margins. Farther down stream, however, the channels are deep trenches which provide even less storage than on the Tallulah. Suitable parts o these principal valleys for storage are illustratedin Plates XXXI-A and XXXVII-A illustrating the upper part o the Hiwassee basin, and unsuitable parts are shown in Plate X XX111-B, a view on Ocoee River in Tennessee, a few miles from the State boundary.

98

GEOLOGIC.dL SURVEY OF GEORG/.11

RELIEF

GENERAL PLAN

The Highland mass is divided into two groups of mountains, the eastern of which is about four times as large as the western. These two groups are widely separated at the south by the Dahlonega Plateau in the basin of Coosawattee River. Where the two principal branches of this river unite is situated the town of Ellijay. Northeast of Ellijay the principal arm of the Plateau e~i:ends up Ellijay River, becoming narrower until it is scarcely over one-half mile wide where it crosses the divide into the basin of Toccoa River. At this point is situated the town of Blue Ridge. Northeastward the plateau country expands greatly again and has the general shape of an oak leaf, with the tips denting into the mountains. This district is called the Ducktown Plateau. Another narrow valley similar to that of Ellijay River crosses the northeastern divide of Toccoa River and passes into North Carolina in the basin of Nottely River. There it expands into another plateau, the Hiwassee Plateau, but of this only the southern tips enter Georgia along Nottely and Hiwassee rivers and Brasstown Creek. A similar but even narrower plateau from 1 to H miles wide enters Georgia along the headwaters of Little Tennessee River and passes through Rabun Gap into the drainage basins of Chattooga and Tallulah rivers in the northeast part of the Highland.
The main backbone of the mountains, the Blue Ridge, lies near their southerly border in Georgia, North Carolina, and Tennessee, and from it the streams flow either northwest or southeast. This is a winding divide for most of its length, between the waters of the Mississippi basin and those that flow directly toward the Atlantic or the Gulf of Mexico. The general course of the divide and of the backbone of the mountains is S. 60 W. for two-thirds of its length in Georgia, and it continues northeastward into North Carolina with similar direction and characteristics. The southeastward-flowing streams are short in the Highland, being in all cases small branches of larger rivers which flow southwest in the Dahlonega Plateau. The northwestward-flowing streams are much larger and have easier grades, except close to their headwaters. In the Highlands all but one of them are branches of Tennessee River, and their courses are roughly parallel and at right angles to the main backbone.
Between these rivers and the plateaus which follow them, high ranges extend northwestward aero the Highland and into North Carolina and Tennessee. They are interrupted only along the narrow intermountain valley already de cribed. The e Cross Ranges are of practically the same heights as the main backbone and in this respect as well as in their general plan they are duplicates of the even
higher ranges in North Carolina. Except for the narrow Ellijay intermountain valley, the Cross Range extend to the Appalachian Valley, and they close in so completely toward the northwest that the Ducktown and Murphy plateaus find an outlet only through narrow, rugged canyons. Their character is shown in PlateXXXIII-B

THE HIGHLdND

99

a view of Ocoee River 3 miles north of the State boundary. The Coosawattee alone escapes into the Appalachian Valley around the western mountain mass, where the Dahlonega Plateau borders the Valley.
The name Blue Ridge is applied to the main backbone of the mountains from North Carolina outhwest to the divide between Toccoa and Coosawattee rivers a distance in a traight line of 59 miles. Thence one o the Cross Ranges is called the Blue Ridge, running for !tO miles northwest along the divide of Toccoa lliver to the notch of Ellijay Valley and thence 30 miles farther northwest to the Appalachian Valley as hown in Plate XXIX-13. For the 1atter half of the distance the divide lie along the Big Frog Mountains in the western body of the Highland. Between this point of the Blue Ridge and the Valley stands a tangle of high mountains loosely called the Cohutta Mountain . The line of the backbone is continued southwest of the great bend at the head of the Toccoa, in the Burnt and Amicalola mountains of the Highland (See Plate XXXII-B) and in Sharptop and Pinelog mountains of the Central Upland. Thi e)l.-tension of the backbone i the diYide between two rivers of the Gulf drainage.
TRENDS
Mention has been made of the general southwest trend of the backb0ne of the mountains and of the northwestward trend of the Cross Ranges. In detail. however the course of the backbone is very crooked and it jg nowhere straight for more than a mile or two. Its greatest diver ence is northward around the head of Tallulah River, wnere it goes back into North Carolina for a few miles. Here the backbone goes northward out of it general course for 12 miles, but elsewhere t.he divergence from the general line is seldom more than 2 miles. Similar but maller irregularities are found along the Cro Ranges. The western or Cohutta group of mountains shows the greatest irregularities and very little system. The trend of the main valleys between the Cross Ranges is about parallel to the Ranges. The chief exception to this plan is Ellijay Valley and its northeastward extension as is seen in .Plate XXXII-A. This cu.ts directly across the larger features of the region and follow very closely a belt of weak slates and soluble marbles. This is the only large topographic feature the location of which is directly due to individual rock formations, since all of the other principal features cross the formations and are scarcely affected by them.
The trend of the minor ridges and valleys is exceedingly variable. The rivers divide towards their heads into a multitude of branches like the limbs of a tree or the veins of a leaf, and the small ones run together from all directions. Similarly the ID"'h ranges break down into a network of spurs, which pa out into the lower ground in every direction. The basins of Hiwassee Ri\er north of the Blue Ridge and Tallulah River south of it are excellent example of these networks. Settlement and travel are fhu necessarily focused into a bel:t. along each principal stream. This dendritic plan of the streams

100

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF GEORGIA

from which results the similar plan of the ranges and hills, is unusually strong in the Highland, perhaps more so than in most sections of the Appalachian Mountains. A notable exception is furnished by Ellijay Valley and its extension into the Hiwassee basin of North Carolina. The minor valleys and small ridges which occupy this depression run northeast and southwest in parallel courses until they emerge upon the Dahlonega Plateau and pass out of the mountains. In
the Plateau also they follow the werus.: rock Jlelts and curve into south
and then southeast courses close to the south end of the Highland.
TYPICAL FORMS
The indi";dual summit of the Hivhla.nd have two general kinds of form-somewhat conical peaks or broad rounded summits. The long narrow crest lines of even height which are so numerous in the Appalachian Valley are nowhere seen in this Highland. The nearest approach to them appears in a few of th.e ridges along ~llijay Valley. Most of the peaks stand on the Blue Rtdge and the h1ghest parts of the Cross Ranges. Rabun Bald is typical of this class, as are also Blood Mountain and Brasstown Bald around the headwaters of Nottely River. Great peaks like these a.re most common along the divide between the large river basins but small knobs and peaks dot the various ridges and spurs at all altitudes. The rounded crest are by far the most common, however, even on the major divides. Practically no other kind is een in the plateaus and the valley which branch from them, and the typical outline is a curve. The valley bottoms, too show gentle curves which rise faster t oward the headwaters. The streams head in steep, narrow ravines, and the spurs merge into the rounded mountain crests. Plate XXXI illustrates typjcal mountains and valleys.
The general ano-le of lope is decidedly steeper southeast ofthe main backbone, and the descent to the Dahlonega Plateau is accomplished by both streams and spurs in 4 or 5 miles, except in the Tallulah basin, while northwest of the backbone the distance to the equivalent parts of the plateaus is at le t twice as great. This is mo t plain near the great bend of the Blue Ridge, where the southerly lope is a decided carp. E'en on the steepest slopes large cliff are rare in the Highland. Ledges are very numerous, but the bed rock is usually covered by soil and vegetation. Occasionally on teep slopes this i stripped off by landslides especially where the roots and vegetation have been killed by fire .
ALTITUDES
The Highland o Georgia is a formidable barrier to traffic and settlement, and it can be crossed at only two points without a heavy climb at the divide. One i at Rabun Gap, where a railroad passes from the Chattooga to the Little Tennessee basin with scarcely perceptible grade. Here the Indians had their main trail across the Highland and the white ettlers made their first rough road 200 years ago. The Ellijay Valley and its northeast exten ion furnishes a imi-

PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY OF GEORGIA

PLATE XXXI

Photog1 aph.s by S. W. McCalli e.
A. HIWASSEE VALLEY LOOKING NORTH FROM MOUNTAIN SCENE. B. TRAY MOUNTAIN LOOKING SOUTHEAST FROM MOUNTAIN SCENE.

THE HIGHL.If.ND

101

lar passway, but does not cross the entire Highland. In other situations the basins of the rivers are tracts so set apart that communication between them entails arduous climbing.
The largest b ody of high_ ground lies along the B lue R idge which occupies more than two thirds of the Highland. The high tracts are b no means limited t o that position however, and equally h:i<~'h ground is found upon the Cross Ranges. The highest point in the IDghland is Brasstown Bald, 4,768 feet on the the divide between
Nottely and H iwassee rivers nearly 4 miles from the Blue Ridge. Almost equally high is Rabun Bald, 4 600 feet, on the :Blue Ridge in the northeast comer of the High land and ~ miles from the North Carolina boundary. The high_est point on the Blue Ridge in or near Georgia is tanding Indian, 5 500 feet at the head of Tallulah River in North Carolina 8 miles north of the boundary. Little Bald and Ridgepole are also near the head of Tallnlah River in North Carolina and within a mile of the boundary each point being slightly above 5 000 feet . One mile south of Little Bald and in Georgia Chestnut Mountain i 4,600 feet above sea. cattered at intervals of a few miles along the Blue Ridge there are H peaks above 4,000 feet, most of them in its eastern half. Practically the entire ex't.ent of the Blue Ridge land above 3 000 feet except near Little T ennessee River and near Ellijay and Cartecay river the headwater branches of the Coo awattee. On the Cros Ranges running northwest irom the Blue Ridge there are 14 points above 4,000 feet in addition to Bras town
Bald the h ighest peak. In the western group of mountains only Big Frog Mountain and two other peaks are higher than 4,000 feet but 12 peaks exceed 3,500 feet . The southwestward extension of the backbone from the Blue Ridge i distinctly lower, but has many point between 3 000 and 3,500 in Amicalola and Burnt molllltains.
The plateau base from which the Highland rises is more uniform in height and stands from I 600 to 1,800 feet above sea along its entire mar!rin except for a few miles at the west where Cohutta. Mountain rises directly from the Appalachian Valley. The intermountam plateaus !>tand at simillY" heights, the Ducl.'t.own, for instance being
for the most part 1 600 or 1,700 feet above ea but around its upper end there is a fringe or margin of a still higher plateau, which stand a l:ittle above 0 ,000 feet above sea. The Hiwassee Plateau ( ee P late XX..U-A) is at this higher level of 2,000 t o 2,100 feet for much of its area. All of these plateaus are cut into by the trea.ms, which flow in trenches from 50 to 700 feet deep. Little Tennessee River i an exception to this rule and still flows on the original graded surface, for the trenching by the stream ha~ not yet reached to the headwater . Thi is illustrated in Plate XXXVIII-B.

CAUSES OF RELIEF
The relative heights in the Georgia Highland are determined by two principal factors . Most important, are the relative resistance of the rocks to decomposition, and the general relation of the rocks to the surface as stated in the Table of Formations, pages 6 and 7.

102

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF GEORGIA

Certain rocks, especially the Murphy marble, are readily dissolved by circulating waters containing acids. Other rocks, such as granites and gneisses which contain feldspar, break down in a similar way but to a much less degree. Rocks which contain much quartz yield slowly to this pro.cess. The Tusquitee and Nottely quartzites are the last to be worn down by ohrtion since they are nearly pure quartz. The Great Smoky conglomerate, the granites and many bed o~ the mica gneisses contain much quartz and are correspondingly low to be reduced. The rocks which contain hornblende, uch as diorite, gabbro, and hornblende gneiss, are more readily broken down than the mica gneiss or granites and usually underlie depressions. This is par,ticularly the case where_ the bands of hornblendic rocks are narrow, and in this way are caused many of the notches and gaps in the Blue Ridge and the Cross Ranges. Of intermediate character are the slates, phyllites, and schists. These form low ridges and plateaus which extend a few hundred feet above the Murphy marble valleys but nowhere make high mountains. The N antahala slate occupies the highest ground of these formations and tends to form high rounded knobs which rise a few hundred feet ahove the adjoining formations. The schists and phyllite , which are composed mainly of mica and quartz break down rather ea ily through their numerou parting planes, but complete decompo ition is very slow. There result a litter or carpet of small schist fragments which covers the surface of the ground and prevents it. removal even though the bedrock is covered by a deep layer of oil. Thi carpet js roo t plainly to be seen in the region around Ducktown Tenn. and adjoining portions of Georgia where the vegetation has been killed by the fumes from the smelters.
The second principal factor in controlling the height of the region is the position of any particular area in relation to the stream. Since the land is reduced finally by removal of the soils and rock particles through the streams, it is evident that the largest streams are most effective. Accordingly the reduction of the surface is greatest near the large streams and is least around their headwaters. To this factor is due the prevalence of plateaus and open valleys near the large rivers and the mountainous character near the divides between them. The rivers flowing northwest from the main backbone of the mountains are perfect illustrations of this process. In those basins the same rock formations extend directly across basin after basin and rang~ after range, o that the nnequa.l hardness of the formations is seen to ext!rt only a minor control while the major role is played by the size and _position of the tream. An exception to this, and almost the only one, i the narrow valley along the lVIw-phy marble.
BLUE RIDGE
Position and Ji:mit The Blue Ridge forms the out er part of the Georgia Highland and the area of th~ Bighland Jyin" north of it is twice as large as that lying to the south. The Blue Rid e was fu t seen from the south by th white e.;:plorer~ as a faint blue helt on the far-distant horizon. It is visible for 50 or 60 miles in dear

THE HIGHLdND

103

weather and is always blue from the haze of the atmosphere. Only a few miles from the Ridge is the blue replaced by the green of its heavy forests and the name Blue Ridge is notably fitting.
The marginal position of the "Blue Ridge is mtettupted where the .Cohutta Mountains stand between the Ridge and the Appalachian Valley. A smaller exception forms the extreme southern point of the Highland, where Amicalola and Burnt mountains project southwestward from the main Blue Ridge as it turns northwest around Toccoa River basin . In the e-astern part of the Hi_ghland. also, Tallulah, Glassy and Rainy mountains e.."rt~nd southeastward from the Ridge along the divides between Tallulah, Chattahoochee, and Chattooga rivers. They are loosely tied to the Blue Ridge mass through ridges 2,000 or more feet in height.
The northeast corner of Georgia, where that State, North Carolina., and South Carolina unite, is at Ellicott Rock in Chattooga River well up toward its headwaters. The crest of the Blue Ridge enters Geor-
gia rom North Carolina 10 miles almost west of the Rock, and passes out or Georgia into Tennessee 8 miles west of the point where Toccoa River crosses the boundary. These two points on the Blue Ridge .are 78 miles apart, but the actual length of the .Blue Ridge
between them is over twiC'e as great because it is so crooked. Im-
mediately after entering Tennessee the Blue Ridge turns sharply west, onl one or two mile from the tate boundary, and comes to the Appalachian Valley in eight miles.
The southern boundary of the Blue Ridge i formed by the Dahlonega Plateau, which is in the vicinity of 1 600 feet above sea level through the entire length of the Blue Ridge. The boundary of the Blue Ridge on the north is much harder to define. trictly peaking, the Blue Ridge consists of the ridge which limits the Mississippi waters on the south. To that must, of course, be added a wide border composed of spurs di:i-ectly connected with the Blue Ridge proper. This by no means includes all the high ground however, a important ranges run off to the northwest from the Blue Ridge. The e are not separated from the Ridge by deep gaps. but are as directly connected with it as any of tl1e parts to whieh the name is applied.
For many reasons it would be more natural to extend the name Blue Ridge southwestward along Amicalola and Burnt mountains,
which form part of the principal backbone of the mountains in line with most of the Blue Ridge. The divide formed by these mountains, as i shown in Plate XXIX-B. continues southwestward into the Dahlonega Plateau and there is rn.arked by two of the principal mountains which lie outside the Highland. It further extends with o.nly one short interruption, practically to the Gulf Coastal Plain. This, geologically spea.king, is a more proper location for the term Blue Ridge. As it is used, howeY"er, the Blue Ridge in its northwesterly course follows one of the major cross range on the west side of the Toccoa basin, which corresponds precisely to that on the east
side and to that between Nottely and Hiwassee rivers. Other !!Teat
cross ranges of identical character strike off northwestward from

104

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF GEORGIA

the Blue Ridge in North Carolina at short intervals throughout its extent in that State. The only point in which this particular northwest range called Blue Ridge differs from the others is in the fact that it is the southern limit of the drainage basin of the Mississippi River. It is interesting in this connection that the earliest map giving an actual position for the Appalachian Mountains (under the name Apalachean Mountains), represents their main range in the position now assigned to the Blue Ridge.

System and trend. The crest line of the Blue Ridge has a general course of S. 60 W., from the northeast corner of the State to the south end of the basin of Toccoa River. There it turns abruptly northwestward in a general course N. 35 W., to the point in Big Frog Mountain where it leaves the State. These general courses are locally much modified, so that there are few stretches of the actual Blue Ridge crest which are even moderately straight. On the chief bend, that around the Tallulah, the Blue Ridge sweeps back into North Carolina for 10 miles and forms the wildest section of the Highland. It is a notable fact that each important river which heads on the Blue Ridge pushes the crest of the Ridge back between the basins of the other streams; those from the southeast alternating with those from the northwest, and those from the southwest with those from the northeast. The striving of the different streams to extend their basins headward has thus resulted in a major topographic feature which is the most crooked in the Appalachian Mountains.
Several of the minor valleys in the Toccoa basin have been cut into and captured by branches of the Etowah, and others are still losing ground. A similar situation appears at the head 0f Tallulah River, which is encroaching fast on the upper basin of Nantahala River in North Carolina. l early all the grades of the streams and of the ground are steeper on the southeast or outhwest ide of the Blue Ridge,-in other words, away from the Missis ippi basin. The sartLe thing is true on the extension of the mountain backbone through Amicalola and Burnt Mountains, where the drop to the south is much
greater than that to the north.

Topographic forms. The Blue Ridge as a divide is almost continuously high. At two points it is formed by narrow plateaus, one of 1,750 feet, between Ellijay and Toccoa rivers, mapped in Plate XXXII-A, and the other 2,100 feet, in Rabun Gap, between the Little Tennessee basin and that of Chattooga River, as is shown on Plate XXXVII-B. Both of these passes are bordered closely by mountains above 2,000 feet in height, which are themsdve only spurs from the main mountain lll&Sses. By far: the greater part of the Blue Ridge is above 3 000 ieet in b.eight, and the various sections of that sort are only eparated by a few narrow notches or gaps. The lowest stretch of importance runs southwestward .from the town of Blue Ridge for a straight distance oi 5 miles; all of this is in the vicinity of 2,000 feet above sea.
Many of the peaks of the Blue Ridge stand 4,000 feet or more above sea level and a few above 4,500 feet. The crest line is about as

PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY OF GEORGIA

PLATE XXXII

A. PA.RALLEL VALI,EYS CONNECTING THE ELLIJAY V .~LLEY AND THE DUCKTOWN PLATEAU

B.
Parts of the Ellijay slleet

HIHR PLATEAU AND SCARP OF AMICALOLA AND BURNT MOUl'iTAINS Se;;le "-"S~>Oo
L---~~--~0------~~------.__ __ __ _J-------~---- ___]~files
Contour interval 100 feet Datum i8 mea.-n aea. level

THE HIGHLAND

105

irregular in .height as it is in position, and stretches thatareevencomparatively level are exceedingly scarce. In this respect the Blue Ridge forms a very great contrast with the mountains of the Cumberland Plateau. The different parts of the Blue Ridge have a generally rounded form and even the crest are either peaked or rounded. Thus the traveler in nearly any direction is going either uphill or downhill, and t.he difficulty in traveling along the Range is as great as that in crossing it. This s~paration of the ridges into individual tops~ whether rounded or conical, is thoroughly characteristic of the Highland, and the proportion o land which is fairly level is extremely small. This general condition is of the greatest importance to travelers on foot or in vehicles, to the farmers, and to all persons who enter the Highland. These features are so pronounced and so unalterable that the Blue Ridge and its adjuncts will always remain a region thinly populated and, in the main, wild. In a few localities,
such as Burnt Mountain and Amicalola Mountain, the summits are plateau-like and smoothly rounded as can be seen in Plate XXXII-B, at altitudes of about 8,200 feet. The summits of this plateau are gently rounded like those of the other plateaus, but they are more deeply trenched by the streams, and the remnants are small. A small plateau is seen in the headwaters of Toccoa River and along the Blpe Ridge between the Toccoa, Etowah, and Chestatee basins, with summits from 3,000 to 3,~00 feet above sea.
The summit of Flat Top Mountain in the northwestern part of the Blue Ridge may be considered to represent a still higher plateau. For a length of 6 miles its ummits are between 3,400 and 3,600 feet in height and are broad and rounded. Their character is shown in
Plate XXXIV-A. At the sanie height, but a:t the other end of the
Blue Ridge, a plateau is well developed on an easterly branch of Little Tennessee River. This plateau barely extends aero into Georgia. but is one of a large group at the same height in North Carolina.
A few valleys in the Blue Ridge reverse the usual rule and have broad open upper reache and teep narrow gorges in their lower parts. They are associated with the plateaus a:nd are typical "hanging valleys " indicating that their streams have been captured and diverted. The most triking of these is on Amicalola Mountain, where a stream flows with a gentle grade for 2 miles, and then pitches
abruptly down the mountain for 500 feet and forms Amicalola Falls, the most picturesque in the Blue Ridge. Similar but larger is the valley of Mud Creek, an eastern tributary of Little Tennessee River. This flows in an open plateau valley for 3 miles and then tumbles 500 feet into a narrow chasm thus is formed Eastatoah Falls, the second principal fall in the Blue Ridge. The largest example of this is Tallulah Falls. Above the Falls the entire River lies on or above the Dahlonega Plateau, but at that place the stream drops 700 feet in two miles into a deep chasm in the Plateau. The River bed is lined with falls and rapids, and the most noted is shown in the Frontispiece, Plate I.

106

GEOLOGICdL SURVEY OF GEORGid

Altitudes. The Blue Ridge is highest in its eastern half, both in the individual peaks and in the total amount of high ground. There is a general diminution in height about midway in its length, where Toccoa River heads. At that point, Blood Mountain, the highest ground runs northwestward along one of the Cross Ranges for 9 miles and contains peaks several hundred feet higher than those of the Blue Ridge to the southwest. East of Blood Mountain there are 21 peaks in Georgia of 4,000 or more feet, whereas west of it there are only six. The highest point in Georgia. llras town ~aid, (Mount Enota) 4,768 feet, is on the eastern Cross Range almost 4 miles northwest of the Blue Bidge. Hightower Bald, 4 567 feet, is 1 mile west of the Blue Ridge, and .half a mile south of t he boundary. The second highest point in the State, Rabun Bald, i on the Blue Ridge ~ mile south of the State boundary, and east of the Little Tennessee basin. Points of greater height are found on Blue Ridge where it makes it great curve back into North Carolina, including Standing Indian, 5,500feet, and Little Bald, 5,035 feet . On a spur south of Little Bald stands Chestnut Mountain, 4,600 feet in height , which vies with Rabun Bald for the position of second highest mountain in the State. Beginning with Rabun Bald and proceeding along the south side of Little Tennessee basin the highe t peaks are in order as follows:
Rabun Bald__ _____ - ---- --- - - ------- --_ - - - -- _____ ____ ___ _4, 600 feet Rock-y Mountain____ ------ -_. ___ . ----- __ __ __- ---- - ____ __ A ,OOO fee t Raven Knob ______ - - ---- ---- ----- _-------- --- - ______ ____ _3,600 feet Pinnacle__ _- - - -- -. ____ _-----_. ____ __ -------- - _____ ______3 , 600 feet Black Rock... -----. ___ __ . __ ------ -- ---- ___ . - -- ----- -- - __ 3, iOO feet Unnamed peak .. _____ ___. -------- ---- ----. ____ ________ _3 , 500 feet
Til!Damed peak.. ------ ---- ------------ ----- ----- - ..3,700 feet
Unnamed peak___ ----.- - - - -------------- - -- - - --- . ___ ___ 4,000 feet Ridgepole, in North Carol.ins.____ __ ----- - -- - ------ -- ___ ____5,008 feet
In the basin of Tugaloo River the following are the highest points:
Glady Mountain, almost at the comer of the tate__ ____ __ _ ___3, 700 feet Chestnut Mountain.. . . . ---- -- - - -- ----- ------ - - ____ ____ _.4,600 feet River Mountain __ ___ . - --------- --- -.---- --- ___ ___ __ 3 ,872 feet Unnamed mountain _____ _____ .----- ---------- --- _______ . 3 ,631 feet Rainy Mountain_ __. __ _- - --- . ____ .. ---- --------- ___ __ _2 , 900 feet Screamer Mountain__ ______ ---- ______ ------ __.- --- --- _____ _2 ,800 feet Tiger Mountain.. _------ ___ _------- ____ -- ----- - ---- __ _____ 2,8001eet Glassy Mountain __ ------ - - -- ------ ------- -.----- -- --- __ _3,521 feet Charlie Mountain___ ___. __ ___ . __ ___ .---- - --- -- - .. ---- .. __ 3 , 034 feet Oakey Mountain ____ ___ _____ ____ . __- - - -- . ___ :_. ---- ... _3 ,209 feet
The latter is a peak of the Tallulah Mountains on the divide of Tallulah and Soque rivers.
In the Hiwassee basin near the Blue Ridge are the following peaks:
Rich Knob______ ___ _------ - ___ __ .. ----- -----_. -----. ______4 ,100 feet Hightower Bald__ ___ - ____ . ____ __ ---- - . __ ____ _ ___ ___.A,567 feet
Wildcat Knob. __ ____ _.- - - --.- ----- ---------------- -- .4 ,000 feet Rocky Mountain.._______ _____ --- ---------- ---- - ____.4,164 feet Eagle Motmtain __. --- --- __ ___ --------- --- - ___ __. _______ . ..4, 280 feet Bell Mountain.. ____ --- - - - __ __----- - - - ____ _. ------- -. ___ 3 , 44tl feet
Between Tallulah and Hiwassee rivers there are the following summits:

THE HIGHLdND

107

Unnamed peak, 1 mile north of the boundary ________________ _4,600 feet Unnamed peak________ ----- ---- -- ___ _________ __ _____ 3,600 feet Unnamed peak __- ----------- - - -------------------- ___ ___ _.3,6117 feet Powell Mountain ________________________ ______ --- --- -- _3,800 feet Unnamed mountain_________ --------------------- _________ _4,288 feet Unnamed mountain________ ------------ __________ -------- __ 3,808 feet Dismal Mountain________________________ -------_------- ___ 3,900 feet Unnamed Mountain ______ -------------- -------------------3,900 feet
Between the Hiwassee and Chattahoochee basins the mountains rise to the following heights:
Tray Mounta.in_____ _____________ __ _____ __________ _4,398 feet Rocky ~Iounta.in________ --------------------------- ___ ___4,060 feet "UBllliul1e11M1loeudnPt-esa;ikn___________________-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_--_-_-_-__-_-_-__-_-_-__-_-_-_-__-_-_-__-_-___44,,001415 ffeeeett Jacks Knob _______________________________________________ 3, 800 feet
On the divide at the south headwaters of N ottely River are:
Horse Trough Mountain__ ____ ______ ------ --- - --- __ ___ _4,052 feet Sheep Rook Mountain.. __ _________ ----------- ____________ ...3,600 feet SCtorwawrobcekrrMy oTuonpt_si-o-_--_-_-__-_--__--_-__-_--_-__--_-__--_-__-_--_-__-_- ____________________ ________33,,876474 ffeeeett An unnamed peak_________________________________________ 3, 700 feet Levelland Mountain________________________________________ 3 942 feet BloodMountain___________________________________________ 4,463feet

The southeastern divide of Toccoa River is decidedly lower and includes these peaks:
Unnamed peak____ ____________ ___ __ - ------- ______ ___ 3 , 642 feet Unnamed peak. __________________________________________ .3 , 759 feet Black Mountain ___________________________________________ 3, 800 feet
Unnamed peak___ - --- - ----- - - --- - --- - ------------ --3,619 feet
Springer Mountain..~-----------------------.-----. _____3,820 feet
Here the Blue Ridge turns northwestward. Its southwestern prong, Amicalola Mountain, contains Black Mountain, 3,600 feet, and Bucktown Mountain, 3,400 feet, and Burnt Mountain, on the same projection, has one point of 3,300 feet and several of 3,~00. The south end of this group, 4 miles south of Burnt Mountain, is Grassy Knob, 3,~90 feet. This is the southernmost projection of the Highland into the Piedmont Upland, and furnishes an extraordinarily comprehensive view over the Highland and the Upland.
In the northwestward course of the Blue Ridge there are the following summits:
5 unnamed mountains__ ___ __ __ ____ ______________ ___ 3,400 to 3,500 feet Wolfpen Mountain.. ___ __ __ __________________ _________ _3,400 feet
Tickanetly Bald________________ ------- __ ----------------- _4,054 feet Turcip.town Mountain____ ________ ____ ----- -- ------------3,800 feet Rich Mountain____ ___________ --- ------------------- _______ 4,081 feet Little Bald_______________________________________________ _4,021 feet Big Bald_________________________________________________ A, 120 feet Cold Mountain__________ ---------- _________ ------- ________ 3 ,200 feet Rocky Mountain________________ --------_------- ___________ 3, 541 feet
There the Blue Ridge drops down into the deep Ellijay Valley; west of this are the following points:

108

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF GEORGIA

Flattop Mountain, south end________________________________ 3,500 feet
UFlnanttaompeMd poeuankta_i_n_,_n_o_r_t_h__e_n_d__-_--_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_----_---_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_33,6, 20000 ffeeeett
Hemp ToP--- ----------------- --- --------- ---------- .3,600 feet Big Frog Mountain (In Tennessee, 1 mile from the boundary) 4,200 feet
The lesser summits and the knobs which dot the many spurs exhibit an endless variety of heights abnve the Dahlonega and Ducktown plateaus, which stand at 1,600 to 1,'700 feet or above the Hiwassee and Little Tennessee plateaus between 2,000 and !!,100 feet. The Little Tennessee Plateau crosses the Blue Ridge and Iorms its southern base in small parts of the Tallulah and Chattooga basins.
The minor valleys in the Blue Ridge have a vertical range between 1,000 and 2,000 feet. The 2,000-foot level is from 2 to 7 miles away from the Blue Ridge at the north, and from one-half to 3 miles distant on the south. It is farthest from the Blue Ridge in its northeastern portions, but the general level of the ground is higher there so that grades are similar throughout. The chief exception to this general relation lies in the cross valley of Ellijay River, where the Blue Ridge is 250 feet below the 2,000-foot level.
Drainage. The streams which drain the Blue Ridge fall into three groups: (1) those flowing southeast from the Blue Ridge directly to the Atlantic, represented by Tugaloo RiYer- (2) streams which flow directly to the Gulf of M e.'rico including the Chattahoochee, Etowah, and Coosawattee and (S) those which flow northwest from the .Blue Ridge into Tennessee and Mississippi rivers, including Toccoa, Hiwassee, and Little Tennessee rivers.
The principal branches of Tugaloo River in Georgia are Chattooga and Tallulah rivers, the latter being the continuation of the main stream. Stekoa Creek, a branch of the Chattooga, heads in Rabun Gap against Little Tennessee River, and the valley along their upper waters is part of the noted pass through the Blue Ridge.\;> ~'li1f'l<?' ~
The eastern branch of Chattahoochee River is Soque River, which heads dose to Tallulah River. West of this lies the head of the main stream and still farther west is its branch Chestatee River. All of these headwaters of Chattahoochee River which are in the Blue Ridge are of about the same size. These two rivers, Tugaloo and Chattahoochee, drain nearly half of the southern side of the Blue Ridge.
Just west of the Chattahoochee is the head of Etowah River. Two of its branches of about the same size as the main stream drain the southwestern prong of the mountain backbone, none of them being important.
In its northwest course the Blue Ridge is drained by branches of Coosawattee River, which are, from south to north, Talking Rock Creek, Cartecay River, Ellijay River, and Mountaintown Creek. All of these streams are short i11 the Blue Ridge. The northwest corner of the Blue Ridge in Big j8'rog mountains is drained northwest-

?HYSICIL GEOGRAPHY OF GEORGIA

PLATE XXXlll

Pl:oton ruph s by A1thur K e it!r
A. BAitLOW CUT, THRE E MILES SOUTHWEST OE' DAHLONEGA. B . OCOEE GORGE, THREE MILES NORTH CW STATE BOUNDARY .

..

THE HIGHLAND

109

ward through Conasauga River and its branch, Jacks River, into the Coosawattee in the Appalachian Valley.
North of the Blue Ridge, Toccoa River lies in a basin parallel to the northwest course of the Blue Ridge and flows through Ocoee

River into the Tennessee. The Toccoa has four large branches, Coopers,



Noontootly, Hemptown, and Fightingtown creeks. Parallel to Toccoa

River and northeast of it Nottely River, Brasstown Creek, and Hi-

wassee River, all flow northwestward into North Carolina. Brass-

town Creek and N ottely both join the Hiwassee a few miles north

of the State boundary. The principal branch of N ottely River is

Young Cane Creek, which enters from the southwest, and the import-

ant branch of Hiwassee River in Georgia is Hightower Creek. The

most eastern river which flows north from the Blue Ridge is the Little Tennessee. Only a few miles of this stream are in Georgia, but it is important because of the low pass which it has cut through the Highland.

The stream trends in the Blue Ridge have already been discussed in connection with the valleys and ridges but attention is mvited again to the general northwest or southeast ilow of the chief streams.

This definite system is emphasized by the general trend at right angles to it in the adjoining Dahlonega Plateau. The tributaries and small branches, however, have an endless variety of direction and show typical dendritic plans. All of the basins in the Blue Ridge are alike in this respect, whether their flow is to the Gulf, to the Atlantic, or to the Mississippi. Each stream flows nearly along the central axis of its basin, so that the tributaries on either side have similar

lengths.

The only important exception to this plan is in the Toccoa basin,

where the headwater erosion of Ellijay River has pushed the divide northeastward until it is hardly more than two miles from the channel of the Toccoa. Both north and south of this point, however, the divide recedes from the River, which has its usual symmetrical posi-

tion in its basin. Chattooga River also has an unsymmetrical position in its basin, which becomes even more marked after it passes into the Dahlonega Plateau. In this respect it strongly resembles Chattahoochee River, which in places is within a mile or two of its southeastern divide. The two rivers are directly in line with each

other and flow southwestward.

The grades of the streams which flow out from the Blue Ridge are materially different on its opposite sides, and as a whole, those
which How directly t o the Atlantic are the steepest. The stream channels are higher toward the northeast on all these rivers, but the
height of the ground is greater in the same direction, so that the average stream grades are similar for them all. The s.mallest ave:r:age grades are found on the rivers north of the Blue Ridge, which are much alike in all particulars. They _have cut their channels deep into the mount ain mass, and they reach the 2,000-foot level only 2 to 7 miles from the Blue Ridge. There the streams are at the level of the Hiwassee Plateau, and they descend below it only 200 to 400 feet before

110

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF GEORGIA

leaving the State. Above this general level the grades rapidly steepen up the headwater branches, with many rapids and falls.
The southward-flowing streams exhibit similar changes of grade, but they reach the 2,000-foot level much sooner than do those north of the Blue Ridge. The difference is least between the heads of Nottely and Chattahoochee rivers, where the 2,000-foot level on each stream is about equally distant froin the Blue Ridge.
COHUTTA MOUNTAINS
Position and limits. The northwest corner of the Highland is cut off from the main body of the mountains by Ellijay Valley and the Ducktown Plateau. The mass thus set off is divided into two roughly equal parts, the eastern of which goes under the name Blue Ridge and has been described with the rest of the Blue Ridge. The western and slightly larger part is called the Cohutta Mountains, but the name is somewhat indefinitely applied. The main part of the high ground is at the north, but there is also an important tract of high ground at the south nearly cut off from the main body. Both parts are called Cohutt.a Mountain and there are in addition numerous names for individual peaks.
The area thus outlined is 20 miles long from north to south and nearly 12 miles wide in its northern third. At the south the mountains terminate in a single ridge (Cold Spring Mountain), which is 8 miles from the Valley and nearly surrounded by the Dahlonega Plateau. The Cohutta Mountains are separated from the Blue Ridge by the deep gorge of Jacks River on the north and by an arm of the Dahlonega Plateau at the south on Mountaintown Creek. Between the heads of these two streams there is a narrow connecting ridge, on which even the gaps are above 8,000 feet.
At the west the Cohutta Mountains are bounded by the low plains of the Appalachian Valley, and the boundary as a whole runs nearly north and south. This limit of the Mountains is very plain, and Fort Mountain and Cohutta Mountain rise within a mile of the Valley borders to heights above 2,800 feet. The valley floor at the foot of these mountains is only 800 feet above sea level, and the bold character of the boundary is shown on the map, Plate XXXV and the photograph Plate XXXIX-B. Both south and north of these points narrow tracts of the 1,600-foot plateau intervene between the Valley and the actual mountain slopes. Even the plateaus rise abruptly in steep hills 500 or 600 feet above the Valley floor, however, and the general aspect of the country changes there materially. This boundary departs from its general north-south course in only one place; this is nearly midway in its length where an arm of the Valley enters the Mountains for 8 miles along Holly Creek, as is illustrated in Plate XXXV. The continuation of this depression east ward divides the Cohutta Mountains into the two parts before mentioned. The southern and southeastern boundaries of the Cohutta Mountains are set where the tops of the Dahlonega Plateau curve quickly upward into the mountains slopes, at various heights between 1,600 and 1,800

/'HYSICAL GEOGRAPHY OF GEORGIA

PLATE XXXIV

Pholoyrap.'1s fJy 0. W. Hayes.
A. COHUTTA MTS. LOOKI~G SOUTHWEST FROM FLATTOP MT . 0~ THl'~ BLUE RIDGE. B. DUCKTOWN PI.ATEAU A~[) BLUE RIDGE LOOKIXG NORTHWEST FROM CHESTNUT GAP.

THE HIGHLAND

111

feet. This line is rather crooked and has reentrants of various sizes up the streams.

Sy~tent and trend. The lines of high ground in the Cohutta Mountains are very irregular; the principal divide is at the east and

trends rather uniformly a little west of south. Two subordinate divides spring from this in a westerly direction-one in the northern

and one in the southern section. Between the minor divides lies

the cross valley of Holly Creek above mentioned. These major trends appear to have no relation to the structure or distribution of the rock formations, and in faet nearly all of the mountain area is underlain
by a single formation, the Great moky.

The outline of the Dahlonega Plateau and the Mountains does not agree at all with the distribution of the rocks. On the northwest

side of the Mountains, however, the descent to the 1600-foot plateau

agrees rather closely with the boundary etween the Great Smoky

fonnat.ion and the Hiwassee slate, and all trend nearly northeast.

Bere the minor ridges and valleys run with the rock formations nearly

as plainly as in the Ellijay Valley.



Altitudes and forms. The Cohutta Mountains are a region of trong relief, except along the inner parts of the 1,600 foot plateau. The west base of the Mountains stands in the Appalachian Valley between 800 and 1,000 feet being lightly higher at the north; the east base is between 1 600 and 1 800 feet along the Dahlonega Plateau. The mountains themselves rise to heights _in the vicinity of 3,000 feet and a few peaks are over 4,000. The total :relief from crest to base is thus between 2.,000 and 3,000 feet.
The altitudes of the Cohutta Mountains are similar to those of the other mountains in the Highland. The entire crest of the northem part of the range is above 3 000 feet and half of it is above 3,500 feet. In the outhern part almost all is above 2,600 and all is less than 3 000 feet. Cowpen Mountain, the highest point, is 4 166 feet above se~, Potato Patch Mountain. is 3 500 feet, Big Bald Mountain 3 900 feet, and Grassy Mount.ain is 3,615 .feet all being on the northern Cohutta Mountain. The two highest summits and the general
aspect of the range are shown in Plate XXXIV-A. In the south
part of Cohutta Mountains the heights are decidedly l~s the highest being about 2,800 feet, at which altitude there a.re four peaks. Fort Mountain, the west end of this g:ronp, is 2,832 feet high and stands boldly up from the Appalachian Valley. Cold Spring Mountain, 2,700 feet, rises from the Valley almost as steeply and forrns the south
end of this group.
The slopes required by these differences in height are practically everywhere steep. Rock sulllll}its are rare, however, and only here and there do ledges stand out from the slopes in sufficient size to receive names or to affect the general appearance of the mountains. One group of more moderate slopes is seen near the crests of the mountains and especially in their southern third, where broad rounded summits are fairly common and have the aspect of a plateau in a few

112

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF GEORGIA

cases. Chief of these is seen onthe southern of the Cohutta Mountains, where a definite plateau, including Fort Mountain, stands in the vicinity of !l,600 feet above sea, with uniform summits and shallow, hanging valleys.
There are many comprehensive views from the highest points, such as Cowpen and Big J3ald mountains from which the view is not obstructed by other points of equal height. Other views fully as interesting are seen from Grassy Mountain at the north and Cohutta and Fort mountains at the south, which command the entire width of the Valley spread like a .floor far below them. The name of Fort Mountain is derived from the ruins o an ancient building, which is supposed to have been a fort erected there on aecount of this commanding position. Views are also numerous from the natural open spaces, which are usually grassy or covered with low bushes and stunted trees. Such names as Gra.._sy Mountain and Big Bald Mountain are given on account of this feature.
Drainage. The streams of the Cohutta Mountains consist of the headwater branches of various streams, all of them tributaries of Coosawattee River. The most .important of these streams is Jacks River, which cuts the Mountains almost free from the Blue Ridge and forms the boundary of the two for 1:4 miles.

CROSS RANGES
General plan. There are three important ranges in Georgia which extend northwest across the Highland from its main backbone. The western of these forms a 1>ortion of the divide of the Miss.i.Esippi basin and is part of the Blue Ridge. The two other cross ranges are equally prominent, if not more so, but they form only minor divides in the Mississippi system. Only the Blue Ridge has a name which is applied to its whole m..-tent, and there are no suitable terms in use for the others. The three ranaes, including the Blue Ridge are about equally distant from eaCh other and average about 1!t miles apart.
Central Range. The central Cross Range follows the divide between Toccoa and Nottely rivers and has an average northwest trend with only a few diersions of importance. The Range is cut down to the plateau level along the Murphy marble belt, in a manner identical with the pass at Blue Ridge on the other side of Toccoa River, but is continued farther north in Tennessee. This Cross Range Is notched more deeply than the Blue Ridge at the heads of the large creeks, and the parts between gaps appear more as short ridges extending northeastward across the general trend of the Range. This peculiarity is more plain in the lower northwestern part o. the Range. Good instances of this are Wilscot Mountain and the ridge that includes Poindexter Knob.
The highest part of the Range e.uends from Blood Mountain on the Blue Ridge to and including Duncan Ridge, practically all being above 3,000 feet. Northwest of DliDcan Ridge only a few high peaks are above 8,000 feet, and there are two deep gaps, between .2,200 and

THE HIGHL.dND

113

2,400 feet associated with the Hiwassee Plateau. Two gaps at the heads of Papermill and Rapier creeks, short tributaries of Nottely River, between 1,800 and 1,900 feet from parts of the great valley along the Murphy marble.
The detailed forms of this Range are like those of the Blue Ridge, and there is a marked tendency to a rounded form, with a few ridges like Wilscot Mountain. The common, rather rounded tops are replaced here and there by sharp cones, good examples of which are Coosa Bald in the high part of the Range and Sharpt op Mountain in the lower northwest part . There are numerous remnants of a high platea u at heights above 3,100 feet, which belong to the same system as those on the Blue Ridge, and are found on the south side of the Cross Range a-round t he head of Toccoa River. All parls of the Ran ge, the spurs as well as the crest are dot ted with rounded tops at all altitudes, and the traveller in the Range, no matter what his course may be, is obliged to go either up or down .
The principal peaks in this Range beginning near the Blue Ridge are as follows:
Slaughter Mountain __ _-- ---- _____ ____ ____ __4, 370 feet Wildeat Knob________ ____ _______ __ _______ ___4 ,018 feet
FCloeomsainBgaKldn_o_b-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-__-_-_-_-_______-_--_-_-_-_-_-__-_-_-_-_-_-_-____34,,820870 ffeeeett 4 peaks onDuncan_Ridge__ __ _____ ___ __________ 3,500 feet or more
P ayne Mountain_ ___ ___ --- - - _---- - _____ ___ ____ 3 , 242 feet Wllscot Mounto.in 3 peaks_ ___ ____ ___________3,031, 3,201, 3,151 feet Sharptop M ounte.t1n___________- - ---- - --- - ____2,803 feet 5 llD.Illl.llled points___ ___ ____ - --- - ----- ----- - -- ..2 , 500-2,600 feet Poindexter Knob__------------------- _________ 2,500 feet WaNtso.Cn .Mboouunntdaainry, _1_m__i_le__s_o_u_t_h_o_f__th_e____________ 2,769 feet
Eastern Range. The eastern of the Cross Ranges closely resembles the Central Range but is shorter. It forms the divide between Hiwassee and Nottely rivers, and it ends in North Carolina 8 miles north of the State boundary. Its total length is 16 miles, and its general course is much more steadily northwest than those of of the other Cross Ranges. This Range, however, has an important arm stretching 10 miles from the 'main body northward between Brasstown Creek and Hiwassee River, leaving the main Range_iat Brasstown Bald, 4 miles nearly north of the Blue Ridge.
The highest parts of this Range are near the Blue Ridge, and Brasstown Bald, where the two arms of the Range unite, is the highest point in the Georgia Highland. Practically all of the Range is above 3,000 feet as far as Cedarcliff and Gumlog mountains, each about 3 miles from the State boundary. North of these mountains there are deep gaps between 2,100 and 2,200 feet above sea, which are parts of t he H iwassee Plateau. The Range rises again t o t he 3,000-foot level in Rocky Top just south of the boundary. Another deep pass is found in Brasstown Gap, 2 224 feet, at the h ead of Brasstown Creek. This gap is o.ccupied by the State road between the towns of Hiwassee, Young Harris, and Blairsville, each of which is situated in a separate section of the Hiwassee Plateau. The detailed forms found in this

114

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF GEORGIA

Cross Range differ little from those of the other ranges. There are here, however, more of the easterly-trending ridges and few or none of the high plateaus. The rounded shape-S which are so common in the other ranges are equally so in this, and even the east-west mountains are made up of chains of small peaks.
The highest points of this Range beginning with Jacks Knob on the Blue Ridge are given in the following table:
Brasstown Bald. ___ __________ - ----- ------- --- __ A,867 feet Unnamed peak. ______ __________________________ ____ ___ . A,586 feet
Grassy Knob... . ----- - - - - . --- - -.-- - -- - - - ---- ___ __ __ __ __4,400 feet BCuhzimzanredys tRoopo_s_t-_-_-_-__- - __-__-__~ _ _-___-_-------- -_-------_-_-_-_-__-_--_-__-_-_-_-_-____ __44,,262593 ffeeeett Little Bald______ -------- _______________ -~--- - ---- ________ _4, 473 feet Wollpen Ridge __ ----- . ___ ____ -- ------ ----- - ---- ___4,251 feet Double Knob_____ -- - - -- -------------- - ---- .. ____ . . . 4,052 feet
This group has a continuous length of six miles above 4,000 feet and{is the longest tract of this kind in Georgia. Northwest of this high group stand the following peaks:
Blue Rock. _______ . __ _________ --------_. ____ ____________ ..3 ,340 feet Ivylog M ountain. ... _____ ___________ ___ - -- -- - . ___ __ ____ 3,250 feet Gumlog Mountain _____ ___ _____ ______ ____ ____ ____ ___ .. ___ _.3, 743 feet
Rocl.-y Top.. - ----- - -- . . ----- - -----. __ ____- --- ----- .3 ,060 feet Sheep Knob (inN. C.>----- ------ - - - --------- - ---------- . 2,950 feet Sps.nillrd Knob . ___.. - ------- __... - -- -- - - -- - - ------ . ___ _3 ,860 feet Round K nob. -- ---- ------ - ------ - --- - . . ----- _ _3,492 feet Rocky Mountain _______________ ---------- __ ______ - - - - - - - - .3 ,713 feet Cedarclill ;Mountain. ___ _________________________ ______ ___ _3 ,391 feet
Davy Mountain (inN. C.> -- - - ---- --- ------------- -- - - --- -2 ,958 feet
DUCKTOWN PLATEAU
Position and limits. The Ducktown Plateau lies in the western part of the Highland and occupies a great amphitheater between the mountains which form the divide of Toccoa River. At the southwest it is connected with the Dahlonega Plateau through the narrow Ellijay Valley, and two similar valleys on the northeast connect it with the plateau of Hiwassee and Nottely rivers. The Ducktown Plateau is 10 miles wide along the State line, mainly along the Tennessee border, and barely touches North Carolina. The Plateau is ~0 miles long from northwest to southeast, 5 miles of this being in Tennessee.
The Plateau is limited on nearly all sides by mountain slopes; these mountains are spurs of the Blue Ridge southwest of the Plateau, as shown in Plate XXXIV-B, and of the central cross Range northeast of it. The spurs close in toward each other toward the head of Toccoa River and finally shut out the Plateau. Downstream in Tennessee the mountains shut in again, and the River escapes through a narrow gorge, the rugged nature of which is seen in Plate XXXIII-B.
Where the mountains are well developed there is no uncertainty about the boundary of the Plat eau, for the slope of the ground changes there rather abruptly. In the southeast and southwest parts of t he Plateau, however, there are many remnants of an older and higher

PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY OF GEORGIA

PLATE XXXV

BORDER OF THE VALLEY AND THE HIGHLAND NEAR CRANDALJ,

Part of the Cohutta she"t

Sr:ale s~o

Contourinter~al50feet
Da.tum is m6an eea leoel

THE HIGHL.dND

115

plateau than the Ducktown, which stand above 2,000 feet in height. Between the two plateaus the boundary is less plain and must be drawn largely by means of their altitudes, since their forms are alike. The difference in heights is usually between 200 and 400 feet and higher plateau remnants are excluded from the Ducktown Plateau, because they are connected with and belong to the Hiwassee Plateau.
Plan. The general outline of the Ducktown Plateau is remarkably like that of an oak leaf, the various tips lying upstream on the tributaries of Toccoa River, and the stem of the leaf being downstream in Tennessee. The axis or main stem of the leaf is northwest and southeast with the River, and the tips of the leaf are arranged nearly at right angles to it. The groups of narrow valleys which connect this basin with Ellijay Valley on the southwest and with the Nottely basin on the northeast extend nearly straight across the three basins, as is shown in part on the map, Plate XXXII-A. These valleys have the most definite system of any in the Highland and cont rast strongly with the plan of all of the other streams. This axis of parallel drainage has lowered the principal ranges down to the Plateau levels and formed a highly important avenue for railroads and roads through the Highland. Its close association with the Murphy marble and associated slates has already been mentioned. Elsewhere the valleys and ridges fork like the branches of a tree, and from this plan results the very irregular outline of the Plateau.
Topographic forms. The surface of the Ducktown Plateau is everywhere rounded and its summits are between 1,600 and 1,800 feet above sea. Straight lines or profiles are nowhere found, except in the cross valley above mentioned, and the roundness of the surface, as shown in Plate XXXVI-B, is continually impressed on the traveler's mind. The Plateau i trenched by all of the stream . Where Toccoa River passes into Tennessee, the trench is 250 feet deep below the plateau summit , and its teep and rocky cha.raeter is shown in Plate XXXITI-B. The trench is les and less deep up tream o that the upper branches .flow on the old plateau surface near its margin. The large streams, however, have cut their trenches beyond the Plateau limits and into the mountains.
The typical profile along each ridge is a series of rounded summits or domes separated by shallow saddles. These descend in average _height very slowly from the Plateau margin toward its middle, but end abruptly at the treams. The cross profiles are imi1ar on thetop of each ridge to the lengthwise profiles, but the curvesteepensrapidly into the valleys and even faster into the trenches, where they are
present. Thus a slope which is nearly flat on top of the ridge passes laterally to one of 30 degrees in the trenches, with here and there rocky slopes which are even steeper. The opposite curve is shown around the Plateau margins where its rolling hills yield to the mountain slopes. The total change is great, but it seldom reauires more than one-fourth
of a mile.

116

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF GEORGIA

The Plateau, as has been stated, was formed by long continued decomposition of the surface rocks to soils and their removal through the streams. This naturally is most complete near the streams, while between them there are some unimportant tracts not reduced to the Plateau. Another feature in which the completeness of erosion is shown is the depth of the soil. The rocks are decomposedon'theolder upper surfaces of the Plateau, to depths from 5 to 60 feet, and rock exposures are rare in such situations. Plate XXXVI shows the depth of the soil as exposed in recent gullies. In the newer valleys and the deep trenches erosion has cut away most of the soil cover, and bedrock outcrops in thousand of places. This characteristic, together with the steepness of the slopes, concentrates travel and farming on the hilltops, especially in the northern part of the basin where the trenches are deepest. Blue Ridge the second largest town in the Highland, is situated where Ellijay Valley joins the smooth margin of the Ducktown Plateau. The ease of traffic and of town building at that point is strongly in contrast with the surroundings of Copper Hill, which is deep in the trench of Toccoa River at the boundary of Tennessee.
HIWASSEE PLATEAU
Position and lim.its. The Hiwassee Plateau lies in the northern part of the Highland along Hiwassee River and its tribtltaries, Nottely River and Brasstown Creek. The portions of it seen .in Georgia are intermo\lntain parts of a large plateau which is more widely developed in North Carolina and with which the Georgia parts unite. The featmes shown by thi plateau in Georgia are the same as those exhibited in the Ducktown Plateau, except that they are in the valleys of three stream instead of one. The Hiwas ee Plateau is usually from 400 to 500 feet higher than the Ducktown Plateau, and parts of the upper plateau are found around the margin of the Ducktown Plateau. Except for the differences in altitude the individual features of the Hiwas ee Plateau are about the arne as those of the Ducktown. This is natural because each plateau represents the work done by the same factors (the streams and processes of decomposition) upon the same sets of rocks. Individual formations reach directly aero s from one plateau to the other and also from one part of the Hiwassee Plateau into other parts.
The three sections of the Hiwassee Plateau in Georgia follow the northwest trend of the main streams and each section is symmetrically disposed along its particular stream. There are isolated areas of higher ground not reduced to the plateau level, which are most n\liDerous at the north and in the N ottely section. Typical of these are Kelley and Yo\lllgs mountains, about in the middle of the Nottely basin.
The limits of this Plateau are set where the gentle plateau top rises rather sharply into the mountain slopes, usually around 2,100 feet. The outline of each section of the Plateau is very crooked, and each has the leaflike form shown in the Ducktown Plateau.

PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY OF GEORGIA

PLATE XXXVI

Photographs by F. B. Laney. GULLIED HILJ,SIDES NEAR DUCKTOWN, TENN.

THE HIGHLAND

117

Topographic forms. The details of form 1n this Plateau are
the same as tho e of the Ducktown Plateau and consist of gentlyrounded hilltops, with narrow valleys along the streams. The valleys are shallow and smooth around the Plateau margin, but elsewhere they -are trenche of various depths along the streams. The trenches are irom 100 to 400 feet deep in Georgia and are deepest on the Nottely near the tate boundary. This stream is barely above 1,600 feet w.here it leaves Georgia, while the Hiwassee is just under 1 800 feet at the boundary.
The .Plateau ex-tends up N ottely River until it is only two miles hom the Blue Ridge and the reduction to the Plateau grade throughout its length was remarkably complete. It is more so than on the upper Hiwassee, wruch i the ma-in stream where the Plateau is decidedly narrow as is seen in "Plate XXXI-A.
The principal town! of the Hiwassee Plateau are situated on its smooth inner margin. One is in each section, including Hiwassee, Young Harris, and Blairsville. As the Plateau becomes more and more dissected toward the north, the roads and settlements tend to keep to the smooth upland portions. This is most plain in the lower part of the Nottely basin, where the trenching produced minor -val-
leys jn the Plateau at the Duel-town Plateau level, whlch were in
tum still iarther trenched below that level.
Drainage. The draina~e of the Hiwas ee Plateau is accomplished by a variety of rivers which do not differ materially except in size;
an are parts of Hiwassee River and each is symmetrically placed
in its basin. Hiwa see Ri-ver drains the northeast part of the Plateau, Nottely River drains its southwest -part and Brasstown Creek its central and smallest part. The principal branch of the Hiwassee, beside the two already mentioned, i Hightower Creek which dra.ins part of the western slope of the Blue Ridge. N ottely River i joined from the east by Town and Ivylog creeks and from the east b Young Cane Creek.
The stream grades in the Hiw:u -ee :Plateau are fairly steep but do not compare in this particular witb those south of the Blue Ridge. The margins of the Plateau next t o the mountains are about 2,100 feet abO\e sea and outside of them the streams rapidly increase in gra-de. Within the Plateau, however, they promptly flatten out to grades which are moderate. Noltely River, for instance, descends 500 feet in 16 miles, not counting the curves. The grades are vecy s.imilar on the three principal streams, and those of the mmor streams are nearly identical with each otb.e1:. These grades are low and uniform, when the mounta-inous character of the region is considered. They are nowhere concentrated into prominent falls, although. small falls and rapids are common. The amount of power developed by streams with these grades should be considerable, because the rainfall is hea-vy and the volume of the streams is lar_ge in proportion to their basins. The very steadiness of the grade boweYer, renders it difficult to utilize this fall -to advantage.

118

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF GEORGIA

LITTLE TENNESSEE PLATEAU

Positions and limits. This Plateau is principally developed

in the basin of Little Tennessee River, the head of which lies in Geor-

gia and is more and more extensive downstream in North Carolina.

The chief part of the plateau in Georgia is about 6 miles long from

north to south. and numerous arms extend from it into the moun-

t.ains. One of these branches reaches through Rabun Gap into the basin of Chattooga River; whence it eA.-tends a1 o into the basins of the Tallulah

and the Chattahoochee. None of these plateau sections is as well pres-

erved as that on the Little Tennessee, and none is important enough to re-

quire a separate name. They are therefore included in the de-

scription under Little Tenne see Plateau, because they are continuous

and stand at the same height, about 2100 feet above sea level.

The southern boundary of tills Plateau in the Tallulah -and o-

que basins is marked by the descent to the Dahlonega Plateau, which is strongly developed in those basins at heights of 1,600 or 1,700 feet.

Above this surface the Little Tennessee Plateau rises about 500 feet,

and the boundary is fairly di tinct. The other boundaries of the

Plateau are along it margin against the mountains, and are like simi-

lar boundaries of the other plateaus. The extension of this Plateau

directly across the main backbone of the Blue Ridge is ene of the mo. t

important features of the Highland and the po ition of the water-

shed is scarcely noticeable.

There are two valley belts in which this plate.au is found-one which nms nearly north and south along the main a.xis of Little Ten-

nessee River and the other trending outhwestward across the head-

water of the Little Tennes ee. Tallulah and Soque. The two belts

intersect in the upper part of the Little Tennessee ba in about three

miles north of Rabun Gap.

A third valley with an exceptional east-west course crosses the

lower half of Timpson Creek in the Chattooga and Tailulah basins,

This was reduced to the level of the Plateau thus making a narrow

connection between its various sections. This was so natural a line

of travel that one of the earliest roads between the border settle-

ments ran along it across the Tugaloo basin, thence over the Blue

Ridge and down the Hiwassee.



Topographic form . The forms of the remnants of this Plateau differ in almost no respect from those of the other plateaus, and its
higher surfaces are smoothly rolling. Near their headwater the large streams flow in shallow trenches which rapid! deepen downstream, the only exception being the Little Tennessee, shown in Plate XXXVIII-B. In its basin the streams now flow directly on the floor of the Plateau and do not lie in trenches until the River has flowed for 6 or 8 miles into North Carolina. The trenching is greatest in the lower part of the Chattooga, Tallulah, and Soque basins, where the streams have cut down about 500 feet to the level of the Dahlonega Plateau. The contrast between these rivers and the Little Tennessee is very great, but otherwise the description of individual forms given for the other plateaus applies well to this one.

PHYSICAL GEOGRAPH OF GEORGIA

PLATE XXXVII

A. HIWASSEE PLATEAU AND SURROUNDING MOUNTAINS NEAR HIWASSEE
Part of the Dahlonega sheet

Part of the Walhalla sheet

TENNESSEE PLATEAU AND RABUN GAP IN THE BLUE RIDGE Scale Es~oo
~--~~~0--------~------~------~-------~L-______js~~~
Contour interval 100 feet
Da.tu.m is mean ua Urvel

THE HIGHL.dND

119

The reduction of the Blue Ridge backbone to the valley level and the extension of the Plateau into the southward-flowing streams is a very rare feature. A plateau at this height, 2,100 feet, moreover, is n<;~t elsewhere known south of the Blue Ridge, and its pl'esence indicates that originally this district was tributary to the Tennessee basin. Tbe character of Rabnn Gap itself is such as to indicate that fo.rmerly an important stream flowed fuough itJ for the rocks which occupy it are very hard and could not have been cutcompletelydown by the present weak headwaters. The streams flowing south from the Blue Ridge are now cutting their channels with far greater speed than is the Tennessee, and have long done so. It is, therefore, reasonable to suppose that some of the headwaters of the Tennessee were captured and diverted by the swifter and more powerful streams which ran off to the south.
The depression formed by the north-south line of plateaus is of great importance, for here the railroad and highway pass the Blue Ridge backbone ill Rabun Gap at very low grades and low altitudes. This is nowhere possible in North Carolina, and in Georcia it can be done elsewhere orily at the bead of Ellijay Valley which is nearly at the west margm of the Highland. Where the north-south valley intersects the east-west one, two miles south of Rabun Gap, is situated Clayton, the- county seat of Rabun County. The town is thus situated in two natural lines of travel-one now occupied by a railroad and both by main wagon roads. Almost flOO years ago the end of the :toad from Augusta was at Tugalo, now Fort Madi.on on Tugaloo RiYer. A rough track led north thr9ugh Rabun Gap to the scattered settlements on the Little Tennessee basin. Through the Gap the Little Tenn~see valley was settled and its traffic flowed, unhindered by the heiS"ht of the mountains. From far distant farms in North Carolina the mountaineers drove their herds of cattle to lowland markets, and brought back in their wagons the precious loads of sugar and salt.
Drainage. The streams which drain this Plateau are more diver -e than those of any other plateau .in the Highland. The Little Tennessee flows northward and is part of the Mississippi ba in, the Tallulah and Chattooga flow through the Tugaloo direct to the Atlantic, and the oque and Chattahoochee flow south-we t to the Gulf.
All are headwater treams, and few ar morethan 6 or 8 miles long, e.-xoept the Tallulah, whi~ flows between plateau remnants for about 14 miles. All the rivers have numerous tributary creeks but none of particular significance except those in the valleys passing through Clayton.
The stream grade here are steep, except on the floor of the Little Tennessee basin, and rapids and waterfalls are numerous in the surrounding mountains. Eastatoa Falls' on an eastern tributary of the Little Tennessee, is the largest and best known, except Talllill!Ji Falls. Tallulah River is the only stream whose volume is sufficient to permit the steep grades of the streams to be utilized. The :recent development on this stream include three dams above and one be-

120

GEOLOGIC.dL SURVEY OF GEORGI.d

low Tallnlah Falls and make complete use of its power. The three upper dams are in the narrow valley which is an arm_ of the Dahlonega Plateau, reaching into the Highland. The lower dam is in the gorge below the plateau surface which begins at T allulah Falls and is 700 feet deep. This gorge is pictuxed in Plate XXX-B, and the upper (Burton) reservoir in Plate XXXVIII-A. In Plate I i shown the principal part of Tallulah Falls in its original condition.
GEOLOGY
GROUPS OF ROCKS
The rocks of the Highland are almost entirely crystalline-that is, the particles of which they are composed have crystal outlines and are not worn fragment uch as are seen in the ordinary sands and muds. A few of the roCks in the extreme western part of the Highland, especially the conglomerates are made up of fragments of minerals chiefly feld pa:r and quartz. Elsewhere, however rocks of tliis compo it ion a well a others have been crushed and altered during movements in the earth, so that the original fragments are now rMely seen. As they now tand, the rock of the Highland include marble late phyllite schist quartzite graywacke, conglomerate, and gnei . All of these were originally fragmental or edimentary rocks. In addition, there are large masses of granite, of gneiss derived from granite by pressure, of diorite and gabbro, and chists and gneisses derived from them. The granite~ and granite-gnei' e are cha-racterized by a larg amount of mica, particularly biotite, while the gabbros and diorites and their gneisses are notable for the amount or hornblende which they contain. The granites, diorites and gabbros were formed in a fluid condition under intense heat in the depths of the e-arth. The names and a es of the Highland rocks are hown on the Table of formations.
The marbles are found in a narrow belt in the Ellijay and Murphy valleys. Usually the belt i ingle, narrow and broken, but in places there are mo belts, parallel and close together. It is called the Murphy marble on account of its strong development near Murphy, North. Carolina. The ready solution of this marble is the cause of the lowering of tnese valleys and of their continuity across the Highland. The slates and laty Jormations clesely follow the marble in a belt 1 to 3 miles wide, and extend southwe tward where the marble is locally absent. Slates are also found, but in less volume, westward through the Big Frog and Cohutta mountains, but southeastward there are none more than 3 miles from the Murphy marble.
ana Conglomerates, quartzite and similar rocks mterbedded with
layers of late phyllit e make up nearly all of the western part of the mountains, inCluding the Big Frog and Cohutta ranges. Conglomerat e is very rare southeast of the Murphy marble line, but here and there small bodies are found which prove the sedimentary natm:e of the graywacke and gneiss in which they occur. Graywacke of this sort forms a belt 1 to 3 miles wide southeast of the marble.

PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY OF GEORGIA

PLATE XXXVlll

p,r,otouJaJJ{u;; bu r:. 8. ;trmu ..-tir Serrire (A) and C. n. llffyes (R) .
A. BURTON RESERVOIR ON T_.!.LLULAH RIVER. LOOKING N~~ARLY NORTH. B. HEAD OE' LITTLJ; TEXNESSEE RIVER. LOOKlNG XORTHEAST FROM KEEXT:J{ GAP .

THE HIGHLAND

121

The Highland is underlain :m.ainly by gneisses of various kinds,
and a belt 12 to 18 miles wide joins the graywacke on the southeast. The gneiss consists mainly of massive beds ~ternating with numerous layer of schist, all characterized by much biotite and muscovite and by minerals like garnet and staurolite. Southeast of this belt lies afgreat triangular area in which hornblende-gneiss, diorite and gran-
ite are common. This area extends-westward along the State boundary from the corner of the State to Hiwassee River. It narrows southwestward and passes out of the Highland because the format ons run
inTan average southwest course, while the margin of the Highland
bears decidedly more toward the west. The individual bodies iof each formation are long and narrow, sometimes to an extraordinary de-
gree and are locally twisted by movements of the earth into intricate
curves and angles. The granites occupy the least area of any of the
formations and in only a few places cross to the north side of the Blue Ridge. They form many oval areas or belts which are much wider
in proportion to their length than are the belts of hornblende gneiss.

AGES OF FORMATIONS
The youngest formations in the Highland are found in or near the Murphy marble valleys, and are all of early Cambrian age. Successively older rocks are found northwestward from this, in the order shown in the table of formations. Nearly all of them aa-e concentrated in a belt from 1 to 3 miles wide near the Murphy marble, except the Great Smoky formation. The latter occupies a belt 20 miles wide and underlies most of the western group of mountains. The graywacke belt southeast of the marble belt is formed by the Great Smoky fm:rmation, here coming up nearly on edge from beneath the general slate and marble mass.
The various gneisses and most of the granites are of still earlier or pre-Cambrian age. The several forms of biotite gneiss, known as Carolina gneiss, are the oldest, and are followed in order by the group of diorites, gabbros, and hornblende gneisses. The youngest of the pre-Cambrian rocks are the bodies of granite., which have been much altered into gneisses. Still other and much younger granites are found in the plateaus of the Piedmont, but only a few small bodies of it are now known in the Highland.
Associated in origin with the granites are the numerous pegmatites, which are most numerous. They are of substantially the same composition as the granites, but are very much coarser, and crystals of individual minerals are occasionally found as much as 1 foot in length. These are the source of numerous rare minerals and of the mica which is so well known in commerce.
Still younger rocks are the quartz veins which are so generally distributed throughout the Highland. They are largest and most numerous in the southeast part of the Highland in the various gneisses, but they are also found in all of the formations except the Murphy marble. They :range in size from small lenses of the size of the hand to veins 5 or 6 feet thick and a mile or more long. The more continuous bodies are gold-bearing and are the source of some of the auriferous

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gravels which have been mined for many years on both sides of the Blue Ridge. Where these veins are associated with bodies of granite and hornblende gneiss the gold content appears to be greatest. This region was the scene of the earliest gold mining in the United States, and the gravels in the vicinity o Dahlonega near the south foot of the Blue Ridge are still being washed rom time to time.
STRUCTURE
The most definite structural feature in the Highland is the long, sharp syncline or basin in which are found the Murphy marble and the young formations. This basin consists of several minor folds, but is more than usually simple for this part of the Appalachian Mountains. The axis of the basin enters the State along Nottely River with a southwestward course and curves more and more to the south down Ellijay River and through the Coosawattee basin. In this basin it continues to curve close to the border of the Highland until it runs southeastward across the divide and into the basin of Etowah River. There it holds the great marble deposits in the vicinity of Tate, Nelson, and Ball Ground.
Both west and east of this basin there are general areas of uplift In the Big Frog and Cohutta mountains the oldest formations of the Cambrian are exposed, and a general zone of uplift passes through them into the Ducktown copper region of Tennessee. The uplift is about 8 miles distant from the Murphy marble syncline and nearly parallel to it on the northwest. West of this is a rather shallow trough in the Cohutta and Big Frog mountains.
Rocks northwest of the main syncline dip as a rule to the southeast at angles from ~0 to 80. Southeast of the main syncline the Cambrian rocks are sharply turned up in the narrow graywacke belt, and farther southeast only formations of pre-Cambrian age now remain at the surface. These are tremendously folded and complicated, as can readily be determined where the different parts are unlike, but it is not possible yet to outline most of the structures. The region is one of uplift however, and of very great uplift. This elevated character extends outheastward, including the Dahlonega Plateau of the Piedmont as far as its outheast margin at the divide between Chattahoochee River and the smaller streams flowing directly to be Atlantic. At this ituation, from ~0 to 30 miles southeast of the Blue Ridge. a long narrow belt of schist and marble marks a deep syncline which correspond roughly to that of the Murphy marble. Northea tward thi teadily converges on the Highland and enter it in South Carolina. The uplifted character of the great mas between the two synclines is doubtles due in part to the several intrusions of gra.nite which it has uffered, but the individual lines of greatest uplift can not yet be laid upon the _map. This mass had been raised higher than any part of Georgia, when the great mountain-building epoch was done, and from the beginning divided the Atlantic drainage from that of the interior of the continent. The Blue Ridge is thus a most ancient mountain range, and its accompanying ancient valley is seen near the Chattahoochee, which closely follows the principal basin in the Piedmont.

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The Highland appears to contain few faults, or breaks in the crust of the earth. They are pre ent in at least two important zones and many more may be as yet Uhdiscovered. The border of the Highland and the Appalachian Valley is marked by a great fault, on which the old Cambrian rocks haTe been forced westward for miles over younger Ordovician and ilurian rocks. The great contrast between the weak rocks of the Valley and the hard, in oluble rocks of the Highland has caused the abrupt change in the form of the surface there as is shown on the map Plate ::xLTI. This fault pa es lar to the norlheast through Tennessee and southwe-t through Georgia. Another zone of fault appear in association with the Murphy marble belt. These faults two or three in number, are continuous across the Highlan.d parallel to each other and seldom more than a mile apart. All of the Highland faults have easterly dips, the Highland border fault beinu rather flat and the marble belt fa.ul being teep.
sorLs
Next to the almost uni,.-ersal presence of oils in the Hi bland, the most notable thing about them is their depth. Only the scattered ledges and rare cliffs form any obstacle to farming, with here and there small train of boulders lipping down the steep hillsides or cobblestone in the river bottoms. mall rock fragments and pebbles are numero in most of ilie formations l ut do not handicap the farmer greatly. They are readily picked up or are turned a ide by the plow or the hoe. The soils, including the surface and sub-soils range from 50 feet down to a thin sheet near the ledges.
The deepest oil are found over the areas of Murphy marble, which i deeply di solved and forms very few outcrops. The e oils consist of red clay, with more or les overplaced material washed from the hill ide . Other soil composed almost wholly of red clay are those on the hornblende gneiss diorite, and gabbro. These are darker red than the limestone clays and not as deep but still are far deeper than is neces ary for farming. The slate formations also are covered with clays, either reddish or dark brown, in which mall fragments and chip of late ate numerous. These soils are comparatively hallow and rarely more than 4 or 5 feet deep.
The oils on the other formations in the Highland con ists largely of clay, but they also contain more of other materials than the soils already mentioned. The various schists and mica gneisse , for e..'\:ample contain considerable quartz and and a great deal of mica in fint> scales. The e loo en up the soil -O that they can ab orb more water, but the ame factors cause them to drain and wash more readily. Small fragments of schist are especially numerous in the schist oiis and in many situations- for instance the old erosion urface of the plateaus- form a cover which protects the underlying soils from removal. The granite soils are les important in the Highland than the other soils on account of their maHer a.rea. They too consist largely of red clay with ome mica but the proportion of quartz sand is large. On the old plateau surfaces the tea.dy reduction of the surface and the removal of the fine clays has left a blanket of the sand and quartz

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fragments, which passes gradually downward into a sandy red clay. Many of the coarser gneisse , whose minerals are the arne as tb.ose of the granite, form similar andy oils. The poorest and thinnest soil are produced by the Tusquitee and Nottely quartzites, which consist almost wholly of quartz. .Ledges are far commoner on these formations than on others in the Highland, and their soils are of no importance for farming.
The traveler in the Highland wonders at the vast numbers of quartz fragments in the soils. The e are present in all parts of the Highland and in all formation except the Murphy marble, but are more common toward the southeast in the schists and gneisses. They decompose with extreme slownes and are concentrated on the surface as it i worn down . Gradually they slide down with the oils from the hillsides and wash into the . tream channels, and they are present on all slopes where decomposition has proceeded far as in the various plateaus and intermountain valleys. The farmers keep them picked out of the field rmder cultivation, but in those which are abandoned they soon become prominent, as the fine materials and clay are washed down the slopes. A local use has been found for them as material for the smelters at Ducktown but el ewhere they are only a detriment and are specially objectionable in the roads.
Along all the tream narrow bottom lands are formed which contain the best soils of the region. These are rarely more than a quarter of a mile wide and usually are much les ; they are widest and best where the intermountain valley are widening out into the plateaus. In such situations the stream have swung rather widely from side to side and depo ited the soils of the bottom lands. The oils consist of silts from 4 to 6 feet thick resting on a bed of gravel, whiCh. lies on the bedrock. These soils are of un:ifonn composition and are made up of the mixed waste from many kinds of formations. Usually in the upper reaches of the large streams the bottom lands are bordered by narrow terraces which are the remnants of former bottom lands.
The chief difficulty which the farmers of t.be Highland must guard against is the washing of the soils. Except on the bottom lands. terraces, and the flat parts of the plateaus, the slopes are fairly steep, and the rains concentrate readily into rills. Gullies are soon formed unless watched and checked, especially in the micaceous and sandy soils which occupy most of the Highland. A single heavy rain may start a set of gullies which it will take months to repair. The complete system of gullies which form when no check i applied is seen around Ducktown. There the soils are literally devoured and ca t into the streams, which spread them over the bottom lands downstream. and destroy the best lands of the region. These gully systems are illustrated in Plate XXXVI. The continual care required to prevent gullying on any farm is an added charge against the farmer's profits. "Where farms are abandoned their soils soon go down :hill int o the
streams unless the rmdergrowth comes up in time to check the pro-
cess. This situation is so general and so ever present that it has led to the establishment of the great national forests which cover much of the Highland, in order to protect the headwaters of the streams,

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where the washing is greatest on account of the steep slopes and the heavy rains.
The depth of the soils in the Highland has a distinct bearing on mining as well as farming. The principal mineral deposits of the region are the copper deposits on the Ducktown Plateau and the gold deposits on both sides of the Blue Ridge. The copper deposits show at the surface as a gossan of iron ore. This extends down to the depth of the sub-soil, and there is replaced by the rich deposits of black copper ore. These extend downward into the rock formations as far as decomposition has reached, below which they are replaced by the refractory sulphides of copper. The early work of the region was the recovery of the copper from the rich deposits. These were worked out and the mining lagged, until means were found to handle the sulphide ores which were below the level of the soil-making processes. The later smelting of the sulphide ores produced the enormous amount of sulphur gases which have destroyed the vegetation in a considerable area around the smelters. Thus the character of the mining- there was directly due to the processes which produced the soils.
The gold deposits along the southern border of the Highland are similarly conditioned by the depth of soil making. The early recoveries of gold were from the stream gravels, into which the heavy bits of gold were washed and concentrated by natural processes. These at first were handled by the pick, shovel and log washer, but later were attacked by powerful streams of water under heavy pressure. These streams washed down not only the old stream gravels but the adjoining deposits of soil which had not been moved far from the parent rock. The latter were found to contain gold and to be well worth handling. Eventually the most profitable portions of these soils were found to be along the contacts of granite and hornblende gneiss. Hydraulic washing along such contacts was developed to a tremendous extent around Dahlonega, just south of the border of the Highland, and this became the headquarters of gold mining before the discovery of the California fields. The hydraulic giants cleaned off the soils and partly decomposed rock to depths as great as 50 or 60 feet. Such cuts were long as well as deep and are illustrated in Plate XXXIII-A. showing the old Barlow cut near Dahlonega.
The downward limit of the rich gold-bearing soils was the bed rock, and the richest portions lay on that. Countless attempts have been made to discover a special mother lode for the gold in the quartz veins, but without success. These veins are gold-bearing and contain very rich pockets in places.
The proportion of values below and above the base of the soil zone is very different, and in most mining operations the profits have ceased when work was begun in the hard rock below the soils. The great open cuts around Dahlonega made by the hydraulic giants testify to the success of the hydraulic method, as do also the miles of ditches built to convey the water to the workings. These ditches are in places 6 or 8 miles long, winding in and out along the hillsides from the upper waters of the streams. If the soil cover had not been so deep the con-
struction of these ditches would have been impossible without prohibitive expense.

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GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF GEORG/d

The depth of soil in the Highland is also related to public works. The relation has been well understood in connection with the roads, and the deficiencies of the clay roads in wet weather and their virtues in dry weather have long been plain. When the time comes for macadamizing or paving roads the great variety of ledges which protrude from the soil will be of the utmost value. uitable material can always be found within a mile, and usually in very much shorter distances. The presence of the deep soils permits road grading at a minimum of expen e, except on the steeper mountain slopes where Lhe soils are thinner and ledges are more numerous.
The depth of. the oil has less than the u ual influence on railroad building in the Highland because the railroads follow the low ground near the streams, where the oils are most completely removed and rock is most common. A given mileage of railroad in the Highland i , therefore, more expensive than in the Appalachian Valley or the Dahlonega Plateau. This would not be true in the upper parts of the river basins north of the Blue Ridge, but thus far no railroads have been built in tho e localitie e..xcept on Little Tennessee River. The advantages of the old plateau surface of the Little Tennessee, in this respect, are very pronounced over the small valley outh of the Blue Ridge tributary to Chattooga River.
CLIMATE
The climate of the Georgia Highland .has the same characteristics as that of the adjoining highland in North Carolina and Tennessee. The more oulherly po ilion of Georgia however, and the lower general altitudes there make the Georgia portion of the Appalachian Mountains less cold and humid then the others.

RAINFALL
The Highland is characterized by a large rainfall, which is considerably greater than that of the adjoining J>iedmont Upland on the south and markedly more than that of the Appalachian Valley on the west. All o the Highland has 60 inches of rainfall annually, and most o it ha more than 65 inches, while the Piedmont and the Valley have 10 inches les . The difference in precipitation is maintained in most parts of the year, but is especially marked during the summex months when thunderstorms are frequent. These storms cross the Appalachian Valley with the prevailing southwest wind, but with little or no rainfall. Upon striking the Highland they increa e in intensity, envelop the highest ground. and rainfall ensues. Some of these storms are torrential, and the volume of water is so great and so quickly gathered by the swift streams that often a rain of half an hour's duration will render them impassable.
At such times it is only the gre~t power of the soils to absorb the rain and of the forests to hold it back that prevent the soils from being stripped to bedrock and the country laid waste. ucn a result already obtains in the northern part of the Duc:b.."town Plateau in Tennessee and Georgia where the protective cover of vegetation has been killed (see Plate XXXVI.)

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The rains of winter are longer and sometimes continue for several day but they are not as heavy a the nmmer .rains and consequently are easily ab orbed by the soil and forest litter. These, too, prevent or retard evaporation although it is rapid in the cleared fields of the plateaus and small valleys. The summer un has a tremendous heating power in the clearings in the mountains and plateau margins, and Lhe contrast between such situations and the wooded slopes is very great.
Considerable moisture is also condensed in the summer and fall from the clouds which cover the high ground and from fogs which fill the valley I ottoms. The mountains may be covered with clouds during many days at a time for hundred or even thousands of feet be1ow their summits so that a considerable amount of moisture is thu collected. The fog of the valleys are peculiar phenomena. They gather during the summer months to depths of 100 or 2.00 feet where the valleys are surrounded by mountains. Occasionally they fill the entire area of the intermountain plateaus, o that the mountains and hills stand above them like i lands in a sea. They form during the latter part of each night, perhaps for a week at a time, and usually are dispersed by the sun's rays before nine o'clock. It is a curious fact that these fogs are not formed when bad weather is imminent o that the morning fog is recognized as the forerunner of a fair day. These fogs cut off the un rays for three or four hour and thus materally reduce the e,aporation of moisture from the ground. Both the fogs of the valleys and the cloud- of the summits are favorable to vegetation and especially to the gra ses. In fact, many of the cleared fields on the mountain sides are better suited to permanent crops like grass than to anything else.
The precipit~tion in the Highland is nearly all in the form of rain. Snow occasionally falls in late October on the high ground of the Blue Ridge and the Cross Ranges but it usually does not fall before late January or February on the adjoining Dahlonega Plateau. Some snow usually falls in December on the intet:mountain plateaus, but rarely remains long on the ground. The high ground above 3,000 feet in altitude affords the only localities where the now stay long, even in mid-winter. The area of such ground i comparatively small and most of it is on or near the Blue -rudge. The amount of snowfall increases northeastward in Georgia, partly on account of the greater width of the mountain belt and al o because of its more northerly position. The same increase continues into North Carolina for the same reasons. In ~orgia it is only after exceptional storms or on the very highest ground that the nowfall i heavy enough to become a serious matter as it is in the more northern states.
The proportion of sunny days is fi:er in Georgia than it is in more northerly -parts of the Appalac Mountains. The same is true to an even greater extent in the adjoining parts of the Piedmont Upland. This is due partly to the southerly position of Georgia and the greater average power of the sun and also to the -fact that the State is south of the tracks u ually followed by the cyclonic storms. These

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GEOLOGICdL SURVEY OF GEORG/d

storms furnish a la~rge part of the rainfall in the northern and central states, but Georgia is far enough south so that their influence is diminished. It is largely on this account that the prevailing winds in this reaion are .from the outhwest. They thus represent the mdraft toward the centers of Lhe storms, as well as the general east ward flow of the winds in the United States.
TEMPERATURE
The average annual temperature of the Georgia Highland is higher than that of simila:r tracts in North Carolina. The difference is greater in summer than in winter, partly because the Bighland is narrower in Georgia, so that the influence of the warmer plateau and valley belts extends farther into the mountains. The average annual temperature of the Highland is from 52 to 58, and for the individual mountains is much lower, but few regular obser\ations of it have been made. The coldest ground is in the high mountains, because tlte temperature invariably is less where the ground is higher. Thus the belts of equal annual temperature follow at about the same height around each mass of high ground. While this relation is known to exist enough measurements have not been made to place the lines of equal temperature in detail upon the map. The temperat ure lines for winter are similar in outline to those of the summer, but the line of 50 for instance, would be decidedly higher up Lhe slopes in summer than in winter. The rigor of the winter climate are distinctly less than tltey are in North Carolina, and in the valleys the summers are hot enough to deter the inhabitants from great exertions.
The season for growing crops is long and frosts do not come until late. The latter part of October is apt to be frosty on the low ground, and it is certain to be so .in the high ground, but freezing weather may not come until January or even February, as the seasons vary. The danger from late frosts in the spring is over in early April for the low ground and by late April for the high ground. The growing season is nearly 7l00 days long.
FORESTS
The Georgia Highland was originally heavily forested so that only the rock ledges and a few rocky or gra y peaks were not covered. Considerable tracts have now been who1Jy cleared fo:r farming and in an area of a few square miles in the lower part of the nucktown Plateau the vegetation has been killed or stunted by the fumes from the copper smelters. Most of the clearings for agriculture are in the narrow valleys where the mountains are close, or on the tops of the plateau hills. The narrow strips of bottom land along the streams are nearly all in cultivation, and in the mountains these furnish by a far the greater part of farm land. Fields have been cleared, however, in nearly all parts of the mountains except on the high_est peaks. The high plateau at 8,200 feet on :Burnt and Amicalola mountains has many farms, and the same is true of portions of Cohutta Mountain which stand at similar heights. The natural balds, or grassy summits

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which are :rather common in the Hiahland, are also used as grazing ground as well as the thinner portions of the forests . The character of the mountain clearings i shown in Plate XXXIV -A, a view in the :Blue Ridge, which also indicates the large size of the original timber at the hejght of 8,600 feet above sea level. In iact, the best stands of timber are on the high ground where the moisture and temperature are more favorable, or in hollow on the north sides of the ridges where also they are favorable .
Practically all of the timber cover in the Highland is hard wood. It includes a great preponderance of oaks of various kinds and of chestnut and hickory. These trees grow freely in all parts of the mountains, both high and low. Poplar trees \vere common in the lower slopes and ~heltered coves, as well as cherry and li:Dn. Hard pines are numerous on the lower slopes especially where they are stony and the soil js thin. The pines seem able to exiSt ill these sUIToundings better than the larger trees above mentioned, and they are accompanied by smaller varieties of oaks.
The high grade timber has long since been taken out and a-ported, e"'cept from remote tracts at the headwaters of the rivers, the largest being at the head of the Toccoa basin. In the valley and plateaus little remains except wood lots and low grade timber. Much merchantable timber still remains in the Highland but the difficulties of marketing it over the steep roads and long hauls to the railroad absorb most of the profits.

POPULATION
DISTRIBUTION
The Georgia Highland is a thinly settled region, like the rest of the Appalachian Mountains. The population as a. whole is thinner than that of the adjoining Dahlonega Plateau and far less dense than that of the Appalacl.ian Valley. Most of the Highland was in possession of the India.!lB long after the lower countries were settled, and some of the fruits of this are seen :in the hundreds of Indian names.
The distribution of population follows very definite laws. Much the greater part of it- perhaps more than nine-tenths-is near the plateau margins, with strings of farms extending into the mountains up the minor valley floors . The opposite is the case in the lower parts of the plateaus, wbere the streams flow in deep trenches and the population is chiefly on the hilltops. These laws of distributiqn apply to the farming element, which includes most of the population of the Highland.
Union County, which is about the same as the basin of Nottely River, is typical of this general situation. Blairsville, the county seat, is situated where the nan-ow upper valley wide!lB out into a plateau.
This is nearly in the center of the County and is a town of 280 in-
habitants with local interests. Of similar nature, but smaller, is Hiwassee, the county seat of Towns County, which takes in the basin of Hiwassee River. The character of this plateau margin or inter-

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GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF GEORGIA

mountain valley, which is typical of the valleys north of the Blue Ridge, is seen in Plate XXXI-A. Young Harris, a town of the same size as Blairsville, has a similar situation on the plateau on Brass-
town Creek.
Morganton, the old county seat of Fannin County, has the same kind of a situation, and is in about the center of the river basin. The
building of the railroad up Toccoa River and through Ellijay Valley so altered the bn iness and population that the county seat was shifted to the town of Blue Ridge where the railroad turns southwest out of the Highland. It is joined at Blue Ridge by a line of the Southern Railway extending northea mard. The town of :Blue Ridge has grown to a population of 904 inhabitants and for a. long time- was the
largest town m the mountains. It gro~i:.h. wa due Lo its- position
near the line of travel up and down To coa River and the narrow valley going northeast and outhwest throu b the mountain section. The town i- in the narrow gateway tbrou b which all traffic must pas and in which the great barrier of the Blue Ridge i removed

AMOUNT

The railroads have stimulated the growth of towns along their lines, the most important being McCaysville, which is on the Toccoa at the State line, and adjoins Copperhill in Tennessee. This town has grown apidly to be the largest town in the Highland and has a population of 2,166. Copperhill i- the headquarters of the Ducktown mining district in Tenne ee and of a few lesser mffies in Georgia. Tallulah Falls is situated at the head of Tallulah gorge, where travel can pass around the gorge at easy grades. The power development there has increased the importance of t he town whiCh formerly was at the end of a branch line of the Southern Railway. The recent extension of this railroad into the Little Tennessee valley has developed several villages along its line and has increased to 677 the population of Clayton, the county seat of Rabun County. This town is at the crossing of two valleys or natural lines of travel, as already explained.
To sum up, the principal centers of population are the towns with special interests, such as McCaysville and Tallulah Falls, those with special advantages of position like Blue Ridge, and the county seats, which are the centers of the agricultural communities and of the legal and political business of the counties.

CHARACTER

The character of the population in the Highland is very uniform, as is customary in farming regions. The people are directly descended from the original Scotch-Irish immigrants, and many of their social customs and ways of farming are those which have been in use for three, four, or even five generations. The country is so rough and so stony and muddy in bad weather that communication and development are hindered, and the long distances to markets, if there were any at all, have rendered farming unprofitable. The farmers have won a living, but not much more, and their principal means of getting ready

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money has been to raise live stock and drive it out to the markets or to haul lumber, cross ties, and tanbark to the railroads. These are hard and tedious ways, and the profits are insufficient to attract any but hardy people whose needs are simple.
People of a decidedly different character have come into thereg ion in connection with mining. They have settled at a few points along the railroad from Murphy to Blue Ridge where talc and iron ore were mined and marble quarried but the principal place :is the copper mining district around CopperJllll. Here there is a large concentration of people from outside of Georgia and of different customs and origin. In Blue Ridge a considerable element of summer vi itors has appeared, attracted by the scenery and healthfulness of the region, and the same element of population has long been present at Tallulah Falls and Clayton.
TRANSPORTATION

RAILROADS
The tran portation facilities of the Highland are very limited. The principal railroad is a line of the Louisville & Nashville R. R. between Knoxville, Tenn. and Atlanta, Ga. This comes up Toccoa River in the Ducktown Plateau, and leaves it at Blue Ridge through Ellijay Valley, thence following this depression about parallel to the Highland border and from one to four miles distant.
A branch of the Southern Railway connect with this railroad at Blue Ridge and runs northeastward along the same narrow valley to Murphy in North Carolina and thence to Asheville. The western flank of the Highland is also served by the main line of the Louisville & Nashville R. ~- between Knoxville and Atlanta, following the Appalachian Valley two to three miles from the mountain foot. A branch of the outhern Railway enter the Highland at Tallulah Falls, and passes up Tiger and Stekoa creeks to Rabun Gap in the Blue Ridge. Thence it runs down the Little Tenne ee Talley to Franklin North Carolina. Around Rabun Gap and northward in the Little Tennes ee basin, the railroad runs on the surface of an intermountain plateau, the nature of which is shown in Plate XXXVIII-B. A second branch of the Southern Railway ends where Chattahoochee River comes out of the Highland.
This arrangement of the railroads leaves the great mas of the Highland without any railroad transportation. The tract between these line is 72 miles long from northeast to outhwest and 26 miles wide across its middle. No other through line. can be built across the Highland without great expen e, on account of the heavy grades required in crossing the Blue Ridge. Branch lines can readily be extended up the valleys north o the Blue Ridge at moderate cost, especially in the Nottely and Hiwas ee basins.

WAGON ROADS

The Highland is well served with wagon roads. Main roads run .p and down the principal valleys and pass at their heads through

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GEOLOGIC/J.L SURVEY OF GEORGI/I.

the lowest gaps in the Blue Ridge. These connect the intermountain valleys with the Dahlonega Plateau south of the Highland and e.'\':tend northward into the large plateaus in Xorth Carolina and Tennessee. The head of Tallulah River on the south side of the Blue Ridge is the only area which is not connected by a main road with the corresponding stream north of the Blue Ridge (in this case Nantahala River, Korth Carolina). The pass between them is over 4,000 feet in height, and the headwaters of the Nantahala are uninhabited. Main roads also connect the county seats, of -which there is one in each important valley. These roads go through low gaps in the Cross Ranges, most of w.hich are only slightly ahoYe 2,000 feet, so that the grades are not very heavy.
There are secondary roads and farm roads in practically every valley of the mountainous l)arts of the Highland. These run well up to the heads of the streams, as far as the settlements e.xtend, and in many cases go through the gaps in the Blue Ridge and the Cross Ranges. In such positions the roads are steep in their upper portions and are of moderate grades in the lower parts. As the river valleys widen out and the low plateaus begin. the roads tend more and more to leave
the streams and traverse the smooth hills of the plateau. This tend-
ency is pronounced in the lower parts of the valleys, where the plateaus are wide and lhe streams have cut into them deeply. In such situations most of the roads follow the uplands instead of the valleys, because of the steep and rocl."Y nature of the stream trenches. The roads are thus required to go up and down hill a great deal, but the grade~ are not especially steep or the hills long.
Only three roads have yet been built in the Highland for modern automobile traffic, although others are now being constructed. A main road now partly built runs nearly east and west in the north part of the Highland and connects the county seats, Clayton, Hiwassee, Blairsville, and Blue Ridge. Another partly built road runs north and south through Blairsville, between Murphy, N . C., and Gainesville, in the Piedmont. Paved roads are almost unknown, and the automobile traffic, which is considerable in the plateau sections, must use the ordinary dirt roads. On these roads, fords are numerous and bridges are scarce except where the large streams are crossed. These features are a handicap for travel in automobiles, especially in wet seasons when lhe dirt roads of the plateaus become muddy and those in the mountains are both muddy and stony. The necessity for fording is often a serious matter, on account of the rapid rise of the streams during heavy rains. Since the roads in the narrow valleys outside of the plateaus cross the streams repeatedly, the amount of fording required in any trip, even one which would be short lor an automobile, is very great. The extremely well-watered nature of these mountains becomes in this wa.y a handicap to travel.

THE VALLEY PROVINCE
By Marius R. Campbell
GENERAL DESCRIPTION
The Central Upland and the Highland provinces of Georgia are bound: ed (as shown in Fig. 4), on the west and north by a great valley which ranges in width from 35 miles on the Tennessee line to approximately 53 miles in the vicinity of Cartersville, and 28 miles where the southern boundary crosses the Georgia-Alabama State line. This feature is called a valley because its general surface, though 600 to 800 feet above sea level, is from 1,000 to 2,000 feet below the summits of the mountains on either side. It is the southern part of the Appalachian Valley, a similar feature, that can be traced from the southern boundary of Tennessee to northern New York, and, in the other direction, from the west line of Georgia to central Alabama, where it passes beneath the sediments belonging to the Coastal Plain of the Gulf of Mexico. In the north this valley consists generally of two parts: a single broad valley on the southeast side; and a number of narrow valleys, separated by equally narrow ridges, on the northwest side. The principal valley on the southeast side is called Kittatinny in New Jersey; Cumberland in Pennsylvania; and Shenandoah in Virginia. Throughout Tennessee, Georgia and Alabama the two-fold division of the province is not o apparent as it is farther northeast, and the entire feature is usually rega.rded as a single valley whose floor, in places, i.s flat, as shown in Plate XKXIX andin other places is diversified by low ridges and shallow valleys trending in general parallel with the mountain fronts on either side. In Tennessee it is known as the Valley of East Tennessee, but in Georgia it will be referred to simply as the "Valley."
The Valley is lower than the mountains, because the rocks underlying it are different from those underlying the mountains; the former being mostly limestone and shale which are easily eroded, wherea. the latter are hard and yield but slowly to the a.ction of the weather and the streams. The ridges that diversify the floGr of the Valley stand somewhat above the general level, beea.use they are c9mpo ed of sandstone and sandy shale which are more resistant than the great mass of the adjacent limestone, but not so resistant as the mountain rocks either to the east or the west. As a consequence these ridges are intermediate in height between the valley and the mountains.
The kind of rocks underlying the Valley .not only determine~the character of the surface, but they also have a decided effect upon the character of the soil, and, in turn, the soil has a marked, but indirect. effect upon the intellectual development and the mode of life of the inhabitant . The oil produced by the decay of limestone is generally a .rich dark loam that furnishes the best farming land of the province in place , howe\er, it is full of chert or flint nodules that

134

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF GEORG/d

seriously interfere with the cultivation of grain or cotton, but such lands have been found to be excellently adapted to the raising of fruits and berries. The soil derived from the shale is generally less fertile than that derived from the limestone, unless the shale contains much calcareous (limy) matter, in which case the soil resulting from it may be very well adapted to pasture lands and the raising of crops. The soil produced by the disintegration of sandstone is composed mostly of sand, and, therefore, is light, porous and generally infertile.
As the rocks of the Valley are commonly tilted at high angles, they crop out in bands of variable width parallel in a rude way with the Valley and the fertile soil is found in corresponding bands, alternating with bands of less fertility, or with bands of soil so poor that they do not pay for cultivation. The banded character of the vegetation growing on these lands is reflected in the farm buildings and the general appearance of the country.
The boundaries of the Valley are generally very definitely marked by nature, being the foot of the Cohutta Mountains on the east, as shown on Plate XXXIX-B. the Central Upland on the east and south, and the foot of Lookout Mountain on the northwest. In order that the exact position of these lines may be established on the ground or on some topographic map, they will be described in some detail, beginning on the east side at the northern boundary of the State.
From the Tennessee line as far south as Ramshurst on the Louisville and Nashville Railroad the highland to the east of the Valley is a part of the Highland or mountainous section of the State, the most southerly peak being Cold Spring Mountain, on the county boundary, 4 miles northeast of Ramshurst. The boundary line separating Cohutta Mountains from the Valley is very definite and regular, except that at Hassler Mill, where Holly Creek emerges from the mountains, the plain, a:s shown on Plate XXXV, extends about 3 miles into the mountains, making a great reentrant angle in the boundary line.
The mountain bordering directJy upon the Valley north of randall hav a height of only 700 or 800 feet above Lhe Valley ftoor, but south of Crandall they are considerably higher and e,eral of the high peaks are within sight of the Louisville and Na h''ille Railroad. One of the mo t pronounced ummits at least it o appears from the railroad i Gras Moun~<tin lying ju t east of Crandall and about 4 mile from the margin ot the alley . This mountain has an elevation of 8,68,.. feet above e.a le'el but Bald Mountain, ome .2 miles farther ea. t, i still higher ri ing to an le' ation of 4,010 feet. These are the highest mountain- ordinarily visible !rom the Valley but they are not so striking as Fort Mountain (Plate XXXIV and XXXIX-B) jnst outh of Hassler Mill, which rise abruptly from the plain to an elevation of .2 885 :feet above sea level, or 2 000 ieet above the Valley floor.
Fort Mountain is so named because on its summit are the remains of rude stone walls that once evidently constituted a fort of no mean proportions. As the summit area is somewhat higher than the narrow

THE VALLEY PRO VINCE

135
E

.Cedartown Figure 4. The Valley and the Lookout Plateau.

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GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF GEORGIA

neck connecting this mountain with the main ridge to the south and as it is bordered on the other sides by nearly vertical cliffs it affords an admirable ite for defense, its only weak point being a very limited supply of water afforded by a small pring near one of the gates.
wm The traYeler in this part of the tate, if be makes inquiries regarding
it, hear many storie about this old fort. The one most commonly told is to the effect that DeSoto, during his wanderings in this region in 1540, was hemmed in by the Indians and retreated to the summit of this mountain where he erected the walls that we see today; another attributes the fort to the work of British arrents who during the Revolution were located at pring Place; still another tradition is that a band of de peradoes ~who infested this country in the early days used this walled inclosure as their base of operations. All of these stories are m re rumors and it is probable that none of them i correct. One thing, however, is evident, and Lhat is that the work wa p1anned by some white man familiar with military engineering for the f'ortiiication is well laid out with bastions that serve to protect all parts of the wall. The old ruin is \ery interesting and it, together with the excellent view of the "alley to be obtained from the ummit of the mountain, i well worth the climb to its top.
outh of Ramshurst the o-called mountains on the east. and outh sides of the Valley are really the steep edge of the Central Upland who e surface though somewhat rolling and di sected by lhe streams i a fairly le,el plateau 700 to 800 feet above the Valley floor. As hown in Fig. 4, the line eparating lhe Central Upland from the Valley, follow~ a course nearly due south from Ram hw:st into the northern part of Bartow County, and from that point \Vings in a gentle curve by way of Carters,rille and Rockmart to E om Hill, near the west line of the tate.
In place the Valley is not so harply differentiated from the Central pland as the tatements heretofore made would -eem to imply, for the Upland where it is low and omewhat broken by stream valley , can with difficulty be separated from hilly, sections of the Valley. One such area under1ain by slate occurs northea t of Rockmart. The railroad from Cartersville to Rockmart follow the margin of the Valley lowland by Posco and Davite to Rockmart whereas the bollDdary line is drawn about 4 miles to the sou hea t. The rea on for thi difference is that from a eological point of view the slate of this o.rea must be classed with the rocks of the Valley rather than with those of the pland, and hence it seems rather more logical to regard the slate hills as merely part of the irregularitie of the Valle floor than as a part of the Upland to the southeast.
The line eparating the alley province from that of the Appalachian Plateaus on the west i more regular and easily identified than the line separating the Valley irom the mountain on the east, because it follows the base of Lookout Mountain the entire di tance across the 'ta e and this mo110tain, being straight for a long distance, partakes more of the character of the Valley ridges than it do of the irregular mountain masses on the east side of the VaHey. The only irregularity in tlll boundary li:ne i where it turns back abruptlv around

PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY OF GEORGIA

PLATE XXXIX

Photo:~mph J.. by R. H. Haseltine.
A. SUMMERYILLE, THE COlJXTY SEAT OF CH.'I.TTOOGA COU!\TY. B. FORT MT. OXE OF THE lXTE;RESTI:\G POIXTS OC\ THE EASTER:\ BOHDER OF THE
YALLEY

THE Vd.LLEY PROVINCE

137

the pointed end of Pigeon Mountain which, in reality, is a prong projecting to the northeast from the eastern side of Lookout Mountain, The reentrant angle in this line is shown in Plate XL and in Fig. 4.
The Valley, as thus outlined, includes the whole of Catoosa Floyd. and Whitfield counties and the larger parts of Bartow Chattooga. Gordon, Mm:r.ay, Polk, and Walker countie . Its area is ap_proximately 2 800 square miles, and its population according to the census of 1920, i about 171,000. As the area of the State according to Gannett', is 59 265 square miles and its population, according to the census of 1920 ,895,832, it follows that in area the Valley is one-twentyfir t and in population one-seventeenth of that of the tate.
Farming and stock-raising are some of the principal industries in the Valley province, but, notwithstanding the fact that it contains some very rich land, its agricultural products are generally below those of other parts of the State. This probably is due to the fact that, although some areas of the Valley are very productive, other area ar very unproducthe, and many of the ridges can not be farmed at all. The relatiYe importance of the agricultural product of this part of the tate may be summarized b the following tatement o the rank of the counties in their production of various agricultural commoditie : Bartow County '1 i in the first rank in the raising of poultry; the second rank in the raising of wheat and corn, and the third rank in the raising of cotton. Floyd County is in the first rank in the raising of poultry and horses; the second rank in the rai ing of corn a.nd Irish potatoes; and the third rankin the rai ing of cotton. Gordon County is in the second rank:in the rai-ing of wheat and the third rank in the raising of cotton. Murray County is in the first rank in the raising of hor es, and the econd rank in the rai ing of wheat and Irish potatoes. Polk ounty is in the second rank in the raising of wheat. Walker County 2 is in the first rank in the raising of poultry hor es, milk cow apples, strawberries and hay; and in the second rank in the rai inu of wheat and Irish potatoes. Whitfield County i in the second rankin the raising of wheat.
The value of all crops for the year 1919, according to the census of 1920, is as follows: Bartow,~ $6,793,472; Catoosa, $1,585,960; Chattooga, $3,504,672; Floyd, $6,668,128; Gordon,~ $4,739,462; Murray, 2 $2,326,989; Polk! $4,435,430; Walker,' $3,720,384; and Whitfield, $2,915,278. As the value of the crops of the entire State in the same year was $540,613,626, the farm products of the Valley in 1919 were about one-fifteenth of those of the State.
Mining is also an important industry in the Valley province, but the amount of mining fluctuates greatly from year to year dependinu upon the demand for the finished products and the amount of competition between domestic and foreign producers.
1 Gannett, Henry. The areas of the United States, the States, and Territories: U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 302, 1906.
2 These counties lie partly in other provinces, but the areas so situated are generally small and mountainous, and do not figure largely in the farm products listed above.

138

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF GEORGIA

Cement is produced at Cement, Bartow County, Rossville, Walker County, and at Rockmart, Polk County. Bauxite, the ore from which aluminum is produced, is mined mainly in Floyd County.
Red fossil iron ore is found in Walker, Chattooga, and Catoosa counties; and brown ore in Polk, Bartow, and Floyd counties. Manganese ore is confined chiefly to Bartow, Polk and Floyd counties. Ocher and barytes are produced mainly in Bartow County. In this connection it is interesting to note that Georgia furnishes more than one-half of the yellow ocher produced in the United States and a large percentage of the barytes.
Slate for various purposes is quarried in Bartow and Polk counties and it is also found in Gordon and Murray counties. In connection with the slate industry it should be noted that the slate of this belt contains from 7 to 10 per cent of potash, which at the present time can not be recovered at a profit, but which constitutes a resource of great value, as doubtless chemists will discover a method by which it may be made available for enriching the worn-out agricultural lands of the State.
Tripoli occurs in many of the Valley counties, especially near Spring Place in Murray County, at D alton in Whitfield County, and at L yerly in Chattooga County.
careful tudy of the surface feature of the Valley province shows that, although when considered in a broad way, it may be said to have a flat bottom or floor, it has, in reality, a greatly diversified floor, consisting in part of plains, in part of low rounded ridges, and in part of sharp serrate ridges some 200 to 300 feet high. These features are but the reflection of the kind and attitude of the rocks that underlie the surface, for, as stated previously, the processes of erosion act differently on different kinds of rocks, producing the forms noted above.
To realize fully the effect of the rocks on the surface features, the student should have before him a geologic map of this most interesting region. Such a map, showing the geology of the entire Valley, was issued by the Geological Survey of Georgia 1 in 1912.
H the reader is so situated that he can not readily examine the Valley himself the next best substitute is to study carefully the contour maps- of this region that have been issued by the United States Geological Survey. The brown contour lines on these maps show the shape and elevation of every part of the surface, and hence by the use of these maps it is easy to determine whether the surface of any particular part is a plain or a ridge, and if a ridge, its shape and also its height.
A study of the contour maps shows clearly that the Valley may be divided roughly into three parts, each of which has features that dis-

" Maynard, T. Poole, A raporL on the limestones and cement materials of north
Georgia ; Geol. Survey o( Georgia, Bull. 27 1912. 2 The map s referred lo are maps of the Dalt-on, Ringgold, teven..oo.n, Cartersville,
Rome a.nd T alla.poosa. quadrangles, on a seale of 2 miles to l inch, .and map of t he Cohutta T alking Rock Ca.rtersville Special and tilesboro quadrangLes on a scale of 1 inch to 1 mile. that cover p arts of the same area a.s the one<J previously mentiomd.

THE VdLLEY PROVINCE

139

tinguish it and make it different from the other parts. The sketch map, Fig. -!~ show these divisions. The first and most im.portant of them may be called the Rome Valley. It embraces most of the territory lying on the east and south sides of the Valley, having an average width of about ~0 mile .
The next division lying to the west of the Rome "\ alley is characterized enerally by ridges of different hejght, ranging from a few hundred feet to a much as 1 000 feet above the valley floors. The ridge generally trend parallel with the hounding walls of the 'alley and the belt of such ridges has an average width in this State of about 11 mile . There is .no regional name known to the writer which is applicable to these ridge therefore, he ha called them the Armuchee Ridg s. from the villaaae of the arne name on Armuchee Creek, north of Rome.
fhe next di, ion l the we t partake more of the ,alley type and it will here be called the 'hick.amauga Valle ' because hickamauaa Creek drain the nortltern part including McLamore ove on the west side of Pigeon Mountain. :hickamauga. Valley as derined above ha a width on the Tenne ee line of about 14 miles and on the west line of Georgia of about lO miles.
ROME VALLEY
The Rome Valley the laraest division of the Valley province of Georgia. It rang in ";dth from 13 miles on the Tennessee line to !'l5 mile at arter ille and 21 miles on the Alabama line. It is drained almost entirely by Coo a River and its tributaries among which the Oo tanaula i the most important. being the one that has the greate extent in thi section. As the ity of Rome i located at the junction of the Oo tanaula and Etowah rivers-the main branches of the oosa-that name is here given to the entire valley extending from the Tennessee line on the north to the Alabama line on the west. This valley is separated from the Armuchee Ridge by a line which follows the eastern base of mor or les continuous ridges that e.11..i.end from the Tennessee line on the north lo the Alabama line on the west. Near th Tennes ee line the ridges are not very con picuous, but in a general wa the boundary coincides with the ' outhern Railway from the village of Red Clay near the State line southward for a distance of 1 miles. At tbi point the railroad veers off to the east to the town of Dalton, but the boundary line .follow the east base of Chattoogata Mountain about miles west of Dalton. This mountain dies out about 12 miles south of Dalton and here the boundary swings to the west and follows for a distance of 10 miles the east ba e of Horn Mountain. From the outh end of Horn Mountain to the
east end of Lavender Mountain, a ru tance of about 10 miles, there
is no ridge to mark the bounda,ry line, o it has been dr.a.wn to unite these two .cidg and to exclude from the Rome Valley the short ridge of Turkey Mountain. From the east end of Lavender Mountain lo the w_est line of Georgia and for a distance of 4 or 5 miles beyond this line there is a group of hort and .irregu.la;rly trending ridges which

140

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF GEORGIA

borders the plain of Coosa River on the north . The boundary line is so drawn as to exclude these ridges from the Rome Valley, and for the most of the distance it coiTesponds in position with the line of the Southern Railway through the villa{l'es of Coo a, Mount Hope and Early.
The Rome Valley is truly a valley because it constitute" th lo\\est land in the Valley province and it contains all of the large streams of the region. Thus Conasauga River, wlllch enter the valley from Tennessee is a fairly large stream, .receiving most of its waters from the mountains of Murray and Fannin counties. Tills stream flows northward from its sour e in the Cohutta Mountain as though it were a branch of the Ocoee Rher of Tennessee, but a short di tance beyond the State line it turns to the west for about 4 miles and there abruptly changing it course to the outh cro es the tate line into Georgia. It continues southward until, within a few miles of Calhoun,
it unites with Coo awattee River, wlllch also has its ource mthe moun-
tains to the east.
The river formed by the junction of the Conasauga and the Coosawattee is called the Oostanaula. Tills tream flow in a course that may be considered a Lhe prolongation of that of the Conasauga, to Rome, where it unite with Etowah River, which drain a large area of the Central Upland on the east. Coosa River, formed hy the junction of Oostanaula and Etowah rivers in the city of Rome. flows nearly due west to the Alabama line, which it cro ses about 4 miles outh of the Southern R-ailway. Beyond the confines of the State of Georgia Coo a River units with Tallapoo a River to form Alabama River whiclueache the Gulf at the port of Mobile.
The lowest point in the Rome \alley is where Coosa River crosses the Alabama-Georgia State line, at an elevation of about 600 feet above sea lenl. From this point the urface ri es teadily to a Little more than 00 feet on the Tennessee line. The lllghest point in the valley is the ummit of Indian Mountain, "'-ith an elevation of 1,967 feet above ea level. This mountain, however, lies ma.inly in Alabama, only the eastern end e..uendillg into Georgia.
Although the urface of thi valley has been referred to as mostly a plain, it must be recognized that there are a few isolated and rather insignificant ridges, hills and even mountains within it borders. The most prominent of Lhese elevations is Indian Mountain, just described; other eminences are Horseleg Mountain, a short ridge southwest of Rome rising to an elevation of 1,526 feet and Armstrong Mountain, 8 miles northeast of Rome, wlllch attains an elevation of about 1,~00 feet abo>e sea level. There are a few other isolated hills and ridges in the 'icinity of Rome, but none is of ufficient magnitude to de erve a name.
The moother portion of the valley floor is composed mostly of limestone which di olve quite readily, and this ease of reduction is largely respon ible for such levelland as is shown in Plate XXIX-A and XXXIX-B. The decay of the lime tone produces in most cases a rich soil; hence generally speaking, lands that are underlain by lime-

THE V.dLLEY PROVINCE

141

stone aTe more productive than those IIDderlain by other rocks but in a few places there are exceptions to this general rule, for some of
the limestones do not produc a rich oil, and some contain so many nodules of chert Cllint), that the oil is covered with a thick coating of chert :fra..:,aments which effectually prevent tillacre and render the
land the poorest in the pro,ince. On the oth-er hand, orne of the shale bands which occur in the Rome Valley are very productive be-
cause the shale is calcareous (limy) and makes not onl a good oil, but also a oil free from rock fragment that might interfere with its culti ation. The Coo a Valley below Rome is a good example of rich farming lands developed on such shales.
The largest town in the Yalley is Rome the county seat of Floyd County, with a population in 1920 o 13,2.5~. It is situated at the junction of Oo tanaula and Etowah rivers, in the midst of one of the richest agricultural di tricts o the tate, and with excellent railroad and highway connection with almost all towns in the northwestern part of Georgia and in adjacent parts of Alabama and Tennessee. Dalton, the county seat of Whitfield County, is second in size. with a population of 5/~2~. This town also i situated in a well cultivated portion of the Valley and has good railroad commun.ication with Lowns
to the north and the south, but in the other directions it is hemmed
in by valley ridges on the west and b the Cohutta Mountains on the east. Cartersville is tbird in rank, with a population of 4 350. It is well situated 2 miles north of Etowah RiYer and is the distributing point for an unsurpassed agricultural di trict in the alley as well as a large district in the Central Upland to the east. It has direct railroad communication with Atlanta and Chattanooga and is on the line of the Dixie Highway between these two cities. edartown, the county seat of Polk County is fourth in the list, having a population of 4,053. It is surrounded by some of the best agricultural land in the
State and has amp1e railroad and highway connections with nearby towns and the more distant centers of population in this and adjacent States.
The Rome Valley, because of its generally fiat surlace and because it unites with similar valley lands to the north and the west, is favorable territory for the building of railroad and consequently, all of
its larger towns are connected b one or more lines, and these towns are also connected with the larger centers of population outside of the State in both directions. The railroad lines operating in this section axe given in the following list: Southern Railway: a line from Cleve-
land or Ooltewah Tennessee down the valley, throuah the towns of
of Dalton, Sugar "\ alley, Plainville, Rome and Rockmart to Atlanta.;
a branch from the line described above extends through Cave Spring, to Anniston, Alabama, and another branch from Rome westward
down the valley to Gadsden, Alabama. Louisville and Nashville
Railroad: a line from Knoxville Tennessee, down the valley through Chatsworth and Fairmount to Cartersville. Nashville, Chattanooga
and t . Louis Railway operating a road built by the State of Geor-
gia from Atlanta to Chattanooga., Tennessee, through the towns of
Cartersville, Kingston, Adairsville, Calhoun, and Dalton; and a branch

142

GEOLOGICdL SURVEY OF GEORGL1.

from the line :il1 t described from Kin!!Ston to Rome. Central of
Georgia Railway: a line from Chattanooga. Tennessee, through the town of Rome and Cedartown and on to the outh. Seaboard Air-Line Railway: a line from Atlanta to Birmingham , Alabama, through the towns of Rockmart, Cedartown, and Esom Hill.
The Rome Valley is not well enough upplied with good roads to tempt auto drivers to depart very much from the beaten paths connecting one city with another, and even these roads are not all hardsurfaced or even good gra'el roads. The principal road through this ection is the Dixie Highway from Atlanta to Chattanooga, Tenne-
ee (139.5 mile ). This road enters the valley at Cartersville and proceeds down the north side of Etowah River to Rome but recently a new road has been opened between the e places, which cro ses Etowah River near Euharlee and then follow a direct route to Rome. From Rome the road passes through the village of Armuchee at the margin of the ridge section of the same name and thence on to Summerville and Chattanooga. There is no striking cenery along this highway in the o a Yalley, but its course takes the traveler t hrough some of the finest farming land of the south. A drive through this section in August when the com fields are in their prime and the cotton fields a mas of red and white flowers is a sight never to be forgotten,
specially to those who are not accustomed to the ight of a field of cotton in full bloom.
H the tra;eler -o de ires, he may depart from the main line of the Dixie Highway, as described above, by turning north a short distance west of Cartersville and passing through Adairsville and Dalton. Thi road join the main road near lhe Chickamau a Battlefield, a few miles outh of Chattanooga. It is much shorter Lhan the main highway through 'ummerYille but it is not so good and most per ons prefer to keep lo the well-traveled highway.
Another of the principal auto roads of thl part of the tate, rWlning from Atlanta to Gadsden, Alabama. enters lhe valley near Felton, on Duadown Mountain; it pas e through Cedartown and Cave
pring and eros es the west line of the tate at the village of Haynie on the southwest corner of Floyd County.
Although the Rome Valley has little in the way of scenery to interest the ordinary traveler, it i the gateway to the Cohutta Mountains on the east, and these mountains offer many beautiful views to the traveler who loves nature in her varying moods. The Appalachian Mountain may not have the rugged grandeur of the mountains of the West but they have a beauty of their own which can not be :found outside of a humid climate. This beauty consists of endless
'-istas of rolling mountain slopes co>ered thickly with a mantle of trees that. are green in mid- ummer but change to all the hues of red and brown with the approach of autumn and the first frosts of winter. There are many rocky ravines in these mountains, filled with a rank growth of rhododendron through which no man can force his way, but which in mid-summer is one mass of gorgeous bloom, overhanging perchance a rushing mountain torrent which plunges down the

THE VALLEY PROVINCE

143

steep mountain slope with many falls and deep pools filled with giant boulders. Many are the beauties that may be found in this region if one is content to forego the conYentions of modern civilization and for a time to live close to nature's heart.

ARMUCHEE RIDGES

The eetion of the Valley here de ignated the Armuchee Ridges lie west and north of the Rome alley. The boundary line separating

the two ections ha been described as following the east and south sides of lhe main ridges lying west of Dalton and Calhoun and north-

west of Rome. Thi boundary crosses the Georgia-Alabama tate line at the village of Early. ~ few mile west of the tate line the ridges terminate in a point near the village of Lawrence Alabama, and consequently the section called the Armuchee Ridges ends here.

The northwestern boundary of the Annuchee Ridges begins at the point mentioned in the preceding paragraph, near Lawrence,

on lhe northwest ide of cr.aper Mountain; it extends northeast-

ward along the foot of Gaylor Ridge to Holland, where there is a break in the ridges of about 4 miles. To all intent.. and purpose , however, Gaylor Ridge i continued in Taylor Ridge and the boundary follows this ridge to the town of Ringgold, which is located in the water aap that

marks the point where Chickamauga Creek has cut its way through

the ridge. Beyond Ringgold lhe ridge continues to the Tennessee line but here it i generallv known as White Oak Mountain.

The surface of the ecti.on called Armuchee Ridaes is characterized by a number of long, straight. linear ridges, or rid"e that curve about like a fishhook or have back-ward pointing barb at their end .

Throughout most of the section the ridges rise to a height of about 700 feet above the floors of the inte.~:vening valleys.

The striking contrast that exists between the great plain which makes up mo t of the Rome Valley and the rough surface of the Armuchee Ridges is due entirely to the differences in the rocks compo ing

those urfaces and al o differences in the attitude of these rocks, or, in other words, the geologic structure. In the Rome Valley to the

east, the rocks at the surface are mainly limestone and easily decom-

posed shale and these rocks weather down readily to a nearly uniform

ana surface but in the Armuchee Ridges the rocks showing at the surface

consist of alternating beds of limestone, andstone

shale, of va-

rious degrees of hardness. The limestone, here as elsewhere, gives

rise to valley , whereas the sand~tones, especially where they are

tilted at various angles produce ridges. the height of the ridge depending large} upon the hardnes and thickness of the sandstone.

Shale is intermediate in_ hardnes and resistance to erosion between limestone and sandstone, and it tends to produce low ridges or foothills flanking the higher features.

Most readers will doubtless want to know why the rocks do not lie horizontally, as they do in many parts of the country, and why they are tilted at various angles. Most of the rocks now to be seen

in the Appalachian region were long, long ago laid down in the sea

144

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF GEORGIA

which then covered all of this region. After a thickness of many thousands of feet was depo ited on Lhe e.a bottom, the crust of the earth was ele>ated and the rocks became dry land. t the same time there was throughoul the whole of the Appalachian region immen e pressure exerted on the rocks from the southeast and under thi~ pres ure the ro<>.ks bent inlo fold in the same way that a block of paper will bend into folds when crowded together from bot.b edges. The cut edges of ome of these folds are shown in Fig. 5. As the rocks involved in this movement had a thickness of 8,000 to 10,000 feet the folds must haYe been of enormous magnitude.
As soon, however as the rocks appeared above the urlace of lhe water, they were attacked by erosion-that is, by the process of weathering and by rain and running water, and they were gradually .reduced in height-possibly as fast as they rose above the level of the sea. As the process of erosion tended constantly to wear the land down toward sea leYel the surface would eventually reach that le,el unless the crust of the earth were raised again. As this raising of the earth crust has happened many time- in the past, it is easy to understand that at some time long ago tbe mountainous region of Georgia may have been a plain but little above sea. le.-el, and that it present hei~ht is due entirely to subsequent uplifts. In the present cycle of erosJOn the surface of the >alley has been reduced considerably below that of the adjacent uplands, but it wa not subjected to these proce ses long enough to cut away the hard rocks, and consequently lhey stand above the general le'el a ridges, their height depending upon their abilit y to resist the lowering effect of ero ion.
With thi brief re ume of some of the mo,ement and processes that have occm::red in the Valley region we can now better understand what the ridges mean and why they have been left in their present hape and elevation. Those ridges which are long and reguJar in shape and height are generally caused by the edge of a layer of hard rocks tilted at a considerable but constant angle for a long distance; ridges with hooks or barbs on their ends have assumed that ~hape becau e they are the result of the erosion of folds, either arches or troughs,
that a.re coming to an end. The relation of surface ridges to great rock folds is sho"n in Fig. 5, much i supposed to represent the beds of rocks a they would appear in the side of a deep trench cut. across the Armuchee Ridges northwest of Rome. The section is so drawn that it cuts the three main ridges-Taylor Ridge, Simms Mountain and Lavender Mountain -and also a short round mountain known as Rocky Mountain. Taylor Ridge is shown at A, Simms Mountain at B, and Lavender Mountain at D. The hort Rocky Mountain is shown at C.
The hardest bed of rock involved in these folds is known generally throughout the Southern States as the Red Mountain formation. It is mainly a sandstone and is well known because it carries most oi the red iron ores in this State and the Birmingham region. This bed is represented in the section by dots. As will be noticed, it makes its appearance on the left as an easterly dipping bed in Taylor Ridge.

THE VdLLEY PROVINCE

145

Because it dips to the east the ridge has a gentle slope on that side and a steep slope on the west side. which is formed by the cut edges of
the beds of rock. From Taylor Ridge it dips into a narrow trough or
syncline and then immediately reappears, standing in nearly a vertical position in the cro s ridge connecting Taylor Ridge and Simms
Mountain. The upward rise carries the bed only a hort distance above the surface and then it turns abr.uptly and descends almost as steeply in Simms Mountain forming a closely compressed arch or anticline.
Fl:om Simms Mountain it pa es under Roch.7 Mountain in a shallow syncline and reappears in nearly a Yertical po ition in Lavender Mountain, but in this mountain the fold is overturned, the beds rising from the northwest side and passing down into the southeast side of the m-ountain on a dip of about 70. Roch.-y Mountain is composed of a higher bed o andstone, lying nearly fiat in the middle of a syncline and that i why it is not a long ridge like either Simms Mountain on the north or Lavender Mountain on the south.

Figure 5. Structure section showing the relation of hard rocks to the surface features in the Armuchee Ridges.
Before the surface was worn down to its present level the folds in the sandstone were complete, as indicated by the dotted lines. but now only the synclines or troughs remain and at some time in the future the smace may be lowered to such an extent that e,-en the basins or troughs as they are repre ented by the Red Mountain formation, may be eliminated.
The rocks in this section are diverse in their composition,.,.and it follows as a matter of course that the soils Tesulting from the decay and disintegration of these rocks will differ greatly in productiven.es . As the valleys ar~ generally floored by either limestone or shale the soil of t he valleys is fairly rrood or excellent, whereas t he soil of the
ridges is very poor, especially if it is the .result of the weathering of
sandstone. As a rule the valley lands, because of their flatness and productivity, are cleared and cultivated, whereas the ridges, because of their roughness and infertility, have generally been left in their original wooded condition, but even on. the ridges the bet ter trees were cut long ago for lumber.
The ridges in this section have been quite a barrier to transportation in an east-west direction. It is true that they are not very high, bnt roads built across them are generally steep and rocky and are avoided when heavy freight is to be transported or wben trips are

146

GEOLOGIC.dL SURVEY OF GEORGI.d

made for pleasure only. There are two improved highways across this section: one at the south end, and the other at the north end. The former is the Dixie Highway leading from Atlanta to hattanooga Tenu. This road is suppo ed to be the best in the Valley p rovince.
It crosses from Rome to ummerville by way of Armuchee. In pur-
suing this course it follow the open valley from Rome to the nlla.ge of Gore on. the east ide of 'I a.ylor Ridge. Immediately west of this village is a low wind gap" in the ridge which has been utilized to ave climbing over the ummit. The road at the north end of the ectioo eros es from Dalton to Ringgold, hut here only two ridge have to be crossed and there i a stream gap in each, affordin a natural highway between the east and the west.
In a similar manner railroads have avoided the section because of the great cost of construction and the steep grades and short curves that would have resulted if railroad building had been attempted
here. The only railioad line cro sing the outhern part of this ectioa is the Central of Georgia Railroad which eAi:ends norlhwestward through Rome to ummerville, Lafayet te, and Chattanooga . The railroad crossing the northern part is a tate roa.d but operated by the Nash-
ville Chattanooga, and t. Low Railroad, from Dalton on the east to Ringgold on the west. Each railroad turns and twi ts among the
ridges until a low gap is found which does not inYoh-e exceeding} heavy grades.

CHICKAMAUGA VALLEY

The section here called the Chickamauga Valley lying between

the Ringgold Ridges on the east and Lookout Mountain on the west

embraces a belt of country about 8 mile wide at th~ outh and 18



miles at the norlh. In general the surlace of thi valley i lower than

either the ridge on the east or the plateau on the wesl, ancl it floor

is fairly level and mooth. There are, however, a number of low

rid..,es, more or less continuou , running lengthwise of the section and

at the southern e1."tremity Dirlseller Mountain ri es like a. wooded
island to a. height of 700 feet above the sea of cultivated land that

surrounds it.

The great width of this section in it northern part is due to the

fact, as heretofore stated, that toward the north Lookout Mountain

forks, and McLamore Cove which lies behind the eastern prong of

the mountain unites with the main \alley a little north of Lafayette

gi,ing it the increased widt h noted above.

The Chickamauga Valley section lies on the divide between the d.J:aina.ge basin of Tennessee River on the north and Coo a River

(Alabama River) on the south. The divide crosses the valley about

5 miles north of Lafayette. The water falling south of this divide

is carried by Chattooga and Coosa rivers to Alabama River and that falling north of the divide is carried by Chickamauga Creek into Ten-

ness e River 4 miles above Chattanooga. The divide between these

two main drainage basins of the continent is not, however, a barrier to intercommunication between them, for in passing over it one is

THE VALLEY PROVINCE

147

scarcely aware that he has passed from northward to southward flowing str~ms or vice ver.ra, as the case may be.
The rocks underlying the Chickamauga valle are almost exclusively limestone, but include a few band of shale. These produce on weathering a good soil which render it one of the most productive part of the Valley provillce. The principal towns are prosperous and attractive, as shown by plate XXXIX-A, which is a view of Summerville, the county seat of Chattooga County.
This se~tion is traversed in a north-south direction by two railroads: the Tennessee Alabama, and Georgia Railroad on the west side of the Valley at the foot of Lookout Mountain and the Central of Georgia Railroad which occupies the middle or eastern -part of the valley. The State road, operated by the ashville Chattanooga and St. Louis Railroad Company. crosses the northern part, but onl a few miles of this line are in the Chickamauga valley section of Georgia. The Chickamauga Valley section al o contains that part of the Dixie Highway which lies between the Tenne see line and the town of Summerville.

148

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF GEORGIA

LOOKOUT PLATEAU
By Marius R. Campbell
GENERAL DESCRIPTION
Throughout the entire region, the Appalachian Valley is bounded on the northwest by the Appalachian Plateaus a. region consisting of table lands (plateaus) of different heights and of different degrees of perfection. Some, like the coal field of West Virginia, are so greatly dissected that no level land remains and the hill-tops alone are left to mark the original even surface; others, on account of the hardness of the rocks underlying them, still retain lheir original form. Tho e in Tennessee are known as the Cumberland and Walden Ridge plateaus and those in Georgia a Lookout Mountain and Sand Mountain plateau . In this report the name Lookout Plateau will be used in a general ense and it should be understood that it includes and Mountain a well as Lookout Mountain.
The Valley, as it has been described on a pre,;ou page, is bounded on the west, as hown in Plate XL and Fig. 4 by a flat-topped ridge, known as Lookout Mountain, which extends from just outh of Chattanooga, Tennes ee, to the vicinity of Gadsden, Alabama, an air-line distance of about 80 mile . This feature is u ually called a mountain because it stands distinctly above the valley on the east and, as seen from that direction, appears much ]ike the other ridges or mountains that rise above the level valley floor. It is, however flat-topped throughout most of its e.'\.i.ent, and, therefore, is more appropriately tyled a plateau than a mountain.
The reason for the application of the name ' Lookout' to thi plateau is somewhat uncertain man suppose that it is because of the wonderful and great ly ex1:ended ,-iew that may be had from its e>..1:reme northeastern end, shown in Plate XLI where it overlooks the Tennessee RiYer for a Ion di ance and the city of Chattanooga nestling at its foot others sa:y that the name wa given to this prominent point by boatmen on the river because at the point where the mountain appeared most prominently in the landscape was the place to "look out for Indians. The part of the plateau lying in Tennessee, although only a mile or t wo in ext ent, is the best known part, because of its as ociation with the city of Chatta.nooga, but the bulk of the pJateau lie ..in Georgia and Alabama.
Lookou~ Mount ain, or rather Plateau is bounded on the northwest as shown in Plat e XL, by a narrow valle which is of the same longitudinal e.'>.1:ent as Lookout Mountain. The northern part of this valley i drained by Lookout Creek a tributary of Tennessee River, and the southern part by Will Creek, a tributary of Coosa. River. Beyond (northwest of) this valley lies the great plateau of Sand Mountain which received its name from the gener-ally sandy character of the soil that is found on its top. Sand Mountain ex-

PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY OF GEORGIA

PLATE XL

THE PRINCIPAL TOPOGRAPHIC FEATURES OF THE LOO~;;.i_:" ;i','.A_~~"'"u-....,.....
Contour interval 200 feet

LOOKOUT PLATEAU

149

tends far to the south, but in the other direction the name is restricted to the plateau lying south of Tennessee River, although t he river gorge scarcel more than a mile wide, is all that separate it f.rom a similar platea-u north of the river, that is known a Walden Ridge. For a long di tance from its northern end Sand Mountain is bordered on the northwest by the \alley in which T~essee River flows init outhwestw~trd cotrrse from Tennes ee into Alabama.
Lookout Mountain Sand Mountain, Walden Ridge, and the Cumberland PlateaQ which lies west of quatchie Valley are, .as shown in Plate XL at about the same elevation and it requires only a slight stretch of the imS{,Yina.tion to conceive of them as being at one time unitt'd in a nst plain that stretched from central Alabama northeastward nearly to the Kentuck"Y line.
Geologists are generally agreed that uch was the eondition of the plateau in this region many, many age. ago. The general fiatness of the surface can b explained only on_ the supposition that at that time the crust of the earth remained tationary for an exceedingly long time and this quiescence on the part of the crust permitted the treams to wear the u:rface down altno t to sea level. At that time it i supposed that all of t.he region we t of the Cohutta Mount-ains was one vast plain and this plain extended northward to Kentuc1."Y and ea tward acros Georgia, south of the mountains, to the Atlantic Ocean. The time was so long that hard and oft rocks alike were reduced to a common level and the plateau we ee to-day are but remnants of that e\en surface which now has been cut by the streams until its level character is largely gone.
Following the formation of this vast plain or peneplain (meaning near[ a plain) came man uplifts of the region until now the surface which was formed nea.r ea le>el is in places as much as !"t 000 feet above lha datum plane. The reason why and 1\fonntain and the other plateau surfaces have been preserv d through Lhi great lapse of time i that they are underlain by a thick bed (Lookout) o very resistant andstone which has pre'iented most of the treams from cutting valley in them. The relation of thi bed of andstone to the rrrface, of lhe various platea i shown in Fig. 6. which represent the rocks as they would appear in the ide of a deep trench if ch a trench were cut aero and :lloun.tain, Lookout Valley Lookout Mountain, McLamore Cove, and Pigeon Mountain, along the line A B shown in Plate XL.
When the rocks of this region were folded as described on pp. 146-147 four low anticlines were formed in what is now regarded as the Lookout Plateau. One of these anticlines is marked today by Sequatchie VaTie another by Lookout "\ alley another by Wills Valley and another by lUcLamore Co,e. The thick bed of andstone lies just under the surface iu t he inter,ening shallow syncliual t roughs but on the anticlines it was arched up se,eral hundred fee-t. When Lhe surface wa planed off as desc;:ribed previou ly the sandstone arches were cut away leaving softer rocks at the surface; then when theregion was uplifted the streams were able to cut deep valleys on the

150

GEOLOGICII.L SURVEY OF GEORGI.II.

anticlines where the sandstone was cut away and the exca\ation of the yaJleys as ~e know them today was begun. Since then they have heen deepened after every uplift of the region until I hey are from 800 to 1~00 feet deep.
Because of the present separation of Lookout and Sand mountains some geographers have contended that Lookout :\fountain should be regarded merely as an outlier of the great Cumberland Plateau and that the valley on its northwestern side should be considered a part of the Valley to th.e east. If such a scheme of classification were followed oul logically every mountainous ridge in the Valley should be considered as an outlier either of the mountains on the east or the plateau on the west. .\.moment's consideration of such a proposition will serve to show its impractical nature, and that Lookout Mountain and its accompanying valley on the west should be considered together as a part of the Cumberland Plateau or a part of the Valley on the east. As the mountain is a much more prominent feature than the Yalley, the writer chooses to consider it a part of the Cumberland Plateau and the valley behind it as merely one of the se,reral ,alleys that trench its generally even surface.
The character of the surface of the Lookout Plateau is shown in Fig. 6. F rom this figure it wiU be seen that the surface is not flat but slopes gradually to the southwest and west. The highest part is on Lookout Mountain near the north line of Georgia; here the surface hrus an elevation of about ~,000 feet above sea. level. From this high point the surface descends southwestward along lhe mountain to about 1,500 feet in the vicinity of Gadsden, Alabama. On Sand Mountain, in the northwestern corner of Georgia, the greatest elevation is about 1,700 -feet above sea level. From this eleYation the surface descends to about 1,800 feet at a point northwest of Gadsden.
Lookout Mountain affords some picturesque scenery, as its stee slopes are capped by almost vertical cliffs from 200 to 300 feet in height These present in many places an unscalable wall, but the wall is breached here and there by small streams which have their source on lhe top of the plateau and reach the ,alley floor through deep notches in the bounding cliffs.
Near the Alabama-Georgia State line a great spur branches off to the east from Lookout Mountain. This spur. wh.ich is known as Pigeon Mountain, partakes of the same general character as the main ridge, being flat-topped for a distance of 9 miles. but beyond this point it is broken by many gaps and degenerates into an irregular ridge which terminates at a point about 18 miles from the main mountain. Pigeon Mountain is bounded on both sides and at the end by sandstone cliffs which give to it a very rugged appearance. Its greatest eleYation is near the el!..-treme northeastern point, where a low knob on the northwestern side attains an ele,ation of 2.329 feet. Tbe northwestern side of Pigeon Mountain is very regula'!' in outline, only small gulches being cut in its steep slopes, but the southeastern side is broken by a number of gulches, or 'gulfs" as they are generally called in this region. This mountain is separated from

LOOKOUT PLdTEdU

151

the main Lookout Mountain by McLamore Cove, a branch of the valley which is drained by West Chickamauga Creek, a tributary of Tennessee River.
Gulf Mountain, at the head of McLamore Cove, rises about 1,200 feet above the valley of West Chickamauga Creek, This is one of the highest points near the State line. From Gulf Mountain the eastern margin of Lookout Plateau extends in an almost straight line to Lookout Point near Chattanooga. Throughout this distance of about 30 miles the cliffs that bound the plateau on the east are almost unbroken, being notched deeply at only one place-the place where Rock Creek has succeeded in cutting its way through the massive sandstone in a deep and rugged gorge. This rugged line of cliffs has proved to be a very formidable barrier to travel in an east-west direction and only 3 or 4 mountain roads have been able to find a way to the top of the plateau.
North of Gulf Mountain there are three prominent points or low peaks that stand upon the eastern rim of the plateau and rise above the rim to heights of from 200 to 400 feet. In passing northward the first high point is Round Top which has an elevation of 2,378 feet. This mountain is only about a mile north of the wagon road from Cooper Heights to Trenton, and because of its isolation and symmetrical shape, it is a commanding object as seen from the valley on the east. High Point, 2 miles farther north, is the highest summit on Lookout Mountain, having an elevation of 2,392 feet above sea level. This peak is more elongate than Round Top and its eastern side is a sheer precipice several hundred feet in height. The summit is covered by great blocks of sandstone-the remnants of a bed of rock that once covered much of the mountain but which has been almost all removed by weathering.
North of High Point there is another prominent object known as Eagle Cliff which consists of a great wall of sandstone that seems to project above the general face of the mountain. This wall extends along the mountain front for a distance of 2 miles to McCallie Gap where it is terminated by the gorge of Rock Creek. On the south side of this gorge the sandstone stands out as great pinnacles of broken rock, but on the north side it shows as a great cliff with an almost unbroken face.
Rock Creek, which has cut the gorge at McCallie Gap, rises on the top of the plateau near Round Top and descends to the Valley on the east through a rugged gorge which is broken by deep holes in which there are pools, and by cliffs over which the stream pours in beautiful cascades, as shown in Plate XLII. It is a wild and rugged ravine but it is generally accessible because a railroad has been built up it to the coal mine situated near its head.
On the west side of Lookout Mountain the plateau wall is unbroken from the north end nearly to Trenton. On this side the slopes are steeper and the streams do not seem to have been able to breach the mighty wall at the top. Nearly opposite Trenton, however, the wall has been cut by Bear Creek. one of the eastern branches of Look-

152

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF GEORGIA

out Creek, and a deep ravine, known as Trenton Gulf, has been excavated in Lookout Mountain. The stream in this guH has eaten its way headwards until it has reduced the plateau to a single narrow ridge whose ere t is the eastern rim of the plateau. The walls of the ravine are teep and in places capped by sandstone cliffs 200 to 300 feet high. A view of Trenton Gulf .from one of these cliff is aweinspiring and is very similar to a view of Tallulah Gorge in Rabun County.
South of Trenton Gulf is another gulf of a much larger size. This is known as Johnson Crook and it notches the edae of Lookout Plateau just east of Ri ing Fawn. Johnson Crook is really the northeastward extension of Wills valley which bounds Lookout Mountain on the we t from this point outhwestward into Alabama. It is a great amphitheater which i bounaed on all sides except the . outh by andstone cliffs that give it a rugged and impos.in appearance.
South of Johnson Crook the western face of Lookout Mountain is broken by only a few small gulches which extend back into the plateau very short distances.
The water falling on the northern part of the Lookout Plateau in Georgia is generally carried off by small streams which follow the trend of the Mountain for a hort distance and then plunge wildly down through deep gulches to the plain below but that fallin.,. in the southern part is carried away by the hea branche of Lit tle River which, after uniting with the Chattooga empties into Coosa. River near the town of eda.r .Bluff, Alabama. In general Little River throughout nearly its entire course is hemmed in by low ridges on both rims of Lookout Mountain. but opposite Cedar Bluff it cuts through the southeastern rim and seeks the level of the plain below.
Only a small portion of Sand Mountain is included within th~ boundaries of Georgia, but the surface features of this mountain are essentially the same as the surface features of Lookout Mountain. They differ in degree, and not in kind.
Sand Mountain is much broader than Lookout Mountain and in the northern part where it is not much dissected by streams it has much larger areas of flat land. The surface, near the sides of the plateau, is higher than it i in the middle but Lhe marginal ridges are so broad that they do not make conspicuous :features in the landscape. Southwestward .from the wagon road leading from Trenton to Nickajack Cove, near the nor+...hwest corner of the tate, the southeast margin of Sand Mountain plateau is almost unbroken except for the offset at Rising Fawn around the head of Deer Head Cove. The same
tbick bed of sandstone that is o prominent on Lookout Mountain is also present on and Aountain and is responsible for the plateaulike character of its surface and for the cliffs that border this plateau in almost all places. The cliffs are particularly prominent in the steep slope bordering the ea t edge of the plateau from Trenton southward to the head of Deer Head Cove. N ortb of Trenton th~ steep slope continues for a distance of about 3 miles but beyond tha.t point
the plateau is badly broken by _ligo Cove and other valleys. so that

LOOKOUT PLATEAU

153

but little of the plateau surface remains. The reason for this greater dissection is that the streams here are all tributaries of Tennessee River and as they .have only a few miles to flow until they unite with the river their courses are st~p and because they are steep the streams are able to cut away ev.en the hardest sandstone. The result is that the streams flowing directly to Tennessee River have cut great gorges or coves in the plateau, completely destroying its even surface, but adding very much to the beauty of the scenery, for these gorges are in many places extremely rugged. This is particularly true of the ravine cut by Nickajack Creek in the extreme northwest corner of the State. The crest of the slope is generally bordered by high sandstone cliffs and near Cole the creek is flowing in a rocky canyon several hundred feet deep.
As the surface of the plateau slopes generally to the west, most of the streams have their source near the eastern margin and flow westward directly into Tennessee River, whose course is close to the northwestern margin of the plateau. These streams have cut deep notches or coves into the once even front of the northwest side, but as most of these coves are in Alabama, they will not be described.
Some readers may be curious to know why Sand and Lookout mountains stand higher than the Valley and why their surfaces are in general so nearly flat. This is a very appropriate question to ask, for the geologist has learned that all of the features that characterize the surface of the earth have a meaning, and if one can rightfully interpret them he is able to determine just what conditions have prevailed in the past and how those conditions and the processes that were then going on have helped to shape the present form of the land. In other words, the surface of the land is an open page upon which is recorded the events that have transpired. This record is written in raised forms, much like the Braille style of printing now used for the blind, which we may learn to read and thus become familiar with the real history of the country in which we live.
In imagination, it is possible to go back to a time when the Appalachian region was nearly all reduced to a peneplain, as explained on pp.l46-147, with only mountain groups here and there composed of rocks so hard that they were able to resist the action of the weather and the streams and so remained unreduced. In northwestern Georgia the top of Lookout Plateau marks approximately the position of such an old peneplain. When this feature was produced the plain was complete and unbroken from the Mississippi River in the vicinity of Memphis eastward to the Cohutta Mountains of northern Georgia and to the Smoky Mountains of East Tennessee and its surface was probably only a few score or more feet above sea level. At that time the whole of northwestern Georgia, except the high mountains, was a plain probably more perfect than the plain in the eastern part of the Valley to-day and there was no distinction between what is now the Valley and Lookout Plateau.
The crust of the earth was then upraised and at once the streams began to cut away (reduce) the uplifted land mass, but of course the

154

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF GEORGIA

softer rocks were the first to be removed and the hard rocks remained for a long time as mountains or ridges standing above the surface formed on the softer rocks in adjacent regions. In Georgia Sand and Lookout mountains were protected by a very resistant bed of hard sandstone, shown in Fig. 6, and so they did not suffer immediate reduction, but the limestone and shale of the Valley were quickly reduced to the plain that we see to-day. The results of this second stage of reduction can best be understood by a study of the accompanying diagram, Fig 6. In this figure, which is supposed to represent

Figure 6. Structure section showing the relation of hard rocks to Sand and Lookout mountains.
the surface and the underlying rocks as they would appear in a deep trench cut aero s the country the tops of the plateaus are remnants of the surface ju t referred to when the land was almost completely reduced to a plain except possibly some of the mountains to the east of the Valley. As thi plain was uplifted the treams cut out Lookout Valley Will Valley, and M amore oYe, leaving Sand and Lookout mountains standing at the le,el of the old plain. The reason for the particular form of these mountain is to be found in not only the kind of~ocks of which they are composed but in the attitude which those rocks ha>e a sumed. In the present case, the :rocks have been thrown into fold" by strong pressure from the outheast. The bed of andstone is wrinkled into a broad do,-..'1lward fold or syncline in Sand Mountain; a shorter one in Fox Mountain, another in Lookout Mountain, and still another in Pigeon Mountain; similar but horter anticlines were produced in Lookout Valley in Will Valley or Johnson Crook, in McLamoEe Cove, and Ia tly many large folds east of Pigeon Mountain. When the plain was produced the sandstone in the various
anticlines wa.s cut away, ~'PO ing tb soft rocks that underlie it to
the erosion of the streams, but in and Mountain and Lookout ~.foun tain the sandstone was downfolded into shallow synclines and, as the bottom of these synclines lay below the level of the peneplain, the sandstone was not removed and since has remained as a protective cap preventing the erosion of that part below the old peneplain level. The anticline, on the other hand, has been deeply cut by streams flowing to the northeast or the southwest alon the line of weak rocks that had been e.'l.--posed by the removal of the protecting cap of sandstone. In this manner Lookout Creek eroded its valley from the divide just west of the southwest corner of Walker County northeastward to Tennessee River and Big Wills Creek from the same divide, southwestward to Coosa River. The part of this valle lying within

PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY OF GEORGIA

I'L ATE XU/

Photograph-' 1>,11 S. rr. McCallie.
FALLS OP ROCK CREEK 01\ LOOKOUT MOU:.TAIX.

LOOKOUT PLLlTEdU

155

the boundaries of Georgia is drained entirely by Lookout Creek, but Big Wills Creek is the larger of the two.
Lookout Creek valley is offset at Rising Fawn about the width of the valley or a distance of 3 or 4 mile . The reason for this offset is that the ,-aJley on the northwest side of Lookout Mountain is realJy er9ded in two anticlines instead of a single fold. The anticline that comes in .from the outhwest is very straignt and regular and end in John on rook a cove in the northwest ide of Lookout Mountain the anticline coming in from the nQrthea t does not quite join that from the outhwest and its termination is in Deer Head Cove. just we of Ri ing Fawn. A spur from and Mountain, known as Fox J\IounttJ.in separates the two anticline for a short distance, bnt at Rising Fawn the wo folds are so close that erosion has removed all trace of a di,-J.ding ridge between them.
The rocks underlying the great san tone that form the top of Sand Mountain and aJ o the top of Lookout Mountain are made up of alternating beds of limestone and shale, with here and there a bed of more resi tant sand tone or quartzite. Wherever these hard beds appear at the urface they form ridge or mountains which erve to break the regularity and monotony of the valley , or plains, as they rightfully should be called. In Lookout and Will Talley the rocks are turned up rather harpl on the flanks of the anticlines and the upurned edges of the hard beds form long line of knob or rid!reS that in pla<:e are absolutely straight for ~ or SO mile . The contour map hown in Plate XL is not accurate enough to give a clear picture of the e regular row of knob , but they are well hown on the Fort Payne map of the United tates Geological urvey which wa made more recen~y and is more nearly up to the present standard of topographic mapp
jmilar, though not o narrow or sharp-topped ridge occur on the urface of tl1e plate~ but here they generally mark the margin of the plateau which correspond with the flank of the yncline ompo ing it. The e broad ridges or rin1 of the plateaus are fairly well shown on and Mountain but they are best hown on the Fort Payne map which includ thal part of Lookout Mountain lying to the outhwe t of the Georgia portion of Lhe plateau. The reason for these ridges is that a the sand tone formin and pre ervin both and and Lookout mountains lie in the form of a trough or syncline, the bed only comes to the urface on the margins of the plat aus and there it apt to form low ridges because it i o hard that it wa,s not reduced when the peneplain was de,Teloped .
That part of Lookout Plateau lying in Georgia includes the whole of Dade ountv and small parts of Walker and Chattooga counties. As the oil of Lookout and and mountains is generally thin and unproductie, agri ulture i largely re, tricted to Lookout and Wills valleys, which are eroded in limestone and hence haYe a much better soil. Dade County, which includes most of the plateau province make a rather poor showing in a,aricultural products, standing in the first rank only in the !ITowing of strawberrie.

156

GEOWGIC.dL SURVEY OF GEORGILI

Towns and Tillages are largely restricted to Lookout and Wills -valleys, except that in recent years many residents of Chattanooga have established homes on Lookout Mountain, which, by means of an electric trolley road, and a good auto road, has been made easily accessible. A beautiful view of the valley can be obtained from the summit of Lookout Mountain and this alone makes a. trip to its top well worth while. One of the most interesting views irom this point of the mountain is that of Tennessee River and the city of Chattanooga, shown in Plate XLI.
The only mining that. is carried on inthe pla:teau province of Georgia is coal-mining on the summit of LoOkout Mountain, 4 or 5 miles south of the Tennessee line. The coal mined here is an excellent grade of semibituminous or ..smokeless, coal, fully equal for steam-producing purposes to that of the famous Pocahontas coal of West Virginia and Virginia.
The only important railroad in th.is pro..,-ince is the line of the Southem Railway, running from Chattanooga, Tennessee, to Birmingham, Alabama, by way of Lookout and Wills valleys. In addition to this main line there is a short road to the coal mine at the head of Rock Creek.

THE GEOGRAPHICCONTROLOF HUMAN AFFAIRS
By Laurence LaForge
GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS
In any region of such diverse topography as the State of Georgia the lives and activities of the inhabitants are profoundly affected by the topographic conditions of the part of the State in which they live and its relation in that respect to other parts of the State. The distribution and character of the population, the situation, size, and growth or decline of cities and towns, the location of railroads and main highways, the chief industries and the location of industrial centers, the districts resorted to for vacations and outings, all display a direct response to topographic control. The study of such relations and their underlying causes is one of the most interesting as well as one of th~ most useful phases of the investigation of the physiography of a region.
The causes of some relations of the sort are obvious, as, for example, the sparsity of population in the belt of coastal marshes, the convergence of railroads at Atlanta and Savannah, and the locations of Macon and Columbus. The reasons underlying other relations are rather obscure, although the relations themselves are unmistakable, and still others are difficult to explain by facts at present available. Many of the facts brought out by a study of the distribution of man and his activities in the State are due to a combination of topographic controls instead of a single cause.
DISTRIBUTION OF POPULATION
Some of the bulletins containing the results of the Federal Census of 1920 include maps showing the distribution of the density of the total and the rural population. These maps are drawn on a small scale with counties as the units of representation. In Georgia many of the county boundaries do not follow natural boundaries, hence a number of counties lie in more than one topographic division. Nevertheless, the maps bring out some facts of the distribution of the population that are manifestly due to topographic control, one of which has already been mentioned. The sparsest population of the State is in the coastal belt, especially in the counties with the largest proportion of swampy land. Other areas of relatively sparse population are narrow belts along the eastern and western sides of the State adjoining the valleys of Savannah and Chattahoochee rivers, respectively, and a wider belt crossing the State along the boundary between the Coastal Plain and the Central Upland. In all these areas the surface is rather hilly and the proportion of relatively level and easily cultivable land is less than elsewhere. Soil conditions also have something to do with the sparsity of settlement. Still another area of sparse population is the Highland, wher.e the surface is much too rough and the soil too poor to support a dense population.

158

GEOLOGICdL SURVEY OF GEORG/d

The counties having the greatest number of inhabitants per square mile are of course those in which the largest cities of the State are situated, and the density of population in those counties is not due to their topographic character so much as to the conditions that determined the location of the cities. The belt of densest population extends diagonally across the State somewhat north of the middle and includes nearly all the Midland Slope, with adjacent parts of the Atlanta, Greenville, and Washington plateaus. The density of population in this belt is due to a combination of circumstances, chief of which are its situation where several main trade routes intersect, where consideraable water-power is developed, and where the climate is more equable than in some other parts of the State. Another belt of relatively dense population, in the central and southwestern parts of the Coastal Plain, seems to be due more to soil conditions than to topography, though both may be factors in some counties.
As is the case in many other States, some areas of relatively dense population in Georgia are due to conditions outside the State. This is especially the case in Walker County, where the density of population is well above the average of the State. Most of the people live in the northern part of the county, which is really a part of the suburban district about Chattanooga, Tenn.
The topographic control of the distribution of population is more plainly shown by the cities and towns which are smaller and more definitely localized units and only a few of which are situated in more than one topographic district. The Census report divide the population into urban and rural classes including in the former all cities and towns having more than 2,500 inhabitants and in the latter not only the strictly rural population, but also all cities and towns with less than 2,500 inhabitants. In Georgia 25 per cent of the population lives in 59 cities and towns and is classed as urban, and the remaining 75 per cent is classed as rural. The cities and towns classed as urban are too few and too generally scattered throughout the State to give much indication of the topographic control of such distribution. On the map, Plate XLIII, all the cities and incorporated towns in the State that were listed in the reports of the Census of 1920 are shown, even those with less than 100 inhabitants. There are nearly 600 such places, and although they are well distributed throughout the State, no county being without any, a study of the map brings out several features of their distribution.
Perhaps the most striking feature is the distribution in topographic provinces. The number of cities and tov,-ns in the Coastal Plain and in Appalachian Georgia is almost the same, although one division includes 60 per cent and the other 40 per cent of the area of the State. The Central Upland, comprising 79 per cent of the area of Appalachian Georgia, has 250 cities and towns, 85 per cent of the number in that part of the State. Compared with the whole State the dominance of the Central Upland in this respect is even more striking, as, with only 31 per cent of the area, this province contains more than 42 per cent of the incorporated places, four-fifths of them being southeast of

THE GEOG!UPHIC CONTROL OF HUMAN AFFAIRS

159

Chattahoochee River, in the ar~a already mentioned as being tha of densest population in the State. The Valley, including about 5 per cent of the area of the State, has a little more than 5 _per cent of the cities and towns, and the Highland, With about 3 per cent of the area, has a little les than 3 per cent of the cities and towns. The Lookout Plateau has only 2 towns, both being situated in the Lookout V-alley and not on the Plateau itself.
The same facts can be stated in another way. In the State as a. whole there is one city or incorporated town to about 100 square miles of area in the different provinces this ratio ranges from one to 150 square mile in the Lookout Plateau through one to l!tS quare miles in the Highland one to 120 square miles in the Coastal Plain, and one to 90 square miles in the Valley, to one to only 73 quare miles in the Central Upland. The facts of distribution brought out by these statistical tatement are well shown on the map, Plate XLill where the greater concentration of citie and towDS in the Central Upland stands out distinctly.
Another fact of distribution well displayed on the map is the association of the cities and towns with the railroads. In some considerable areas in the Coastal Pla:in there are .no .incorporate-d places except on the railroad along which they are strung like beads. uch distribution is not primarily but secondarily topographic, as the location of the railroads is controlled largely by the topography. The two factors are complexly related, because, as pointed out later, the routes of the earliest .railroad were determined largely by the situation o the citie then in existence, which had been largely determined by topographic conditions.
The carcity of citie and towns in ome parts of the State is also notable, especially in the part of the Coastal Plain southeast of the railroad from avau.nah through Waycross and' aldosta. As already pointed out, southeast of that line is lhe region of coa tal swamps and the least densely settled part of the tate. Other areas mentioned above as ha ing a sparse population are conspicuous an the map for their scarcity of cities and towns. In northeastern Georgia however the region of few cities and town is not conf.ined to the Highland, but extends southwestward half the length of Piedmont Georgia. and into several countie that haYe a relatively dense population. The comparative scarcity of incorparated places in this part of the state is mainly due to the fact that it lies off the main routes of traffic and has no railroads.
Another characteristic of the distribution of the cities and towns which js not brought out by the map, because no streams are shown thereon, i the fact that so .few of them, including less than a score of the more important places, are on large trea.ms. Many of the smaller places are on streams, but many others both large and small, are not so itua.ted. This apparent avoidance o streams by the citi~s and towns is not confined to Georgia as it is characteristic of some other parts of the south.em Appalachian region. It is in rather striking contrast however, to the conditions in most of the northern. Appalachian

160

GEOLOGICdL SURVEY OF GEORGI&

region where most of the cities and towns are along the stream . It
is a direct response to topographic control, a in a large part of the State the level, well drained areas, with plenty of room for future growth of population, are on the uplands and not in the valleys, which are, as a rule, narrow and with teep sides. Howe>er, special topogra:pbic conditions ha e caused the concentration of population at some places on the banks of large streams where cities have arisen. Macon, Augusta and Columbus are located on large rivers primarily because of the water power developed on the rivers at those places, but also, in each case, the valley widens out at that point and the city has been built largely on a terrace that seems almost to ha-,e been put there for the purpo e.
A. notable feature of the map is the scarcity of smaller cities and towns in the areas surrounding several of the large cities of the tate. A a rule a large city becomes surrounded with a densely ettled area containing several sm.a.ller cities and large towns the whole constituting what is ometimes spoken of as the metropolitan district of that city. Of the large cities of Georgia, only Atlanta is surrounded by such a group of satellites, and ava.nnah, J\facon, and Augusta~ in particular, are rather con picuously surrounded by empty areas on the map. This condition is in part more apparent than real, because all three cities are in reality surrounded by zones of' suburban population. As yet, however, none of the suburban towns have been incorporated and as the map shows only incorporated places, those three large cities appear to be without suburbs. It is true however, that all three, and Columbus also, are surrounded outside the suburban zone, by large areas in which there are very few other cities or large towns. This is due mainly to topographic conditions. Savannah is
ituated between tidal mar hes on one side and the estuary of Savannah River on the other side, and for miles south and southwest of the city the surface is subject to occasional inundations and there are no good town sites. Macon, Augusta and Columbus are situated in the belt of hilly country along the boundary between the Coast~ Plam and the Central Upland, where the surface is much rougher, is less adapted to attract and support a dense population, and is less uitable for town sites, than it is farther south in the Coastal Plain or farther north in the Cent:ral Upland.
The statement that the situation of cities and towns has been det.mnined largely by topographic conditions is not universally true, as the sites of some places were determined by personal selection or even by pure accident. The subsequent growth or decline of such towns, however, is often controlled by natural conditions lhat were overlooked or ignored when the sites were chosen. The topographic conditions that have influenced the situation and development of cities and towns may be purely local, ahnost wholly regional, or a combination of the two sorts of control. Milledgeville and Porterdale, which owe their importance to water-power, Dahlonega, which is a gold-mining town, and Kirkwood, Bibb City, and Rossville, which are uburbs of large cities, are examples of topographic control by local conditions. Atlanta and Savannah are examples of control by regional conditions,

PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY OF GEORGIA

PLATE XLIII
EXPLANATION
CITI E5 AND TCWNS -100,000 t.o200,000
.60.000t.oi00,000 L..O,OOO t..o 60,000 20,000 to LAO,OOO 10,000 't-o 20,000 6,000 ~ 10,000 .......000'1:.-0 61000
:w~~
RAILROADS Trunk Lines Other main lines Minor and bronch lines

THE RAILROADS AND INCORPORATED TOWNS OF GEORGIA

THE GEOGRLJPHIC CONTROL OF HUMLJN LJFFLJIRS

161

and several of the h;rrger cities of the Coastal :Plain, as well as those along the Fall Line, are examples of the ort whose situation was determined by a combination of regional and local circumstances. Some suburban cities also belong in thi elas .
Atlanta, the Capital and largest city of the St-ate and tbe metropolis of the southeastern states, is situated on the Fairburn platform of the Atlanta :Plateau and on the divide between Chattahoochee and South rivers, the latter being one of the h~d streams of the Ocmulgee. A few miles southwest of the city the divide forks, one part continuing between Chattahoochee and J?Iint Rivers, the other between the Flint and the Ocmrilgee. The city thus stands almost at the meeting-point of three main di ides, and the metropolitan district. including the snurbs that are continuous with the city, takes in the area SUITounding
this junction. The local topographic conditions are thu favorable :or
the growth of a large city, in an area like the Centxal Upland, where the main routes of traffic are preferably along the divides because
there the surface is smoothest and the grades are easiest. The divide
separating the Chattahoochee froin the southeastward-flowing streams :furnishes an easy and fairly level route which extends almost across the tate and which has become one of the main routes of traffic in the South.
As can be seen from the relief map, Plate XXIX-A, the main routes between the northern Atlantic cities and the eastern Gulf States must go southward around the great barrier of the App.alachia.n ~ountains and enter Georgia from the east. The rough country e:rtends iar southward into the State and there is no easy rout~ across it north of Etowah River. Similarly, travel between the basins of Ohio and Tennessee rivers and the southern Atlantic coast must wing southward to avoid the mountains and enters Georgia through the Appalachian Valley in the northwestern part of the State. It, too finds no easyToute across e.-u:ept outh of Etowah River. It was sta ed in the description of the Atlanta :Plateau that the general stufa.ce of the :Plateau is lowest in its middle portion, and across this lower and smoother part lie the best routes between the Appalachian Valley and the southern coast.
There is thus a convergence of routes from the northeast, north, northwest, and west across those parts of the Central Upland where
the topographic conditions are most favorable for such crossing. At the focal point, where -fue :routes converge and cross one another At-
lanta. is situated. Because of its pOsition almost at the junction of
ma:in_divides- and close to the heads of Flint and South rive:rs, this point is also easier of access from the east, southeast, south, and southwest than almost any other point along the axis of the CentralUpland.
All the topographic c<;>mlitions, bothregional and local, therefore combine
to make it the site of a metropolis such as Atlanta has become.
Many other places owe their size and importance to a similar combi-
nation of regional and local conditions. Savannah is the nearest At-
lantic port, not only to the more densely settled region of the Centra} Upland and the chief manufacturing district of the State, but to those

162

GEOLOGIC/JL SURVEY OF GEORGI/I

parls of the Ohio and Tennessee basins that find an outlet aroUnd the southern end of the Appalachian Mountains and across Georgia. The local condition~ are also favorable because the belt of coastal marshes i narrower than it is in southern Georgia and because the estuary oi ~avannah River deep enough .for ea-going vessels, penetrates some distance inland. The city is at the head of deep-water navigation, but on dry land above e level of the coastal marshes.
.'Macon, Augusta, and Columbus a;e situated where Ocmulgee, avannah, and Chattahoochee rivers, re pectively c:ros the Fall Line. They owe their _growth only in part to the development of water-power, as each city i at the head of nav:i ation on that river and each is at a point which some main .route of traffjc finds the mo advantag ous for crossing the stream. The head of navigation on Flint River is at Albany, mile below where that tream cro es the Fall Line. Brunswick is the nearest Atlantic port to a large part of the Coa tal Plain in Georgia and is the mo t accessible Atlantic port to a great part of the eastern Gnlf region. orne of the larger inland citi ~ of the Coastal Plain owe their growth largely to the fac of' their situation at the pomts of intersection of everal railroads converging on avannah Brunswick and Jacksonville.
In Appalachian Georgia, Rome is situated in one of the richest parts of the Valley, where Etowah and Oostanaula rivers unite to form Coosa River. Toccoa, GainesTIJJe, Buford Fairburn, Newnan, and LaGranae are ituated along the railroad that traver es the main dinde i.o which frequent reference has been made. 1\Iention might be made of numerous other places in the tate that owe their location or their importance to topographic conditions, but to do so would be merely to multiply examples. Those already enumerated uffice to illustrate the different wa. in which topography exerts an influence upon the it uation, growth, and general character of a city.
TRAFFIC ROUTES
The influence of topographlc conditions upon the location of lines of tratfic has already been mentioned and illustrations have been given. As with the location and growth of cities the influence of topography upon the location of routes is partly regional and partly local. The main trade routes of the country connect important centers or district of production with those of consumption or export. Their general courses and locations depend, lherefore, on conditions :far outside the borders of some of the tates that they cross. Their detailed courses and locations, on the other hand, depend largely on local conditions. The mino:r routes, that connect cities in lhe tate with one another or with those in neighborin tates are not o much influenced by regional condition , but may be more influenced by local topography, as the shorlest route between terminal points is not uch an important consideration in their construction.

THE GEOGRAPHIC CONTROL OF HU..JIAN AFFAIRS 163
The railroads of the State of Georgia may, therefore, be included in three groups: the trunk lines, that connect the chief commercial centers of the State with those of neighboring States, or that traverse Georgia in connecting such centers in other States; other main lines, such as those that connect the chief cities within the State but carry little interstate traffic; and the minor and branch lines, of relatively small importance in the main scheme.
The earliest railroads were built to connect one city with another and naturally took the most direct Toutes that were feasible. Their general cou:rses were not determined by the topography, except for the nece ity of avoiding mountainou districts and areas of great swamps and of crossing large rivers at points where bridges would not be too expensive. In tho e early day , howeYer construction costs were given more onsideration tha:n operation co ts and the making of deep cuts and high fills and the building of long bridges and tunnel were avoided wherever po ible, even if such a course Iesulted in a crooked route and heavy grades. Io detail, therefore the courses of the early railroad were controUed almo t throughout by the topoarapby and they followed di'-ides or valley bottoms for mile . Good examples of this
ort of control are the route of the Georgia Railroad between Atlanta and Au!rnsta, that of the We tern and Atlantic between Atlanta and Cartersville and that of the outhern Railway between Atlanta and Rome. Some of the ead1er roads in the Coastal Plain, al o pecially in the eastern part, have rather devious courses, determined largely by the topography. The later railroads in the Coastal Plain, particularly in the southeastern part of the tate, cross a region with a comparatively smooth surface on which they ignore the minor details of the topography and take direct cour es from city to city.
In modern railroad building more attention is paid to future operation costs than to construction costs and, in order to save distance and to avoid numerous curves and heavy grades, much money is spent in cutting and filling and in building bridges and tunnels. uch roads thus have fairly direct courses and easy grade in spite of the topography, which they overcome, hence the routes adopted by them show only a moderate amount of topographic controL The difference between a route laid out in this manner and one laid out in the old way is well shown by comparison of the new line of the Seaboard Air Line between Atlanta and Rockmart with the old line of the Southern Railway between the same points. The two are nowhere more than a few miles apart, but the former is noticeably more direct and has much easier grades.
With the growth of railroads throughout the country many of the short lines that had been built mainly to connect one city with another not far away were linked up in systems extending through many States and including trunk lines joining cities perhaps a thousand miles apart. Several such trunk lines cross Georgia, connecting New York and other large cities of the Northeast with Florida and the Gulf coast and con-

164

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF GEORGIA

necting Chicago and other large cities or the ]\fiddle W st with Florida and the southern Atlantic coast. As such trunk Jines primarily connect cities far outside the State, their locations within the tate are not affected by its topography except in a broad way. me of them swing far enough outh to Moid the Appalachian Mountains and other keep far enough inland to avoid the coastal maJ"shes, but otherwise they pa little attention to the general topography. ome trunk lines cro the tate merel because it lies between their terminals but they ha>e no close relation to the railroad system of the tate a such. A good example of uch a line is the branch of the outhern Railway that connects Chattanooga with Birmingham and which traver es the length of Dade County, but is of little imparLance in the transportation system of the tate. Another i the branch of the aboard Air Line which traverses the length of the Georgia seaboard from Savannah to Jacksonville without passing through any important town between those two cities.
Another way in which the routes of ome railroads in Georgia are controlled by conditions outside the tate rather than by its topography is hmvn b the convergence of railroads within the rtate upon large cities in neighboring tates. This is hown by the map, Plat~ XLIIT, which include the locations of Chattanooga and Jacksonville and the railroads running from points in Georgia to tho e cities. There are similar convergences of railroads from point in Georgia upon Birmingham and Montgomery, but not enough of AJabama is included in the map to make this entirely plain. On the ide of the State toward
ou:th arolina the conditions are reversed, for there is no con ergence of railroads from Georgia point upon any outh Carolina city, but there is uch a convergence from points in South Carolina upon Savannah. The map includes too little of outh Carolina to show this well.
The map, Plate XLIII, shows all the railroads in the State that were known to be in operation at the end of IV24. Trunk roads which carry through traffic to and from point outside the tate are shown by heavy full line , and other main roa by lighter full lines. Relatively unimportant and branch roads are shown by dashed lines. everal notable features of the railroad system of the tate are brought out by the map. The concentration of roads upon half a dozen of the large cities, the greater number of cro s lines and branch lines in the parts of the tate where cities and towns are most abundant, the absence of any but trunk lines in the southeastern part of the Coastal Plain, and the lack of any roads in some parts of the State, are all well shown.
There are eight counties without a railroad and a ninth is entered by a railroad onl at its margin. Of the eight without railroads, only one is in the Coastal Plain, and i..x form a contiguous group in the Highland and the adjacent part of Piedmont Georgia extending o within a few miles of Atlanta. This part of the tate has strong relief is off 1.he main lines of traffic, and contains no important towns.

THE GEOGRAPHIC CONTROL OF HUMAN AFFAIRS 165

Large area in the Coastal Plain, cro ed by no railroads other than trunk lin are mainly forested or el e are within the dominantlv swampy area. The as ociation of the towns with_ the railroads. a.l.ready mentioned, is well shown. In .large parls of the Coastal Plain there are no towns except along the railroads. On the other hand in
some parts of the :Midland Slope and the Wa hingtou Plateau there are
a number of towns not on any railroads, though railroads are not lack-
ing in those areas.

INDUSTRIES AND TRADE

The influence of topography upon the means by which the people

o a tate aain a livelihood is not less distinct tb.an_ i influence on

ettlement and transportation. The same general principles apply in

nearly all regions, and conditions are not greatly different in this re-

gard in Georgia from those els where.

in mo t Stat , the chief

occupation is tilling the soil not alone the raisin of food stuff but

al o the cultivation of crop u ed primarily in manufacturing. . gri-

culture i influenced as much by soil and by climatic conditions as by

topography but topography may be the controlling factor wher other

things are equal. This is notably true in parts of the Coastal Plain and

the Central Upland where the soils and climatic conditions are essentially

the same a in neighboring areas, but where the surface i o rough and

so much of it is in steep slope that much of the land i uncultivated.

Again, in regions like the southeastern part of the Coastal Plain where

the surface is o level that it 1 not well drained, agricolture is not ordi-

narily profitable, unles devoted to crops adapted to such conditions.

In general then, the eb.ie agricultural districts of the tate are the

broad valley and the rolling upland . The mountainous districts, the

rough ridge , the teep slopes bordering the deeper valleys, and the

swamp , are not generally cultivated.

Much the same principles apply to the influence of topography on the manufacturing industries and on the character of the local commercial industries both of which may be influenced chiefly by other than topographic conditions. The manufacture of such. things a,s lumber and clay product is confined mainly to the district in which they are abundant or are easily available, where topography may not be
the controlling factor. The manufacture of cotton products and the like_. however i usually concentrated in districts where water power or fuel is easily..obt.affied. The manufacturing districts of Georgia are confined largely to the densely ettled belt in the Midland lope and the adjacent part of the A.tlanta Plateau and to the large cities along the Fall Line. The mineral products of the State, aside u:om clay products and those that are marketed in or near the localities of production are mainly of the sort that bear transportation in bulk as raw material and can be hipped at Low rates. Hence they are generally sent out of the State for manufacture, and there is little relation between the mineral industry of the State and its topography.

APPENDIX

ALTITUDES
Throughout Georgia numerous elevations have been established at various points by the United States Geological Survey, United States Army Engineers, and the engineering departments of various railroads. Using these elevations as a base the Geological Survey of Georgia has established the elevation of numerous other points by repeated checking with aneroids or by the joint use of a barograph and aneroid barometers. The limit of error of the elevations thus established is probably less than 10 feet .

ALTITUDES IN GEORGIA

TOWN

AUTHO RIT Y

ELEVATION

Aaron________ _______________________ Abbeville (Court House) ____ _______ __ __
Abbeville low water_____ ___ ____ __ __ ___ Acree, Dougherty Co. ______ ___ __ _____ Acworth_ ____ ____ _________________ Adairsville_________ ______ ____________
Adairsville_____ --- -- ____ ___ --- --- _ _ Adam Knob ________ __________________ Adams Park __ ___ ____ _____ ___________ Adel__ ______________________ ________
Adrian, Emanuel Co._______ _____ ______ AeriaL ___________________ __ ___ _____
Ailey_______ _____ __ ______ __ ___ __ _____ Akes_ ____ ____ ____ __ __ ____________ __ _ AAllaampaoh_a_ __________ ._-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-________-_-_-_-_-__-________

U . S. G. 8 .________ ___ _ Aneroid____ __ ___ __ ___ _
U.S. A. Eng. _________ _ A. C. L._______ ______ _ W. & A. R. R. ____ ___ __ W . & A. R. R. ________ _
Weather Bureau _______ _ U.S. G. S. __ _________ _ U.S. G. S. ___________ _ G. S. & F. Rwy _______ _
Rough est. _____ __- ---U . S. G. S. ________ __ __
Aneroid __------ ___ __ __ S. A. L._ ------------AA.neCr.oiLd.____ -__- _-_--_-_-_-___________

AlbanY-------- - ---- --- ---- --------- A. C. L._______ __ _____ _ Albany River LeveL _______ ______ ___ __ A. C. L. _____________ _

Albany bridge_______________ ------- - Aneroid_ - ---- ------ -- _ Alcova Mountain ___ __ ____ ____________ U.S. C. & G. S. ____ ___ _ Alcovy _______ ___ ____ ____ ____ _ ____ G. R. R. ____________ __ Alexander___ ____ ___ ________ ____ ___ _ U.S. G. S. _________ ___ Alexanderville___ _______ __ ___ __ __ ___ __ A. C. L. _________ __. __ _ Allatoona__ _____ _______ __ ____ ____ ____ W. & A. R. R. ____ ___ __ Allenhurst ___ ___ _____________________ U.S. G. S. __ _____ ____ _ Allentown ________________ ___________ M.D. & S. ________ __ __ Alma____ _______ _____ __ ___ __ ______ Aneroid__________ ____ _ Alpine_ ___ __,___ __ _____ _____ __ ____ ___ U .S. G. S . ____ ______ _ Alto __ _ _________ ____ __ ____ __ __ _ S. Rwy__ ______ ___ __ _

Alton-- ------- ------- ----------- -Ambrose, Coffee Co.______________ __ __ Americus ___ __ _______ ____ ___ ____ __ ___ Amoskegag_ __________ _________ __
ADdersonville__ __ ____ ____ __ ____ __ __

S. A. L. _____ _______ _ Aneroid______________ _ C. of Ga. Rwy ________ _ S. Rwy_ ____ ___ _______
C. of Ga. Rwy _______ __

AADnggueiLlla.-_-__-_-_--_-_-_-_-_-__-_--_-_-__-_-_--_-_-_-_-__- _-_--__- SU.. AS.. LG.._S__.______________________ __ _ ~iedelle __ ____ ___ ____ __ ______ _____ U. S. G. 8 . __ ____ _ ___

260
255 169.33
205 915 708 772 3,588 259 246 290 1,478 250
818
245
293 184 127 175 1,090 707 283 153 866
60
4ll? 195 770 1,404 759 280
360
339 394 592 10 596

ALTITUDES IN GEORGILl

TOWN

AUTHORITY

167 ELEVATION

Antioch ___________ _________________ _ U.S. G. S. ______ ___ __ _

AApmpbliLn_g____-_-_-_-_- _- -_-_-_-_-_-_--_-_-_-_- ____ _-_-_-__-_-_ Arcola_____ ________ ___________ Argyle._________ _______ _______ __ _
Arlington__ ___ ___ ____ ____ ________ Armena _____________________________ Armuchee________ ____________________
ABbury_________________ _____________ ABhburn _____________________________ Athens ______ __ _______ ____ ________ ___ Athens__ ___ __________ _____________ __
Athens______________________________ Athens __________ -----------______ ___ Atkinson_____________________________ Atlanta, Union Station__ _______ ____ ___ Atlanta, B. M. on capit<>l bldg.______ __ _ Atlanta, tower of capitoL_ ______ ______ Atlanta_________ ------------_________ Atlanta Junetion S. Rwy_ __ __ _____ ___ Attapulgus____1____ __ _____ ____ ______ Auburn___________________________ ___ Augusta, Union Station _________ __ ___ Augusta, low water__________ _____ ____
Augusta, river gage_ _------- ------- Augusta_____ ___ _ _____ ________ __ Austell, S. Rwy__ __ __ _______ ___ __ ___
Autreyville________ _- ------------- - _ Avondale____ __ ______________

GU..SS.. &G.FS..R__w_y__________-_-_- -_
U.S. G. S. ___ _______ _ A. C. L._____ _________ _

Rough est. ____________ _ S. A. L ._____ ___ _____ _ U.S. G. S. ____________

U.S. G. S. __________ _ G. S. & F. Rwy _______ _ S. A. L. _______________ G. R. R._ _______ ____ _

S. Rwy__ --- - ---- ___ __ Weather Bureau __ _____ _ U.S. G. S .____ ______ __
U.S. G. S. ____ _____ _ _
U.S. G. S. _____ ___ U.S. C. & G. S. ______ _
Weather Bureau _______ _ U.S. G. S. ___________ _ G. F. & A. ______ __ ____ _ S. A. L. ______________ _ City engineer______ __ U .S. G. S._______ ___ __

Weather Bureau _______ _ Weather Bureau_______ _ U.S. G. S. _________ ___

Aneroid G. S. &

_F_.__R_w__y______________

_ _

BAayceorsnvtiolnle______________ -__--_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-__-_- AS.. RCw. Ly_. _ --_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-__--_
Bainbridge------ - ---- ---------------- A. C. L .______________ Bainbridge, water leveL__ __ ___ ______ __ G. F. & A. __ __________ _ Bainbridge~----- ------------ _________ Weather Bureau_______ _ Baldwin _________ ---- ------ __________ S. Rwy_______ -------- _ Bankston__ _______ ____ ____ __ _ ___ _ S. Rwy_ ___________ __
Barnesville_ _____________ ___ ____ _ C. of G. Rwy ----------
Barnett____________________ __________ G. R. R. __ ------- -----
Bartow______ _____________ __ Bartow______________________________ C. of G.______________ _ W. & A. R. R. ________ _
Barwick_____________________________ Aneroid______________ _ Bascom______________________________ U.S. G. S. ___________ _
Bath, Richmond Co.__________________ Rough est. ____________ _
BBaaxxlteeYr_--_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_--_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_- UU..SS.. GG.. S8.._______________________ __ Beachton_____ ____ ________ ________ Aneroid ______________ _
Bealwood_________________________ __ _ C. of G. Rwy _________ _
Bear Den Mountain___________________ U.S. G. S. ___________ _ Beasley Knob, Union CountY--- ------~- U.S. G. S. ___________ _ Beatty switch, S. Rwy_________________ U.S. G. S. ___________ _ Belair_______________________________ G. R. R. _____________ _ Bell Knob ___________________________ U.S. G. S. ____________ Bell Mountain, Towns Co. _______ ___ U.S. G. S. __ __ _______ _ Bellel"ille______________ _____ ______ __ U.S. G. S.-___________ _
Belt Junction_____________________ ___ S. A. L. ______________ _ Benefit______________________________ U.S. G. S. ___ ________ _ Berner, S. Rwy____________ ___________ U.S. G. S. ____________ Berry____ --------___________________ S. Rwy_________ ------ _ Berzelia__ __ _______ __ _____ ________ ___ Ga. R. R. ________ ___ _

745 263 460 125 161 275 275 618 691 450 662
680
705 694
68 1,032 1,050 1,163 1,174
606 175 1,307 143 109 100 180 927 315 360 1,253 160 110
68 119 1,490 359 859 633 237
833
235 118
400 206 117 260 387 4,072 2,940 927 295 3,457 3,446 185
922
1,429 394 453 488

168

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF GEORGIA

TOWN

AUTHORITY

ELEVATION

Bests--- - --- - ------- --------- -- ---- W. & A. R. R. ________ _
Big Bald, Gilmer Co.__ __ ___________ _ U. S.{}. S. ____ __ __ __ _
Black Mountain, Dawson & Gilmer Co,_ U.S. G. S. ___________ _ Blackshear______ __ _____ ______ __ _____ A. C. L. ______________ _ Blackwell__ ____ _____ __ __ ____ ___ ___ __ L. & N. Rwy__________ _

Bladen _____ ___ _________ ___ ___._ ---- - U.S. G. S. __________ __ Bladen ___ ___ ______ __ ______ _____-:_ ___ S. A. L. ______________ _

Blairsville____ ____ _____ ___ _______ ____ _ U.S. G. S. ___________ _ Bl&kcly_____ ____ ----- __ _____ _ _____ _ Rough est. ___ _______ __ _ Blaniord____ ____ ___ ___ ___ ___ ______ _ U.S. G . S. ____ _______ _
Blanton ________________________ _____ G. S. & F . Rwy__ __ __

Blood, Mount, Lumpkin & Union Co.___ Bloomingdale____________ _____ ______ Blue, Mount, Towns Co.____ ___ ____ _ Blue Ridge__________________ ________ _ Blue Rock, Union Co. _____ __ __ ______ _

U. S. G. S. ___ __ ______ _ C. of G. Rwy_______ __
U. S. G. S.______ _____ _ L. & N. Rwy_ ____ ____ _
U. S. G. S . __ ____ _____ _

Bogart------- --- --- - --- ------ -- ~- - -- S. A. L. ____ __ ___ ____ __ Bolingbroke___ ____ ____ ___ ___________ C. of G. Rwy _____ ____ _ Bolton_______ ___ __ ____ ___ ___________ W. & A. R. R._ ___ ___ __

Bonaire______________________________ G. S. & F ,____ ____ _____ Boston______________________________ A. C. L, __ __ ____ ____ _ _ Bostwick (Paschal)______ ________ __ ____ C. of Ga. ___________ __
Boulo me, Fla._________ ____ ____ ___ ____ U. S. G. S . ___________ _

Bowersville ______ .----- - ---- - --.___ S. Rwy___ _____ _______ Bowdon __ .__________________________ U. S. G. S. ______ ___ _

Bowman____________________ ______ ___ S. Rwy_____ ___ - - -- _

Box Springs--- ------ - --------- - ------ U.S. G . S. ___________ _ Braganza______ _____________________ _ A. C. L ,__ ______ __ _ ___ Brasstown ___ __ __ ____ _____ _____ ______ U.S. G. S. _____ ___ ___ _

Brasstown Bald (Mount Enota) __ ______ U.S. G. S. ___________ _ Brasstown Gnp , Union Co_ ___ _________ U . S. G. S. ___________ _

Brasswell, S. Rwy ___ ___ . _. ___ __ --- __ _ U. S. G. S. __ - -- -------

BBrraasssswweellll sBou. tMh .swonitctuh_n_n_e-L- -_-_-_-_-_-__- -_-_-__Brawley, 1\IoUIIt, Fannin Co.____ ______ B remen _ ______ __ ____ ------- - - __ _ Brentwood_ _________________ ______ ___ Brewer_ _______ ___________________ ___ Brice, S. Rwy______ ___ _________ __ ____

U. S. U.S.

GG..

SS .. _._ ________-_-_-_-_

U.S. G. S. ___ ______ ___

S. Rwy________ ------ .

U. S. G. S.. ____ _____ __ C. of G. Rwy ___ __ ___ __

U.S. G . S.__ _____ ___ __

Brinson___ ---- ___ ____ ----. ____ _. _ A. C. L._______ ___ ___

BBrroooakdfhiuelrdst_-_-_- _- -__-_-_-_-_--_-__-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_--_-_-_ UA..SC.. GL.._S__. ________________________

Brooklet_ _________________________ ___ Brooklyn _______________ ____ _________

US ..AS..

G. S . ----. __ _ L. __ ______ __ __ ___

Brown ___________________________ ___ C . of G. Rwy _- -- ---- - Broxton _____ -- - --- _____ -- -- - - -___ Aneroid__ ____________ _ Browntown _______ ___ _________ ___ ___ U.S. G. S. ____ _______ _

Brunswick _________ ----- ____ . ______ Sou. Ry . ______ ___ ____ Brunswi ck City Hall ________ ___ ___ ___ U.S. G. S. _____ ____ __ _ B ucba:nan.___ _________ _______________ U . S. G. S.____ ______ __ Buck Gap _____ _________ ______ _______ U . S. G. S.___ _____ ___ _
Buckhead____ ____________ ____ ___._ G. R. R . _____ ---- Buck Mollll tain, Towns Co. ____________ U . S. G. S .___________ _
Buena Vista _____ _______ _________ Rough est. ___ ___-----_.
Buford___ ____ _ ___ ____ ____ __ ____ __ S. R wy__ ____ - - - - - --Bullard_____ _ __ __________ ____ __ ____ U.S. G . S. _______ ___ _

Burnt Mountain __ ____________________ U.S. G. S. ___________ _ Burroughs_______ __ _________________ A. C. L. __ ____________ _

Bushnell___ ________ __- - - --- __._ _____ Rough est .. _______ ___ __ Butler_________.----- _____ ________ . __ C. o[ Ga . ___ __ _____ __

746 4,120
3,600 106
964 16 22
1,926 275 79 172
4,463 24
4,045 1,760 3,340
804
567
833
354 194
669 59 934 1,085
798
364
144 2,218 4,798 2,224 1,056 1,062 1,088 3,031 1,403
167
118
824 104
56 332 159 691 369 265 70
13 11 1,295 3,697 612 3,260 590 1,205 259 3,251 19 260
650

ALTITUDES IN GEORGIA

TOWN

AUTHORITY

169 ELEVATION

Buzzards Roost, Union Co. ___________ _ Byrd, S. Rwy__ _ __ _ _______ _

u.s. G. s._______ ____ _ u.s. G. s. ___________ _

B yromvillec ________ _____ ____ ________ Byron_ ____ ___________________ _____ __

A. B. & A.__ ____ _____ _ C. of Ga. ___ ____ ______ _

CCaaidrwo _e_lL______________________-_-_-_-_-_-__-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-____

Aneroid_ -------------A. C. L. --- - - - - - - -----

CCaalmhoakun_______ ___:______________~ __-_- __-_-__-__-_-_- __-_ UGa.S. .RG. R.". __-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_--_

Camak_____ ______ ___________ __ Cameron ___ __ __ ___ ___---------- _---

Wu.esa.thGe.r sB.u_r_e_a_u______________ __

Camilla________ _ _ ______ ____ _ A. C. L. ______________ _

Camp ______________________________ _ G. R. R. __ ________ _

Cannonville______ ----- __ _____ ___ ~ __ Canoochee__________________________ _

As..

& &

sW._._P__._R_.__R_.____________

_ _

Canton_____________________________ _ Carbondale, S. Rwy__________________ _ Carling_____________________________ _

uuW..essa..thGGe..r ssB..u__r__e__a__u________________________

Carlton_____________________________ _ S. A. L. ____ ____ ____ ___

Carne______________________________ _ S. R wy__ __ _______ __ __
Carnes, Mount______________________ _ u.s. G. s. __________ _ Carne~lle___ __ ____ ___ ___ _____ __ ____ _ u. s. G. s. ___________ _ Carrollton_____ ________________ _ u. s. G. s. __________ _ Carrs Station__ __ _ ____________ __ _ u. s. G. s. ___ _____ _

CCaarstse_r_s_v_il_le________-_-_- _-_-__-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_- _____________

W. & A. R. R.___ ____ _ W. & A. R. R. _____ ___ _

Cataula ____________________________ _ C. of G. Rwy_______ _

Catoosa__ ________ ____ ______ ________ _ W. & A. R. R. _____ __ __ Cave Spring _________________________ _ S. Rwy______ ______ __

CeciL ______ ____ _-- -------------Cedarcliff Mount, Towns Co.__________ _

uG..sS.. G& .Fs..R__w_y____________ ____

Cedar Mountain_____________________ _ U.S. G. S. _____ ______

Cedartown____________ ___ ____ _ _ S. A. L. Rwy ______ _

Cedartown__ _______________ ____ Weather Bureau_______ _

Cement_ ____ ____ - --- - --- - -----------Center_________ ------------ ________ _ Centerside__________________________ _
CCeeynltoranl_h_a_t_c_h_e_e___________-_-_-_-_-__-_--__-_____-_-_-_-_

W. & A. R. R. __ ____ __

S. Rwy______ ___ __ _

uu..ss..

G. G.

ss.._____________________

u.s. G. s. ____ ____ __ __

c. Ch&U.er____________________________ _
CChhaammbbleeres_________-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-________-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_--_

Aun.ser.oiGd.__s_. _______________-_-_-_-__
S. R wy_____________ _

A. crurn~_, L.___ __ __ _____ __ ___ _ u.s. G. s.__ _________ _

Charlie, Mount, Rabun Co._______ ___ CbattahooC)hee, S. Rwy_ _ _______ ___

uu..ss..

G. G.

ss.._____________________

Chauncey _ ___________ ____ _ - U.S. G. S. ________ __ _

Cheney__ _________ __ ______ ___ ___ __ __ C. of G. Rwy______ ___ _

Cherry Log__ ------------ ___________ _ L. & N. Rwy_____ __ __

Chestnut, Mount, Rabun Co. _________ _ Chestnut Cove, Mount, Union Co. _____ _

U.S. G. S. _____ ______ _
u.s. G. s. __ ___ ______ _

Chimney, Mount, Habersham Co. _____ _ Chimneytop, Mount, Union Co._------Chipley_____________________________ _

U.S. G. S. ____ ______ _

uu..ss..

G. G.

ss..

____________________

_ _

Chula______________________________ _ G. S. & F. Rwy__ __ _ _

Clarkston___________________________ _ G. R. R. _____ _____ __

Clarkesville, T. F. Rwy_ ___ ________ __ _ C~ton _____________________________ _

UU..SS.. GG.. SS. -__-_-_-_-_-_-_---_-_

Clayton______ _- ------ -_ --------- __ __ Cleveland_____________------ --- ------

Wu.esa.thGe.r sB.u_r_e_a_u______________ __

Clifton ___________ -_--_--- __ --_------ C. of G. Rwy_________ _

3,653 862 365 515
345
237
716
578 613
102
167
243
652
372
894 762
403
557
372
1,291
700
1,095
500
748 754 692 778 662 250 3,391 2,915 817 850 673 861 1,446 849
18 330 704 1,037 709 3,034 809
300
1,035 1,548 4,600 3,156 3,446 4,229
923 395
998
1,363 187
2,100 1,552
22

170

GEOLOGICdL SURVEY OF GEORGIA

TOWN

AUTHORITY

ELEVATION

Cliffinax_____________________________ _ A. C. L. __ ______ ___ _

Clyo ____________ --- ---------- - -- u.s. G. s.________ _

Co~l City___________------ ----- _---Cochran_ ___________ _____________ Cohutta____________________________ _

uuS...ssA...

L.
G. G.

Rssw..__y______________________________

CCoolleebmraono_k_, _E_f_f_i_n_g_h_a_m__C__o_.__-__--_-__--_-_-_-__--_Colesburg___________________________ _
Coley ___ ---- - ___ __ ----- -- -------CCoollllieegre__P_a_r_k_____________________-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_--_ Collins_____________________________ _ Colman_____________________________ _ Colon ______________________________ _ Colquitt____________________________ _
Columbus_________ __ .-------------Columbus__ ___ __ ____ _____ __ __ ___ __ Con1ak _____________________________ _

Brinson R. R._________ _ C. of Ga._____________ _
u.s. G. s.___________ _
S. Rwy_______________ _
A. & W. P.R. R. ______ _ C. of G. Rwy__ _ ___ __ _
CS.. Aof. GL.._R_w--y-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-__--_ G. S. & F. ____________ _
Ruo.usg.hGe. sst..____________________ ____
Weather Bureau_______ _ G. R. R. _____________ _

CCoommoer______________-_-_-_-_.____________ _-_-_-_-_-_-_-_- _-_-_-_-__

S. A. L. ______________ _ S. A. L. Rwy. _________ _

S. Rwy____ ______ ____ _

CCoon=leeyr, cSe. _R_w__y__-_-_-_-_-_-__-_-_--__-_-_-_-__-_-_-_-_ CCoonnnsft!i1t1uYti.:o--n-_-__-_-_-__-_-_-_-__-_-_-__-_-_-__-_-_-_-_--_

UC.. oSf. GG.. RSw..y__-_--__-_-_-_-_-_-_-
u.s. G. s.___________ _

Conyers____________________________ _ G. R. R .____ _____ ____ _

Cooper GaP------------ ----- ----- u.s. G. s.___________ _

CCoorodsealBe,aUldn,iUonniSotnatCioo[L--_- -__--_-_-_-_-_-__-_-_-_-_-_ CCoorrnkc -li-s-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-__- _-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_- -_

UuG...sSS... &GG..Fs..R-_-_w_-y_-.-___-___-____-____-__
S. Rwy___________ __ _

Covington __________________________ _ G. R. R. ___ ___ ____ ___ _

CovwienhgLto_n_______ _-_-__-_-_._-_-__-_._-__-_-__-_-_-_-_--_ Co~en~ountain ___________________ _

Weather Bureau_______ _

uA..s&.

W. G.

sP.._R__. _R_.___________

_

Cowrock, ~ount, Lumpkin Co. ________ _ Cox, S. Rwy________________________ _

u.s. u.s.

G. G.

s. ________ ___ s. __________ __

Crawfordville________________________ _ G. R. R.______________ _

Culverton___________________________ _ G. R. R. _____________ _
~g_______________ _______ _ u. s. G. s.____________ _
___ ~inghsm __ _____ ___ __________ _ S. Rwy__ __ _ ___ ___ _

Currahee __ ~ountsin __ ___________ ____ Cuseta_____________________________ _

uu..ss.:

c.
G.

&s.

_G_._s_._______________

Cushingville_________________________ _ C. of G. Rwy__ __ ___ __ _

CC uuttlhebre__r t_____-_-_-_-_-____-_- -- -- -- -- --_-_-_-_-______-_-_-_-_- -_

C. of G. Rwy _______ _ G. S. & F . .Rwy_____ _

Cuyler__ __ ______________ __ ____ ____ _ S. A. L. ____ _________ __

Cycloneta___ ___________ _______ _ ])sculs____ _____ _____________ ______ _

G. S. & F. Rwy______ _ S. A. L. ___________ _

Dademont__________________________ _ Dahlonega_____ ________ _ ____ _

Au..sG..

cS..

R. R. & G.

s_.______________

_ _

DDaahislyo_n_e_g_a_________________-_-_-_-_-_________________________ __ Wu.esa.thGe.r sB.u_r_e_a_u______________ __

Dakota_____________________________ _ G. S. & F. Rwy_______ _

Dales ~ill- _________________________ _ A. C. L. ______________ _

Dallas___ __________________ ________ _ DaUon ____ __ ______________ __________

uu..ss..

G. G.

ss..

___________________

_ _

DDDaaasmnh.eeensr__F__e__r__r__y________________________________________________________________________

_ _ _

u.s. G. s.___________ _
Rough est. ____________ _ G. S. & F. Rwy_______ _

277 72 569 342 867 65 391 20 303 1,049 730 238 391 137 175 250 262 578 573 865 965
850
994 848 880 2,847 4,287 336 544 1,537
734
800
979 4,165 3,867
287
589 549 1,316 675 1,740
540
153
446
78 37 410 1,038 821 1,519 2,230 177 410 136 1,003 759
346
15 185

ALTITUDES IN GEORGIA

TOWN

AUTHORITY

171 ELEVATION

Davis _______________________________ A. C. L. ______________ _ Davisboro___________________________ C. of Ga.__ _____ _____ _ Dawson __________________________ ___ C. of Ga. Rwy________ _
Days GaP---------------------------- S. Rwy_______________ _ Dearing_________________________ __ __ Ga. R. R. _____________ _ Decatur__________________ ___________ Ga. R. R.____________ _
DDeemmoprseesyt_______________________________________________________ US..SR.wGy_. _S-..-_---------------------
D enmarlc... ----- -------------- - --- -- U.S. G. S.__ __ _______ _ Devereux____________________________ U.S. G. S. ___________ _ Dewitt_-----------------____________ Butts Map ___________ _ Diamond_----------------- - ----- - --- Weather Bureau_______ _ Dixie________________________________ A. C. L. ______________ _ Dock Junction_______________________ U.S. G. S. __ ___ ___ ___ Doctortown__________________________ A. C. L----~---------Doerun____ ____ __ __ ____ ____ _______ ___ Aneroid__ - - - - - - - - - -
DDoolmese_M__o_u-n-t-ai-n-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_--_-_-__- AUn.Se.roCi.d_&--G- -. -S-.-_-_-__-_-_--_ Don, S. Rwy______________________ ___ U.S. G. 6.- - --- -----Donald____________________________ __ U.S. G. S.__________ __ Donaldsonville__________________ _____ A. C. L. _________ ___ ___
Dooling-- -- ---------- - ----- - - - -- A. B. & A. R wy___ ____ _ Doraville __________ - - ---- ------- ___ S. Rwy__ ----- -- --- --Double Knob, Towns Co.__________ US. G. 8------------ Double Run __ __ _______ __________ _ A. B. & A. Rwy_______ _ Doubletop, White Co. ___ ____ ____ __ __ __ U.S. G. S. ___________ _
Dou~herty GaP----- --- --------- - --- U.S. G. S. ___________ _ DDoouugglalsavsi-l-le-_-_--_-_-_- -__-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_ -__-_--_-__- AS.. RBw. &y__A_._ R__w__y_______________ Dover____________________________ ___ U.S. G. S. _______ ___ Draketown____ ___ ________ __ ____ ______ U.S. G. S. ___________ _
Dublin_ __ ________________ ____ _ Dry Branch--- ----- --- ------ --- --- - - MU..SD..A&. ESn. _g_.____________________
Duluth_ ____ ___________ __________ DDuubdoleiy___-_-_-_-_-_--_-_-_-_-_-_--__-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-__-_--_-_-_ SM. .RDw.y&__S__. __________________-_-_S. R wy_______ _______ _ Dunbarton_____________ ___ __ ___ _____ _ U.S. G. S. _____ _____ __
Duncan Bridge, Habe.rsha.m Co.______ U.S. G. S. ___ ____ _ _ DuponL--------- ---- ------------ A. C. L.____ __ __ ___ _ Eagle Mount, ToWllll Co. _ ___ ___ ___ _ U.S. G. S._ ----------East Albany_________________________ A. C. L._____________ __ Eastburn___________ ___ ___ _______ ____ U.S. G. S. ____ _______ _ Eastman _________________________ __ __ U.S. G. S. ___________ _ East Macon__________________________ G. R. R.___ __ _________ _ East Point____________________ ___ __ __ C. of G. Rwy____ ___ __ East Rome___________________________ U.S. G. S. _______ ____ _ Eden________________________________ C. of G_ _ __ _____ __ __ Egypt______ __ _______ _______ ____ U.S. G. S. __ _________ _ Elberton.__ __________________ ____ S. Rwy______ _ __ _ Eldorado ____________________________ G. S. & F . Rwy ______ _ Elizabeth____________________________ W. & A. R. R. ________ _ Elko __ ___ _ _______ _______ __________ G. S. & F . Rwy__ __ ___ _
Ellabelle_____________________________ S. A. L. __ ___ ________ _
EEllllaevni,llSe_. R--w-y-_-__-_-__-___- ___--_-_-_-_-_-_-_-___ _____ AUn.Ser.oiGd_. _S-._-_-_-_-- _--_-_-_--_Ellenwood___________________________ D. S. G. S. ___ _______ __ Ellijay_______________________________ L. & N. R-wy______ _
Emerson.----- ---- --- - --- -- -- ------ W. & A. R. R.__ _____ _ E=alane___________________________ U. S. G. S.__________ _

238 302 352 333
464
1,019 1,469
376 182 577 175 2.020 130 25 74
425
260
4,042 913 83 139
270
1,057 4,052
250 3,155 1,655
275 1,215
103
1,287 368? 106. 6 391 325? 1,105 251 1,154 180 4,280 186 1,335 357 297 1,046
611
34 133
708
340
1,150 443 93
555
894
848
1,312 830 207

172

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF GEORGI.d

TOWN

AUTHORITY

ELEVATION

Empire______ ____ _________ . __ ____ _._ Enigma._---- -- ---- -------- --- --- - EEnsoomts_M__o_u_n_t_a_i_n__(_B_ra_s_s_t_o_w_n__B__a_ld_)_.__________ EsquiJline_____ _- - - -- __ __ __ __________ EE tsnteas__________._-__-_-__- -_-__- -__. _. _-_-_-_-_-_-__- -__-_-_-_-_-_

UAu...sCS... GGL..._Ss_..__.______-_-___-_-__-__-__-_-___--__ Auu...Bss... GG&..Ass...__R__w____y_____________________ ___
S. Rwy__ ____ ________ _

Eufaula ________ __________ ____ ______ _ Evansville______ ________ _____ _______

C. of G. Rwy____ _____ _
U. s. G. --- ------- --

Everet t City_ - --- --- ------------ -- - Everett Station , Crawford Co. _______ ___

Cu.. oSf. GGa.. __-__- -_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_--_

Exeter__ _- -- - ------- --- ___ __ .----- - _ A. C. L.______-- -- - ----

EFxalceeyv_il_le__-_ -_-_-_-_-_-__- _-______________________________________

S. A. L. __ ____________ _ A. C. L. __________ ____ _

FFaaiirrmbuornnt_-_-_-__-_--__--__-_- -------_-_-__-_-_-_-._-.-- _-_ FFaarlglsoM__o_u_n_t_a_i_n_, _R_a_b_u__n__C_o_._________________ _

uA..s&.

W. G.

sP.._R__. _R_.____________

_ _

G. S. & F. Rwy _______ _

FFFeealnyldoeltlvgtes_h__l_p_-C_-h_u-_r-_c_-h-___-_-__-___-_-__-____-_-._-_-___-__-__.__-_ -___-_-__ FindU&y_____ ____________ __ _______ __ _ Flsh _______ __ ___ __________ __ ______ __

S. Rwy_______________ _ S. Rwy________ _____ __
u.s. G. s.___________ _
G. S. & F. Rwy _______ _ A. B. & A. Rwy_______ _

Fish Trap tunnel____ _____________ ____ S. Rwy___ ___ ___ __ ___ _

Fitzgerald_ __ ___ ____ ______ ________ ___ A. B. &- A. Rwy. ______ _

F]littzzpgeantnUodk- .-_-_-_-_-_-__--__--_-_-__-_-_-_--_-_-_-_-__-_-_-_--_ AMn.eDro.id&__S-.-__-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_--_

FFlievme Finogr_k_s_______.______________ ___________-_-_-_-_- ____ ____ Flint__ _________ ________ __ _______ _

S. A. L. _______ _______ _ A. C. L. ______________ _ A. C. L. ______________ _

Flippin, . Rwy________ ______ _____ _ Florilla, S. Rwy__ --- -------------- ___

u.s. u.s.

G. G.

s .. ___________
s.___________

_
_

FFlloowydesr_y_B__ra_n_c_h______-_--_-_-_-_-_- -__--_-_-_-_-_-_-__-_-._

S. Rwy_______________ _ A. B. & A. Rwy_______ _

Fodder Bald Mountain_ __ ___________ __ Guyot________________ _

Folkston________ ______ ____ ___ __ _____ _ u.s. G. s. ___________ _

Forest, Clinch Co.____ __ ______ __. __ __ _ A. C. L. ______________ _

FFoorrereststF, CaylaeyttteonCoCo-.--__--__- -_-_-__--_-_-_- _--_-______

A. C. L.______________ _ G. R. R._____________ _

Forsyth ____ _____ ________ ____ ______ _

FFoorrlt GChaUinne~s-__-_-_-__-_-__--_-_-_-_-__-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-__--_

CC.. ooff GG.. RRwwyy_-_--_-_-_-_-_-_--_ Weather Bureau_______ _

Forl Gaines___ ____ ____ ________ _ ____ _ Aneroid. _____ ---------

Forl McPherson. ___ ___ _____ __ _____ _ Forl, Mount_________ __ _____ ___ ______

C. of G. Rwy __________
u.s. G. s.____ ___ _____

Fort Mudge_ ___ ___ ______ ________ __ A. C. L._______ ____ ___ _

Fortson---- - - ---- -------- ---- -- ----Fort Valley_____ ___ _--- -- ------ ----FFoourtcvhilel_e______ -__-_-__-_-_-__-_-_-_-_-_-_______-_- ___-_-__--_

C. of G. Rwy ______ ___ _ C . of G. Rwy____ ___ __ _ G. R. R.______ ______ _
u.s. G. s.___________

Fow~town ______________ ___ _____ ____ A. C . L .__ __ ______ __ _

FFrraannkkvliinll_e________-__--_-_-__________________-_-_-_--________

u. s. G. s.__________ __
S. Rwy_______ ________

Frozen Knob Union Co. ____ __________ _ u. s. a. s.__________ __

Frozent<>i?J. U1nion Co. __ _____ ___ ___ __ _ u. s. G. s._________ ___

GGaaibnbeesvttivlliell_e_______-_-_-_-_-__-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_--__- ______

A. & W. P.R. R ...____ _ S. Rwy.__ ______ _______

Gainesville_______________ _____ ______ _ Weather Bureau____ ___ _ Gallemore_____ ___ _______ ___________ _ M.D. & S. _________ __ _

382
309 4 , 798
905
300 782 870 211
684 16
337 94
63
296 800 1,030 1,900
116
359 857 84 390
804
361 275
350
541
733 22
168 861 588 1,112 1,012 4,821 81 166
998 497 704 163
166
215 1,045 2,827
134 522
525
471
728
289
696
393 3,489 3,190
609 1,200 1,254 394?

ALTITUDES IN GEORGIA

TOWN

AUTHORITY

173 ELEVATION

Ga=age_________ ___________________ C. of G. Rwy_________ _ Gardi __________ _______ _____ ____ _____ U.S. G. S. ___________ _

Garfield- ------ ~-------- --- --
Garland___ _______________ __ _______

UG..S&. FG..__S_. ______________________ __

Geneva______________________________ U. S. G. S. _______ ____ _

Georgetewn_ ___ _________ ____ __ ___ C. of G.__ ___ ___ _____ _

GiUionville_ _____ ____ __ ___ ________ __ Gillsville__________________ ___________
Gillsville__________ -------------______ Gilmore ___ ____ ___ ____ ___ ___________ Girard______ __ _____ ___ _________ ____ __

Aneroid ______________ _ S. Rwy_______________ _
Weather Bureau_______ _ W. & A. R. R.__ ___ __ _ U.S. G. S. ___ __ ____ _

Glassy Knob, Towns Co.___ _____ __ ____ U. S. G. S. ___ ______ _ Glassy Mountain, Rabun Co._ ___ ____ __ U. S. G. S.___ ______ Glencoe_____________________________ U. S. G. S.____ ______
Glenmore_ _______________ _______ __ _ A. C. L ._____ ___ ___ __ Glenville__ ____ ____________ __ ___ ____ U. S. G. S.__ __ ____ __ __
Glenwood_____________ ____ ___________ Aneroid___ __ -- ---- ---Gloster__ ____ __ ______________________ S. A. L. ______________ _ Gober_________________:_ __ ___________ L. & N. Rwy__________ _ Godwinsville______________ ___________ U.S. G. S. ___________ _ Goggins____ _______ ___ ___________ ___ C. of G. Rwy__ _______ Gordon.. __ _____ ____ ____________ _____ C. of G. Rwy __ _______ _

Goshen, Mount_______________________ U.S. G. S. ____ ____ __ Goss_ _____ __ _____ _________ _________ _ S. Rwy_ _ __ _________

Gough_______________________________ U.S. G. S.__ _________ _ Graham ______________ ___ ___________ _ U.S. G. S.__ __ __ __ ___ Grangerville__________________________ U.S. G. S. __ ______ ___ _ Grantville___________________________ A. & W. P.R. R. ___ ___

GGrraassssyy KKnnoobb,, TUonwionneCCoo.._____________________________ UU..SS.. GG..SS.-__- _-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_--_
Grassy llfountain_________ ____ ___ __ ___ U.S. C. & G. S. _______ _ Graves ______________________ _____ __ C. of G. ______________ _ Grays ______________________ ________ A. C. L._______ ______ _

Graysville________ _____ _______________ W. & A. R. R. ________ _ Greensboro __________________________ G. R . R ._____ _____ __ _
Greens Cut_________________________ _ U.S. G. s.______ ____ _
Greenville___________________________ C. of G. Rwy____ _____ _

Gregory Knob, Union Co.___ __ ____ ___ U.S. G. S. __ _______ __ Gre8ston___________________ __________ U.S. G. S.___ _____ __ __ Griffin ______________________________ C. of G. Rwy___ ______ _ Grimshaw____ ____ __ _________________ U.S. G. S.__________ _
Grimes Nose, White Co. _______________ U.S. G. S._____ ______ _ Griswold___ _______ ____ _______________ C. of G. Rwy__ ____ ___ _ Grovania ____ ___ ___ ____ __ _____ __ ____ G. S. & F. Rwy _____ _
Groveland___________________________ U. S. G. S.___ ___ __ __ __ Grovetown___________________________ Ga. R. R.____ ____ ___ _

Gulf, Mount_ _____________ ____ _____ Gumlog Mountain, Union Co. __________ Guyton___________________ ___________ Hagan ____ __ _____ ___ ________ __ ____
Hahira__ _________________ _____

U. S. G. S.__ ______ _ __ U.S. G. S. ____ _____ __ _ C. of G. Rwy_________ _ U.S. G. S. ___________ _
G. S. & F. Rwy_______ _

HHaallyloccoan_da_le______________________________________________ CU.. oSf. GG.. RSw. _y____-_--_--_--_--_

Halls________________________________ W. & A. R. R .___ __ _ Hamilton____________________________ C. of G. Rwy___ ______ _ Hamlet_______ ---------_________ _____ S. Jtwy_____ ________ _

HHaapmepvtilolen_--_- -_-_-_-_-_-_-_--_ ---_-_-__-_-_--_-_-_-_-_-_- CC.. ooff GG.. RRwwyy_______________ __ Hardage_ ____________________________ S. A. L, ______________ _

1,046 62 287
1,450 581 189
245
1,063 1,052
885 241 3,650 3,521
20 151 175 195 868 1,000 312
790
348
2,923 729 394 244
80 869 3,196 4,768 3,290 350 232
700 598
276 447 3,480 401 965
180 1,959
447 444 158 495 2,074
3,743 81 190 230
110 323
774 786 746 885 1,000 1,044

174

GEOLOGICdL SURVEY OF GEORGIA

TOWN

AUTHORITY

ELEVATION

Hardaway_______________ _________ __ A. C. L. ______________ _

Harlem___ ___ ___ ___ ___ __ __ ____ __ ___ G. R. R. _____________ _

Harper-- - --- -- ---- - -- - --------- -- --- U.S. G. S. __ _____ ____ _ Harris, Mount, Towns Co. ____________ U.S. G. S. ___________ _

Harrison____ ------ ___ _- - ------- - - - - Aneroid__------------HartwelL__________ _______ __ ____ U.S. G. S. __ ______ ___

HHaattlcehye_r_______________________________________________________

C. of G. _ ________ ___ A. B . & A. Rwy_______ _

lla.wkinsville_ _____ ____ _____ __ ____ Weather Bureau_______ _
Haylow___________________ ___ ___ ___ G. S. & F. Rwy_______ _ Hazlehurst_ ________ __ __ ___ ______ _ U.S. G. S. ___________ _

Headlight.-------------------------- Hea.rdmont___ __________ ___________ __

G. S.

AS..

L& .

_F_. _R_w__y_____________

HHeeldesnnFe_r_r_y_,_W___h_it_e_C_o_.____________________________

U.S. G. S. ___________ _ U.S. G. S ,_______ _ ___

Helt~ns Field, White Co.___________ U. 8. G. S.___ ________ _

Hematite__ _____________ ______ _____ S. Rwy_ _________ __ _

Hemptown Gap_ _____ ___ ___ _____ __ U. 8. G. S. __________ _ Henrico___ ____ _____________ ____ _ U.S. G. 8. ___________ _

H epzibah_ ____ ______________ __--- - -- Weather Bureau______ _ H erndon___ _______ __________ _______ C. of Ga. Rwy________ _ Hickory Nut Mountain______ _____ ___ __ U. 8 . G. S. ___________ _

HickoX- - -------------------- - -------
HHiiggghmPooni.n. t______- _- -_-_-_'-_-_-_-_-_--_-_-_-__-_- -__-_-_-_-_-
High Top, Union Co.__________________ Hightower Bald, Towns Co.____________

U.S. G. 8------------
AUn.Se.roGi.dS_.-_-_-_-_-_--_-_-_-_-_-_--_
U. S. G. 8. __ ________ __ U.S. G. S . __ _________ _

Hillt onia. --------- - -- ------- ------ U. 8. G. 8. ____ _______

HHiinneessv.i-ll-e-_-_--_-_--_-_-_-_-_--_-_-_-_--__-_--_-__-_-__- -_-_ UC..oSf. GG.. RSw._y_-_--_-_--_-_-_-

Hiram----------------------- -- - --- U. 8. G. 8. ___________ _

HHoiwgaansssveeil-le-_-_-__-_-_-_ -_ --__-_- -__-_--_-__--_-__-_--_-__- UA..S&. WG.. 8P.._R-.-R-. _-_-__-_--_

Holton. ---------- ------------ - ---- U. 8 . G . 8.___ _______ HHoommeelra_n_d__-_--_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_- UU.. 88.. GG.. 8S.._______ ________________

Homerville__ _________________ _____ _ A. C . L. _____ _________ _

Hood, Union Co--- -- - - - - - -- - -- --- U.S. G. 8. ___________ _

Hooker------ - - - - --------------- U.S. C. & G. 8-------Hooper.-- - ----------------- --- -- S. Rwy. ____ __________ _

Horse Horse

CLerge,eMk.o- u- -n-t.-. _-_-_-_--_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

_

S. Rwy__________ _ U. 8. G. 8. ____________

Horse Trough, Union Co._________ __ __ U. S. G. 8, ___________ _

Hortense__________ ___________ _____ U. 8. G. 8--- - --------
Howard_ _ _____ __ _______________ __ C. of Ga.__ __________ _

Howell, Echols Co._ _____ ____________ G. 8. & F . Rwy_______ _

Howell, Fulton Co._ _________________
"Hubert__ _____ __ _______________ ___ _

8.
u.

Rwy.____ _________
8. G. 8.________ ___

_
_

HulL__ ____ __ ______ ______ ______ S. A. L. ______________ _ Idlewood____________ ____ _____ ____ U. 8. G . 8.c __________ _

Inaha__ __________ ___ ______ _ __ __ G. 8. & F _ __ ___ __ _
Irwinton_________ __________________ u. 8. G. 8. ___ _ ____

Isabella_ _________ _______ __ __ ____ A. C. L,____________ _ Ivanhoe___________________________ U. 8. G . 8 ,__ _________ _

Ivy Log Church...________ _____ ___ _____ U.S. G. 8 ._____ _____ _ J a cks Knob, Towns Co._ ____ __ _______ U.S. G . 8.__________ Jackson, S. Rwy___________________ U. 8. G . 8. __________ _

JJaaisipllelrc,iaF.l.a.-._-_-_-_- _-_--_-_-_-_-_-_--__-_-_-_- -__-_-_-_-_-_-_ AA.. CC.. LL.._____________________________

183
548 678 3,282
400
838 289 305 235 167 256 144
530 1,108
247 1,727
746 2,197
863 402 179 2,060
65 298
2,408 3,462 4,567
215 592 78 960 1,963
715
339 88 831 176 2,016
863
943 283 437 4,052
56
666
169 968 103 792
294
415 448 370 93 1,932 4,011 697 21
152

.d.LTITUDES IN GEORGIA

TOWN

AUTHORITY

175 ELEVATION

J ay__ _____ _______________ ___ _____ __ Jakin____ ________ __ ______ ___ ________

u.s. G. s.___________ _
A. C. L. _____________ __

Jefferson_____ .-- __ --- - - - -----_----- -- u. s. G. s._. _________ _

JJeefnfkeirnsosbnuvirlgle__________________-_-_- -_-_-__- _-_-_-_-_-_- ______ Jennie____________ ______ __ _______ ___ Jerusalem.. ____ ---- -- __. __ __ _. ___ _
JJeoshunPso- -n-_-_-_-_-_-__-_--_-__-_-_-_-_-_-_--__-_-__-_-_--_-_-__--_

uMuuu.....ssssD.....GGGG&....

S. ___________ _
ss..______________ __ s._____ ____ _ s.___ ___ ___ _

C. of G. Rwy._______ _

Johnsonville_______________ __ __ ______ S. Rwy. ____ __________ _

Johnston__ _______________ ____ __ __ __ A. C. L. ______ _____ ___ _

Jonesboro_________ __________________ _ C . of G. Rwy._ ______ _

i~~!i~~=========:=================== UA.. CS.. GL.._S..__--__-_--_-_-_--_-_

Junction__ _____________ . ___________ _
Juniper Sta------------------------
K.a.rtel..___ _- ---- - -- --- ----- ------Kathleen.. - ---- ---- - ---- - ----- --- - Keithsburg___ _-- -. ___-- - - - ------ --Kelly, Mount, Union Oo- ------------Kelly Ridge, Towns Co- -- -- - -------- -
Kennedys MilL------ ----- --------
KKeennnneessaaww,__M_o-u- -n-t_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_- _- -___- -__-_-_K eysville ______ __ ____ _____ ____ _____ lGbbee__ _____ _____ ___ __ ____ ____ ____ _

Cu..so.f u.s.

G. G. G.

Rsw.__y _________________ s___ _ ______

G. S. & F. Rwy_______ _

uuL...s&s.. NGG...Rss.w.__y__._____________________________

S. Rwy_ ___ _______ ___

Wu.. s&. u.s.

cA...
G.

&Rs..G_R_._.s__._____________________

_ _ _

Aneroid ___ ___________ _

}(ildare_____________________________ _ lrimbrough_____________ ____ ________ _

uu..ss..

G. G.

ss..________________________

:JKrimimsseeYy-, -M--o-u-n-t-,-W--h-i-te--C-o--._-_-_-_--__--__--__-_--_

uC..so.f

G. G.

Rsw._y_.__________________

_ _

lUngs~ - _- _--_-__-_-_-_-_--_-_-__- _--_-__- _- _-_-_-__-_-_- _~d_

C. of G. Rwy. ___ ______ _ S. A. L.______________ _

lUngston. _- - ----.-------. _. _----Jrirkland__ ______ -- --- - ___ - - - - ___

W. & A. R. R. ________ _ A. C. L._________ __ ___ _

JJrrintotrtetsls_._._._._________________-_--_.___-__-_-_-_.___-_-_-___-_--_ AC.noefrGoi.dR._w-y-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_- -_

Jrnoxville___________________________ _ Lafayette___________________________ _

Ju..Es.. TGh.osm. _a_s__________________ __

Ll.aaGQrraannggee.._.._. _.________-_-_-_-_- -___. _________________________

Au..

&s.

W. G.

sP.._R_._R_. _____________

Lake Pa.Ik___ _________ ______ -- -- - - - _ G. S. & F. Rwy______

Lambert. ______ _____ _______ . ___ . __ _ Lanier________________ _____________ _ Lavender___________________________ _

Uu..Ss.. u.s.

G. G. G.

sS..____________ s.__ __ __

_____ ___

_____ __ _

Lavinia__ ____ ______ ___________ ___ _ S. Rwy_ _____ ___ _____ _

LLa&wVOreIDn. &ce. -v-il-le--.--__- _-_-_-_-_-_-_-_- -___- _-_-_-_-_-_-_- _ us.. .Rs.wGy_. _s_. _______________________

Lawton_____________________________ _ u.s. G. s. _________ __

LLeeaadf _p_o_le_,__M__o_u__n_t___-_-_-_-_-_-_-_- _- -_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_- -_

u.s. u.s.

G. G.

s. s.

______ _______

____ _ ___ __

LLeeesaPyop-e-_-_--_-_-_-__-_-_--__--_--------------- ----------------
Leesburg ___________ __ . ____________ _ 'LLeellaia_t_o_n________ _______________-_-_-___._-_-_-_-_-_._-_-_-_-_-_--_

D. L. Wardroper______ _
Aneroid.---- ---- - ---AA.neCr.oiLd_._-_-__-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_ _ Aneroid____ __________ _

Leland_________ . ______ . __ -- __ ------Lemons Gap ________________________ _

uu..ss..

G. G.

ss..

______________________

_ _

Lenox___________________ ______ _____ _ Lenox, Mount. ____________________ _

uG..sS.. &G.Fs.. R__w_y_______________ __

1,347 140 600? 526 766 185 17
100
254
240
71
917 376 210 484 422
688 330 1,040 2,522 4,288 291 1,093
1,809 280 322 129 558 991
1,502 612 41
700
236 350 1,036
640 871 729 786 160
92 70 684 867 865 1,082 219 2,206 1,435 210 522 282 146 245 141 4,148
300
797

176

GEOLOGIC.dL SURVEY OF GEORGI.d

TOWN

AUTHORITY

ELEVATION

Leo____ ____ __ __ __ ___ ____ ____ ______ _ u. 8. G. 8. ___ ________ _

Letford. ___ _______ ___-------- __ Levelland, Mount___ ___ _________ ____ _

u. 8. G. s.___ _________ u.s. G. s.___________ _

L~Oexni-n-g-to-n-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-__-_-_-_-_-__-_---------_ LLiicdkal_og__M_o_un__ta_i_n________________-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_--__-_--_

C. of G. Rwy_____ __ __ _

G. R. R. ______ ______ __

uu..ss..

G. G.

ss..____________________

_ _

Lilburn________________ ----- - ---- ___ _ S. A. L. _________ _____ _

Lily_____ ___ _____ ------ -- --------lIiJnndcoanleU_o__n_--_-_-_-__-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_--_-_

Au..

Bs..

&
G.

A. 8.

Rwy________ ____ ___ ____ _

8. Rwy_____________ _

Lithia Springs___ ___ -----------------Lithonia._____ ____ ____ ------- -----.--Little Bald Mountain_______________ __ LLoogcaunstviGllreo_v_e______________________________________-_-_-_-_--_

8. Rwy_ ____________ _ G. Rwy___ ___ ___ __ __ __
u. s. G. s.______ ___ __ _
u. 8. G. 8. _____ __ ____ _
8. A. L. __ ____________ _

Long____ _______ _____ _____ _______ _ Long Pond, Hancock Co. _____________ _ Longstreet __________ __ --- ______ ___ __ Lorenzo ___________________________ __

uu..s8..

G. G.

8.__ __ 8. ____

____ ___ _ ___ ___ __

uu..s8..

G. G.

8. ____ _____ __ 8.________ _

_ _

LLoouudissev.i.l_le______-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_--_-_-_-_-_-_-__--_____ __ Louisville__________________________ _

u. 8. G. 8._____ _____ _

uA..

& W. 8. G.

P.R. R. ______ _ 8.__ ______ _

Lovejoy____ -- -------- ----- - -.---Ludlao_w_i_c_i.._____-_-_-_--__- _-_-_-_- -_-_-__-_--_-__- _-_-_-_--_

C. of G. Rwy____ _____ _ A. C. L._________ _____ _ 8. Rwy___ __________ ___

LLuumlatboenr_C__i_ty____-_-_-_--__-_-_-_-_-_-_-_- _-_--_-_-_-_-_-_- _-

u. 8. G. 8.___________ _
u. 8. G. 8 .__ ______ __ _

Lumpkin, Station___ ------------ - ___ __ LLyyenrnly__-_-_--_-_-_-____________________________________ ______ __

AUun..se8r..oiGGd_..

8--. _-_-_-_-__-_-_-_-_-_--_ 8. ___________ _

MLyCoBn!eLa-n-8-t-a-t-io- n- -_-_-_-_-__-_--_-__-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_--_

8. A. L. ______________ _
u. 8 . G. 8. ___ _________

MMccCCaallllise__G_a__p______________________________________________ __ u.s. G. 8 ._____ ___ __ _

1\-IoClenn.yt Fla.__ ---------------- --1M\-cICcrCaroyn_x__uc__K_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_--_-_-_--_-_-_--_-_-_-_-_-_-_--_

C8.. Aof. LG.. _R_ _w_y_____-_-_-__-_-_--_-_
u. s. G. 8. _____ ______ _
G. R. R. _______ ____ ___

Moi>aDl~-- - --------- ---- -- --- -
MMccDDoonnoaludg_h__________-_-_- __-_--_________-_-_-_-_-______

W. & A. R. R. __ ______ _

uA..

C. 8.

L.______ ______ ___ G. 8.______ ___ _

McGregor___ --- - --- __ ---_--- ---- ---
MMciGnxtousfh--_-__-_--_-__--_-_-_-_-_-_-_- _--_-__-_-_--__--_-_-__--_

Aneroid___ __________ _
u.s. G. 8.______ ___ ___
A. C. L. ______________ _

MMcciinnttyyrree____ _______-_-_-_-_-______--_-_-_-__________--_-__--_

uC..

of 8.

G. G.

Rwy___ ____ ___ 8._______ ___ _

Mclrh1non________ __ __________ ____ ___ u.s. G. s._________ _

McPhemon _______________ __________ _

MMcciPthaee_m_o__n_B_a__rr_a_c_k__s_--_-_-_-_-_-_-_-__-_-_-_-_-_--_ uu8..._ssR..wcGy._. &s-._-G_-.-_s_-._-__-__--__-___-__--__

Mableton_____ ------------- - -----_ Macon _____- ------------- _ ____ ___ _
near Sou. Rwy ______ __________ __

u.s. G. s.___________ _ Gu..sS.. &G.Fs.. R__w__y______________ __

Macon Ju__n_c_t_io_n_____________________-_-_-_-_-__-_-_- -__--_
M~on

C. of G. Rwy_________ _ G. R. R._____________ _

Madras _____________________________ _ Manassas_____________________ ____ __ _

A. & W. P.R. R.______ _
S. A. L.__ ___________ _

Manchester_________ _______________ _ u.s. G. s.___________ _

Manson __________________ ___ ___ __ _

U.S. G. S.. ---------

1,430 62
3,942 385 756
3,432 95 876 251 500 651
1,054 923
4,055 837
1,000
734
66 302 100 1,683 723
337
954
71
1,289 82 146 515
644
173 254 138 2,069 1,061 125 535
342
656 177 861 328
259
22 261 270 65 1,011
1,078
230
980 334
311
350
667
983
217 800?
60

Ll.LTITUDES IN GEORGIA

TOWN

AUTHORITY

177 ELEVATION

Marietta_____ ____________ __________ W. & A. R. R. ________ _ Marlow______________________________ U.S. G. S. ___________ _

Marshallville_________________________ C. of Ga.. _____________ _

Martin ------------- - - - - --- -- ---- S. Rwy___________ __

Mattox______________________________ U.S. G. 8- - -------

Ma.tthews __________ _________________ U.S. G. S. ___________ _

MMaaxyedya_y______________________________________________________

G. R. R. _____________ _ G. S. & F. Rwy_______ _

Ma.yfield.___._.______ __ ______ __ _____ __ Ga.. R. R. ____________ _

Maysville________ ~ ----- - - ---- -------- S. Rwy_____ ___ __ ____ _

Meigs_ __ ___ _____ _ ______ ____ _____ MeinhaTIL_______ ______ __ _______

As..

C. A.

L------ -- ----- -L.__________ _

Meldrim_ ____ ____ ___ __________ _____ __ C. of G. Rwy__ _______ _

Melrose__ _________ __ ___ ___ ___ _ G. S. & F. Rwy__ _____ _
Mendes _________________ ____ ______ __ U.S. G. 8- - - ------
Mesena___________ ________ ____ ____ G. R. R. _____ _________

Metcalf______________________________ A. C. L. _________ ____ _

Middleton___________________________ S. A. L. ______ ____ ____ _

Midville_____________________________ C. of G. Rwy____ ___ __ _

Milan_______________________________ Aneroid ______ __- - ----_ Milledgeville____ _________ _ _______ U. S. G. S.__ __________

Milledgeville__________________ __ _ G. S. R. R. ___ _______ _

Millen_______________________________ U.S. G. S.. ---------

Miller_______________________________ S. R wy--- - - - - ----- - -

Millha.ven____________________ -------- U. S. G. S. - - - --- ---Millwood____________________________ A. C. L. ______________ _ Milner_ _____________________________ C. of G. Rwy _________ _

Mina________________________________ S. A. L._ ___ __ ______ _

Mincie______________________________ U.S. G. 8-------------

Mineola._____________________________ G. S. & F. Rwy_______ _

Mineral Bluff________________________ U.S. G. S._______ _____

Misler_______________________________ U.S. G. S. ___________ _ Modoc______________________________ U.S. G. S.___________ _

Monia.c______________________________ U.S. G. S._ _________ _ Monks______________________________ A. & W. P. R.Jt. _____ _ Monroe_________________ __ ___________ U.S. G. S. __________ _ Monteith____________________________ A. C. L .___ __ ______ _

Montezuma.__________________________ C. of G. ----- --------Montezuma.___ ____ __________________ A. B. & A. Rwy___ ___ _ Montezuma.___ _______ _______ ______ Aneroid______________ _

Monticello____ _----- __ ---------- ____ _ Weather Bureau____ ---MontreaL___________________________ S. A. L. ______________ _ Montrose____________________________ M.D. & S. ___________ _ Moores Mill________ _________________ S. Rwy_______________ _

Moreland____________________________ A. & W. P.R. R-------Morga.n ___----- ----------- -- ------- _ Weather Bureau_______ _ MMoorrrgias._n_t_oi_L__-_-_-_--_---_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_--_-_-_-_-_-_- CU..Sof. GG.. RSw._y________________ ___

Morrow__ ---------------------- - --- C. of G. Rwy - - -- -----
MMooSuBnytCArireye__k_._-_-_-_--_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_- US..RS.wGy_. S_.___________________ _
Mount Plea.sa.nt______________________ U. S. G. S.___________ _ Mount Vernon_______________________ Highway Eng.____ _ Moultrie_____________________________ Aneroid___ ---- __ - - --Mouse Creek_________________________ U.S. G. S.__________ _
Munnerlyn________ ________ ___ _ U. S. G. 8---------MMumstoioligyeJeu__n_ct_i_o_n_._._-_--_-_-_-_--_-__-_-__-__-_-__-_-_ UL..S&. NG..RSw. _y_-_-_--_-_-_-_- _Myers ----------------- ------ --- S. A. L. ___ ____ _______ _

1,118 72 500 919 70 394 728 140 417.5
1,012 341 19 28 154 179 545 170 503 186 310 326 276 160
717 110 160
844
1,022 1,911
220
1,571 293 406 117
1,023 910 16 300 184 265
800
992 391? 867
937
337
1,967
242
931 1,402 1,561
56 230
340
977 268 1,655 245 45

178

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF GEORGIA

TOWN

AUTHORITY

ELEVATION

Nacoochee___________________________ N a h u n t a ____________________________ Nances_____________ _______________ __ NNaasyhlvoirl_le_________________________________________________________

U.S. G. 8. ___________ _ U.S. G. S. ___________ _ C. of G. Rwy___ __ ____ _
~eroidL------------- -
A. C. L. __ ____ ____ ____ _

NNeesebditmt_o__r_e___-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_--_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_NewelL __ _____ ____ ____________ ____
Newington___________________________ N Nee w~ nan n____________________________:____________________________

UU..SS.. GG.. 88 .-.-_-------------------
U.S. G. 8 .___________ _
U.S. G. 8 .__ _______ _ AA.ne&roWid._P__._R_.__R_.____________ __

Nicholls_---------------------------- A. B. & A. Rwy_______ _

Nicholson____________________________ Nickajack __ ________________________

U8..RSw. Gy_. _8_. _-_-_-_--__--__-_--_-_-_

Norcross___ _________ ________________ _ 8. Rwy ----- -- -------Norman Park________________________ Aneroid__ ---- - - -- ---- North AthenB------------------------ U. S. G. S. ____ ____ ___ _
NNoorrttohnR__o_m__e__-_-_--_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_- UU.. SS.. GG.. 8S.._____________________

Norwood____________________________ G. R. R. _____ ______ _ Oakdale____________ _________________ U.S. G. 8.__________ _

Oakey, MounL---------------------- U. 8. G. 8. ___________ _
OOcaikllaH__u__r_s__t_-_-_-_-_-_-_-__-_-_-_-_-_-_-__-_-_-_-__-_-_- LA.n&eroNid. _R_w__y_______________ __

Ochillee_____________________________ U. 8. G. S. ___________ _ Ochlocknee__________________________ A. C. L.______________ _

Ochwalkee_____ "--------------------Oconee, Baldwin Co---- - ---- --------Oconee, Washington Co._______________
Oculus_ __________ _______ ________ Odenville_ ___________________________

U.S. A. Eng. _________ _ G. R. R. _____________ _ C. of Ga. Rwy ________ _
U.S. G. S. _______ ____ _ A. B. & A. Rwy_______ _

Od=------------------------------- U.S. G. 8. ___________ _ Offerman____________________________ A. C. L. ______________ _ Ogeechee________ _____ ____ ____ _____ U.S. G. S. ______ _____ _

OglesbY------- - --------- --- - ------- 8. A. L. ______________ _ Oglethorpe____ ______________ ______ C. of G. Rwy_________ _ Ohs.tahee___________________ ______ _ A. B. & A. Rwy_______ _
Ohoopee----- - - -- ----------- --- ---- S. A. L. ______________ _ Ocmulgee_____________ __ ______ ______ S. Rwy___ ______ _____ Old Nell Knob, Towns Co.___ __________ U. S. G. 8.___________ _ Old Sardis____ __ __ _______________ ___ U. S. G. 8.________ __ __ Oliver____________ __________ _________ U. S. G. S.__________ __ Olney_____ ____ _________ __________ U. S. G. S._______ __ _ _

Omaha._--------- ---- -- --- ---------- Rough est___ ---- -- ---

Oostanaula___________________________ U.S. G. 8------- - -- -

0OrracnhgaerdBHluilfl_L__________________________________________

U.S. G. S.___________ _ C. of G. Rwy__ ___ _____

OOsreiedrefileLld-_-_--__-_--__-_-_-_--___________________ -_-__--_-_-__-_Ousley________________ ___ ____ _______ Palestine_______ ____ _______ __ __ ______ Palmetto____ __ ______ __ _______ __ ____
Paramore Hill------- --- ---------- -
Paris, Mount, Fannin Co._____________ Parke Knob, Union Co. _______________ Parls:woodL______ _______ ____________
Parksville__ __________ ____________ Parrott___ _____ ______ ___ _____________ Parsons______________________________

AS.neRrwoiydL--_-_-_-_-_-_-__--__--_-__--_ A. C. L.____________ _ A. B. & A. Rwy_____ ___ A. & W. P.R. R.____ _
C. of G. Rwy________ __ U.S. G. 8.____________ U.S. G. S.____________ U. 8. G. 8.________ ___ _
U. S. G. 8. __----- --- -S. A. L._______ _______ _ A. B. & A- Rwy____ ___ _

1,440 66 537 265 192 67 145 77 143 957 95 193 904 850
1,072 380 973
630
816 588
809
3,209 1,154
327 273
263
114.4 433 223
1,659
728
155 106 180
464
299 508 187 124 3,222 257 108 63
240
632
10
863 788
350
148 880 1,023
235
2,318 3,680
25
352
482
641

LILT/TUDES IN GEORGILl

TOWN

AUTHORITY

179 ELEVATION

PaschaL____________________ __ _______ Patterson____________________________ Paynes Mountain_____________________ Peach___ ____________________________
Pearson________________________ ______ Pelham______________________________

C. of G. ______________ _
A. C. L.______________ _
U. S. G. S.__________ _ U. S. C. & G. S. ______ _
U. S. G. s._______ ___ __
U. S. G. S.________ _

Pembroke.--------------------------- U. S. G. S. ___________ _ Pendarvis____________________________ U. S. G. S.________ __ _

PPeerndnuiecsk_._-_-_-__--__-__-_-_-_-_-_-_- -__-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-__-_- UC.. oSf. GG.. :R8.w_y-_-_-_-__--_-_-_ Perkins_____ ______________ ___________ U. S. G. S. ___ ___ ___ _ Perry____________ ________ -- _____ . __ . Aneroid. _____________ _
Peterson_____________________________ U.S. G. S. _____ _____ _ Peyton_ _____________________________ U.S. G. S.___ ________ _ Phelps_______________________________ U. S. G. S.___________ _ Pikes Peak___________________________ M . D. & S. __ __ _______ _ Pine Grove___________________________ U.S. G. S. __ __ _____ _ Pinehurst____________________________ G. S. & F. Rwy_______ _
Pine Log Mountain___________________ U.S. C. & G. S, _______ _
Pine Log------------ - -------~- U.S. C. & G. S._______ _ Pine Mountain, White County_ _ __ _ U. S. G. S.___________ _
Pine Mountain________________ _______ U. S.C. & G. S. _______ _ Pineora______________________________ U.S. G. S. ___________ _

Pine View___ ------------------------ Aneroid_---- ---- -- --Pink, Mount, White County___________ U.S. G. S.__ ____ _____ _ Pinnacle, Mount, White Co.____________ U. S. G. S. ___________ Pinson ______________________________ U.S. G. S.___________ _

Piscola_ ----------------------------Plains-----------------------------Plainville____________________________

Plum Branch------------------------Point Peter__________________________

Pooler____________ __----- - ----------

Popes---------------- -- -- ---------PortaL___________ _______ _____ _______

Porter Springs__________________ ____

Potato .Patch, Mount__ ______________ Poulan_ ______ _______ ________ ____ __

Powder. Powder

S__p_r_in_g__s________________________________________

Weather Bureau_______ _ Aneroid ______________ _ U.S. G. S. __ _______ _
U. S. G. S. ___________ Weather Bureau_______ _ C. of G. Rwy _________ _
U. S. G. S.___________ _ U. S. G. S.__________ __ U. S. G. S._________ _ U. S. G. S.___________ _ A. C . L. ___ _________ _ S. A. L. ________ ____ _ U. S. G. S.___________

PoweiSVille__ __ ____________________ C. of G. Rwy________ _

Prentiss__ --------------------------- S. Rwy___________ _ PPrreestloeYria-_-_-_- __ _-_--_-__-_-_-_- -__-_-_-_-__-_-_-_-_-_ -_--_- UU.. SS.. GG.. SS.._____--_-_-_-_-_-_-_--_

Prior___ ---------_--------___________
PQuulaitsmki_a_n_____________________________________________________

S. Rwy_ -------- ____ U. S. G. S.____ _______ _ A. C. L.__ ______ _____ _

Rabun Bald_ __ ____ ______ ________ __ U.S. C. & G. 8. _______ _

RRRaaagc.lehannPdos.n_._d__.________________________________________________________________________

A. C. L. ______________ _
uA..&s.BG.. As.. _L_.___________________

Ramburst___________________________ U.S. G. 8. __________ _

Randall_ _____ ___ _________ __ __ S. A. L. ___________ _

RRaavyebnoenL._.__ _________________________________ _______________

Uu..Ss..

G.
G.

s8..__________________

_ _

Rebecca____ _________ ___________ __ A. B. & A. Rwy_______ _

Recovery_______________ ____ ___ _____ A. C. L. ______________ _

Red Olay_______ __ ______ ____ ____ U. 8. G. 8. ___________ _

Red Oak ---------------------- A. & W. P.R. R.______ _

669 104 3,242 1,068 205 355 94 85 18 1,044
233
355 73 853 712
534
229 390 2,340 800?
2,342 1,052
75 288 2,709 3 , 130 653 190 490 677 462 1,000 23 349
294 1,781
3,600
345
970 912 385 207 2,029 220
830 220 173 4,717 148 493 73
763 704 739
49 260 189 823
1,046

180

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF GEORGIA

TOWN

AUTHORITY

ELEVATION

Iteevea_____________________________ _ u.s. G. s. __ __ _____ ___

~:fj~ ==~= ==== ================= UU..S8.. GG.. SfL--_--_--_---_-__- -_-_
Iteidsville____=_ ________ ________ _____ _= _ Es~te ____ ____ __ ___

Itenfroes___ __ __ ______ ------ - _____ ____ Itesaca _____________________________ _

VSI. -A&. LA-..-R---R- -._-_-_--__-_- -_--_

lIttiecyenboolrdos_____-_-_-_-_-_-_- -_-_--_-_-_-_-__-_-_-_-_-_-_--_-- C. of G--- - --------- - --

Itich Hill___________________________ _ Itich ~ount__ _____________ ________ __
lticbLindL ______________________ _____

.Rough est. -----------UAn.Ser.oGid.lS--. _-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_ S. A. L. __ __________ ___

Itichvvood________ _________ ____ _____ _ G. S. & F. ltvvy_______ _

lIttiindcgo.en ._______________________________ _________-_--__-_-__________ U8 ..AS.. LC.._&___G_._ __-_-__--__-_-_-

RR.iinsignggoFlda.v_v_n_______-_--_-_--______________ __-_-_--_-__-_-

W. & A. R It. _____ _ A. G. S. It. It. ________ _

RItiivveerr,

Junction ~ount,

_R-.a-b-u-n

-Co- u--n-t

y--_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

-_

LU.. &S.NG-.-S--. _--_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_--_

Roberta_----- _----- ------------Itoberts Station. ___ ----_------ ___ --- Itochelle_____ __ ____ - - - -- - __ ---- _ Itockmart____ _____ ___ --- ----------- _
Itock Mountain_---------------_---Ilttoocckkyy CFaocmef_o_r_t_________- -_--_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-__-_-_-_-_-_--_
Itocky Ford______ ____ ________ _______ _

Aneroid. _______ -------

Ga. It. It. ____________ _

Aneroid___ ___________ _
u.s. G. s.__ ___ _______

u.s. G. s.____________

G. It. It.____ _______ __ _

Wu..s&.

A. G.

Ist.._I_t_. ______________

_ _

Itocky Knob, Tovvns County____ ______ _ u.s. G. s.___ ________ _
Itocky ~ountain, Gilmer Co. ____ ______ _ u. f:l. G. s.___ ________

Itocky Mountain, Tovvns Co. ___ ______ _ Itoeky Mountain, Union & Towns___ ___ Itocky ~olllltain, White Collllty____ ___ _ Itocky Top, Union County_____ _____ __ _ Itoderiak... _______ ____ _______ _ _____ _

uU..Ss.. u. s.

G. G.
G.

sS.._____________________ s.__ ___ _____

u. s. G. s. __ ___ _ ____ _

u. s. G. s.____ _______ _

Itogers, Burke County_ __ ____ _______ _ C. of G. ______ ____ ___ _

Itogers, Bartovv County______________ W- R ~A. R .____ _____

!tome_______________________ _______ _ Itoopville_________ ___ ___ ____________ _

U.S. G. 8-- - --- - ------

Itosffiand______ __________ ______ ___ _ US.. RSv.vGy_. _8-_-_-_-_--_-_-_-_-_-_- _-

Itound Knob___ _________ -- __ - -- --- - -Round, __ __ ~ount __ _______ ______ _

Uu..sS..

G. G.

sS..____________________

_ _

Royston_ ______ --------------- --Ruby__ _- - -- _____ _----------_--~-

~- Rwy_____________ _ W. & A. R R._______ _

Rutledge ____ _---- - ---- -------Saffold. ----- _-------- _____ - --_-----

GA.. CR. LIt.-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_ -_-__-_--__-

SSta.inCtlaCihr_a_r_le_s_____-__-_-_-_------------_-_-__-_-_-_-_-_-_-_--_

A. & W. P.R. R. _ __--
U. S. G. S----------- -

St. George______ - - -- - - ___ ___ - -------- U. S. G. 8------------ -

St. Marys__________ ______ ----- - --- - -Sal, Mount, White County___________ _ Sales City__ _____________________ _

U. S. G. S.. ----- - ----U. S. G. 8------- - - ---

Sandersville..________ _____ ________ _

Aneroid.-- -----------Aneroid__ ______ -------

SSaanpfpoSrdti_ll_______ _-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_--_-_-_-_-_-_-_-__-_-_-_--_ SardUL_______ ________ _______________

Uuu...

Sss...

Go..
G.

ssS...

__________________________________

Sardis_____ ________ _____ ____________ _ s .B.vvy_____ ___ ____ ___

Satilla______ ___ _____________________ _ A. C. L.____ _________ __

Savannah____ __________ ____________ _ A. C. L.______ _____ ___ _

Savvdust___ _______ ____________ _____ _ Savvnee_____________________________ _

G. It. R .__________ ___ _
u.s. c. & G. s._______ _

636 171 272
200
601 644
433 15
707 4,0 1
600 358 1,070
75
784 7
84 3,872
487 557 369 764 2 ,629
407 771
124
4 ,164
3,Ml 3,713 4,586 3,539
3,060
79 159
726
~10
1,254 1,024 3 , 492 3,360
9li
873 711
105
912 387 78 15
2,356
39'7 445
828
18
239 400 96 21
522
1,967

.dLTITUDES I N GEORGI.d

TOWN

AUTHORITY

181 ELEVATION

Scarboro _____ _________ _____ ____ __ ____ C. of G. Rwy _________ _
Schlatterville_ ________________ __ ____ __ A. C. L. ______________ _ Rchool House Summit__ _____ _____ _____ G. R. R.____________ __ _ Scotland_____________________________ U.S. G. S._______ _____ _ Screamer Mountain_________ ____ ______ U.S. G. S. ___________ _ Screven____________________ _______ __ _ A. C. L._____ ___ _____ _ Seayos __ __________ _____ _____________ C. of G. Rwy ___ __ _ __ _
SebastopoL_____________ ___________ __ C. of G. Rwy_____ __ _ Seney___________ __ ___ _______________ U.S. G. S._____ ___ ___ Shannon____ _____ _______ _____________ U. S. G. S. ___ _ ______ _ Sharptop, Mount, Union Co.___________ U, S. G. S. _______ __ __ Shawnee___________ __________________ U. S. G. S. __ _ ___ __ ___ Sheba___ ____ ___________ ____ __ _______ U.S. G. S.___ ____ ___
Shell Bluff (P. 0.) ____________ ________ U, S. G. S. ___ ___ ____ _
Shellman_____ ___ _____ ____ ________ ___ C. of Ga. ________ _____ _ Sheriff Knob, Union Co._____ _____ _____ U. S. G. S.____ ______ __ Shilo___ ____ ____ ____ ___ ____________ _ U.S. G. S.___ ___ _ __

SSiiblvleeYr -C-re-e-k-_-_-__-__-_-__-_--_-_- _-_--_-__- _-_-_-_-_-_--_-_ UG..SS.. G&.FS..R__w_y_____________ __
Sisters Ferry___ _________ __ __ ______ __ U.S. A. Eng. _______ __ _
Sitting Bull Mountain.___ __ ___ ____ __ __ U.S. C. & G. s.___ ____
Six Mile__ ____ ___ _____ ____ __ _______ __ S. R wy_ _____ _____ ____

Skienah Gap __ ___ _____ ____ __ ___ ___ SkittMountain__ _____ _____________

U.S. U.S.

G. C.

S. &

__ G.

_s_______________

Slover____________ ______ ____ _________ U.S. G. S. ___ _______ _

SSmmyitrhnvail_l_e_____- -__-_--_-_-_-__-_-_-_ -____-_--_-_-_-_-__- _- CW. .o&f GA.._R ._R__._____--_-__--_-_-_

Snake Mountain, Rabun Co.___ ____ ____ U. S. G. S. _____ ____ _ Social Circle_______ _________ ____ ____ _ G. R. R.__ ___ ____ ____ _

Sofkee_____________ _____ _____ _____ ___ G. S. & F . Rwy - - ----Soperton___ _____ _______ _____________ Aneroid__ ____________ _ Soque... ___________ ____ ______ __ _____ U.S. G. S. ___ _ ____ ___ South Atlanta___ _____ __________ ____ U.S. G. S. ___ ___ __ __ _ Southover Junction______________ _____ A. C. L. _____ ______ ___ _ South Switch______ _____ _____ _____ ___ U.S. G. S._______ ____ _ Spaniard Knob, Towns Co._ ____ _____ U.S. G. S._____ __ ___ __
p&rks___ _____ _____________ ______ _ G. S. & G. Rwy____ __ _ Sparta ___ _________ __ ___ ______ ___ ____ Ga. R. R------ - ------Springfield _____ ______ ____ __ _________ U.S. G. S. ________ ___ _
pringer, Mount_ __ _______ ___ ____ __ U.S. G. S. ___________ _
Spring Place___________ ___________ ___ U.S. G. S._________ ___
Star.Buek FielcL______ ___ __ __ __ __ __ U.S. G. S. __ __ _ __ _ __ Star Point___ __ _____ _____ ___ ______ U.S. G. S. ___________ _
Statenville_ _________ __ ________ _____ _ A. C. L. ___ ___________ _ Statesboro_________ _______ __ __ ____ __ U.S. G. S. ___________ _
Statham____________ _____ __ __ ___ _ S. A. L. __ ____________ _ Stapleton_ _ __ __________ __ _______ U.S. G. S. ___________ _ Sterling__ __ _____ _____ _____ __ ______ _ U.S. G. S. ____ _______ _ Stevens Gap ________ _________________ U.S. G. S.___________ _

SSttiillllwmeolrle______-_--__--_-_-_-_________-_-_-_-_ -_-_-_-__-_--_-_-___ AUn.Ser.oGid._S__._- __- -_-_-__-_-_-_ -_

Stillson__ ____ ___ _____ __ _____ __ __ ___ __ U.S. G. S. __________ _

Stockbridge._ __ ___ ____ _ ___ _____ ___ U.S. G. S.__ __ __ __ ___

Stockton____________________________ A. C. L. ___ ____ ____ ____

Stone Mountain______________________ G. R. R. ___ _____ __ ___

Stone Mountain____ ___ _______________ Stone Village________ __ __ _____ _

U.S. U.S.

C. C.

& &

G. G.

sS.____ ________

trawberry Top, Union Co.____________ U.S. G. s_________ __

Sugar "Valley__ _______ ____ ______ U.S. G. S. ___ ____ _

147 133 537 142 2,925 124 360 225
829
684 2,803
124 580 301 379 3,400 906 440
680 20.03 5,046
672 2 , 374 2 ,076
92 332 1 ,053 3 , 365 861 370
308
1,686 1,016
20 1,063 3,860
241
557
80 3,820
730 812 1,074 152 218-250
864
440 21 1,996 275 96 105
810
187 1,026 1,686
1,037 3,744
646

182

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF GEORGIA

TOWN

AUTHORITY

ELEVATION

Sulphur Springs____ ____ ____________ U . S. G. S. ___________ _

Sulphur Springs__________ ______ __ _ A. G. S. R. R .________ _ SummeJ:field.. ____________ __ ___ _ C: of G. Rwy_________ _
Summerville______ ____ ____ ___________ U.S. G. S, ___________ _ Sumner______ _______ _____ __ ______ __ A. C. L. ______________ _ Sunhill_ __ ___________ ___ _____ ______ C. of G.______________ _ Sulmyside_____ ______ ___ _____ ____ ___ C. of G____ __ ___ __ __ _
Surrency___ __ _______ ______ ___ ______ _ U.S. G. S, ___________ _

Suwanee_______ ___ _____ -------- -_ ____ S. R wy__ ________ ___ _

Suwanee Mountain. -- ---- - - - - ---- - - U. S. G. S. __ ___ ____ _ Swainsboro______ --- - ------___ __ Aneroid________ ------ _ Sweat Mountain______ __ ___ _____ _____ U. S.C. & G. 8--------Swift Creek_____ __ _______ ________ ___ M.D. & S. _____ _____ _

Sycamore.._ ______ _______________ ____ Sylvania___ __ _________ _____ __ __ Sylvester___ ____ __ __ _____ _____ ___ ___
TTaallkbiontgtoRnoc_k__________ _____________ ________________________

G. S. & F. Rwy-- - - ---U. S. G. S.- _-------- -A. C. L. __ _____ ___ __ ___ U.S. G. S. ___ ____ ___ _ L. & N. Rwy__________ _

Tallapoosa_ _______ - ----- - - - - - ------- S. Rwy_ _ ___ --- ____ _
T allulah Falls_____ ____ ___ ______ ____ __ U.S. G. S-- - ----------
Tallula.b Mountain, N. W. summit ____ _ U.S. C. & G. S. _______ _ Tallulah M ountain, S. E. summit __ __ U.S. C. & G. S. ______ _ Tally Mountain__ _____ ___ _____ _____ _ U.S. G. S,____ __ _____ _

Ts.loDA_____ ______ ____________ _ L. & N. Rwy__ __ _____ _

TTaa.rlboonaro, _M_ou__n_t,_G__il_m_e_r_C_o_.______________________ UU..SS.. GG.. SS..._-__- -__-_--__- _--_- -_

T1Casas0oJ_t_o__~_-_ -_-_-_-_-_-_--_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_- -_-__--__-_-_-_-_- AUn.Ser.oGid._S__, ______________________ __

Temple____ _____ ___-- - ---- -.---- -___ _ Tennga._______ _______ ___ _____ _____ _

S. Rwy _ U.S. G.

s_. __-_---

_- -__-_-_-_-_

Tennille__ ________________ _____ ______ C. of G. Rwy ___ ____ _

TTeessrnaa.tteeee__G__a_p,__U_n_i_o_n__C_o_.__________________________
Thalm&n. ____ _______ _____ _______ _

U.S. G. S.___ _____

Uu..sS..

G. G.

Ss.. __________

__________ __

Thelma_______________________ _______ G. S. & F-------------
Thoma.s__________ __ ___ __________ __ C. of G.____ __________ _

Thomas_____ ______ ___ ________ __ ____ _ S. A. L __ ____ _____ ___ _

Thomasville________ _____ ____ ____ ___ A. C. L. _ ______ ______ _

TThhoremesSoins-te-r-s-,-L-u-m- -pk-i-n--C-o-_-_-_--__-_-_--_-__-_- -_

G. R. R. ____ __ ____ _ U.S. G. S. _____ ____ ___

TTihftiockna_.n_e_t l_e_y_B__a_ld_,__G_i_l_m_e_r _Co__..________________

U.S. G. S._ ____ ____ __ _ A. C. L. _______________

TTiigftnoanl,LM__o_u_n_t_,_F_an__n_i_n_C_o_._________________________

Uu..sS..

G. G.

Ss..______________________ __

Tilton___ ___ ____ ____ __ ______ ___ _ W. & A. R. R. ________ .. Tivola.__ _____ _ __ __ __ ______ __ ___ G. S. & F. Rwy_______ _ Toccoa. ____________ ____ ____ ___ ... ___ S. Rwy_ _________ _ __

Toomsboro______ ______ ___ ___ ____ Toonigh__ ___ __ __ ______ ______ _____ Towns__ ___ ____ _ ____ ___ ______ _____ Tra.y Mountain________ __ ___ __ ______ _ Tree__________________ _____ _____ ___ _

U.S. G. S. __ __ _______ _ L. & N. Rwy_________ _
U.S. G. 8----- ------
U.S. G. S-- ------- ----
U.S. C. & G. S._______ _

Trenton_____________________ _ ___ ___ A. G. S. R. R, ________ _

TTrroiyP_P__-_--_-__--_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_--_-_--_-_-_-_-_- -_-_-__- US..AS.. LG-. -S-.-_-_--_--_-_-_-_--_-_-_
Trudie___ ______ _______ _____ __ _______ U.S. G. S. ________ _

Tucker___ ______ ________ _____ _ ____ 8. A. L. ____ _______ __
Tulip--- ---------------------- ---- U. 8. G. 8,___ __ ______ _ Tunis- ------------------------- U.S. G. 8---- - --------

300 897 481 780 373 362 929 187 1,027 1,967 318 1,694 324 415
238 370 726
1,084 1,158 1,629 3,172 2,849 1,474 1,208 2,115
12 310
800 1,177
837
469
1,526
3,138 20 158 285
1,040
250
503
2,185 4,054
370 3,201
644 654 300 1,045 236 1,042 128 4,389 1,045 729 1,100 520
56
1,087 694 783

dLTITUDES IN GEORGid

TOWN

AUTHORITY

183 ELEVATION

Tunnel Hill_________________ -- -- - ---Turkey Mountain___ ___ ______ ____ __
Turniptown Mountain, Gilmer Co. ___ __ _ Tusculum___ _ __--- ------ ---- ____ __

uVuV...ss&..

A. G. G.

ssR...___R__._______________________

u.s. G. s._____ ___ _

Tyty--- ----- -- ----- ---- -- -- -- - --UUnnaddiinllel_l.___________-_-_-_-_-_-__-_-_-_-_-_-__-_ _____-_-_-_-_ Unicoi Gap, Towns County___ ______

A. C. L. ______________ _

Gu..sS.. u.s.

G&G..Fss...R____w__y_________________________

Union Point___ __ _ _______ _______ __ _ G. R. R. _____ ___ _ _

UUnpiavteosit_e_r_______-_-_--_-__-_--_-__-_-_--_.-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_ Lu..&s.NG..Rsw._y__________________
Uptonville______ ______ _____ __ __ __ ___ A. C. L. ~-- -- -- -- --

Uv~- -- - ------- --- ---- --- ----- --Valambrosa_____ _____ -- ---- __ - - -- ___

MAn.eDro.id&. _S-. -_-_-__-_-_-_-_-_-_-_--_

VVaallodnoast_a_________-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_____-_-_-_________-_-_-_-____ __

A. C. L. ______________ _ VVeather Bureau ______ _

Vanns Valley--------- _______________ _ Varnell_________________ ____________ _

US.. RS.\\G3'.-b- -_-_-_-_-_-_--_-_-_-_- _-

Verbena____________________________ _ Vernon _____________________________ _

Cu.. osf.GG.. Rs.w_y__________________ __

Vidalia_________________ -- _____ ---_-Vidette_________ __ ____ _____ ____ ------

Aneroid______________ _
u.s. G. s. ___________ _

~~~~~~============================ Vienna_------- --------- _-----------
Villa Rica______ ___ _--- -- -- ------ ----

G. S. & F. Rwy _______ _ S. Rwy_ __ ___ _______

VuV..s&.

A. G.

Rs.._R_.______________

____

VVaco ______________________________ _ S. Rwy____ _____ __ __

VVadley _____________________________ _ VVainwright_________________________ _

Cu..so.f

G. G.

Rs.w_y_

___________________

VValden______________ _______________ _ C. of G_____ __ ___ __ _

VValker, M ountJ "White Co._________ ___ _ Walnut Mount, Gilmer Co._____ ______ _

u. s. G. s.___ ___ _____ _ u.s. G. s.___ ___ _____

VV~ourville_____ ___ ____ __________ _ A. C. L. ___ _____ ____ _

VVard______________________________ _ C. of G. Rwy_____ ___

VVaresboro__________________________ _ A. C. L.______ ______ __
VVaring_____________________________ _ u. s. G. s.______ ___ __

VVarrenton__________________________ _ G. R. R. ____ ____ ____ _

VVarthen____________________________ _ Aneroid______________ _

VVashington___________________ ______ VVatson, Mount, Fannin County____ ___ _

uu..ss..

G. G.

ss..______________

__________

VVaverly_____ __ ______ ___ ___ _____ S. A. L. _____ ____ _____ _

VVaverly Hall________________________ _ u.s. G. s.____ _____ _

VVaycross _____________________ ___ ___ _ A. C. L. _____ ___ __ ____

VVaynesboro_____________ ______ ___ ___ _ VVaynesville__ _______ ________________ _

u.s. u.s.

G. G.

s. s.

_________ __ ___________ _

VVays._ __ __ _____ ______ ___________ _ A. C. L.______ __ _____ _

Wellaton._ _____ ___ ____ ___ ___ __ G. S. & F .____ __ _____ _

VVenona_____ ______________ ___ _______ _ G. S. & F. Rwy _______ _ VVest Bowersville__ -- - ------ ______ ___ _ S. Rwy_______ ______ _ VVestbrook_______ ___ ____ ______ _____ __ L. & N. Rwy____ ___ _

VVest Green __________ _________ ___ ___ _ VVestlake. ___ ________________ _______ _

uAn.esr.oGid._s_._______________________

VVest Point ___________________ ___ ___ _ VV. Rwy. of A. __ __ _

VVeston___________________ ____ ______ _ S. A. L. ______________ _

VVestover__ _______________ ____ ______ _ u. s. G. s. ___________ _

VvvVruhgerautounn______________________________________________________ __
White Oak______ _ ____ ___ __ ____ __

u.s. G. s. ___________ _ uA..sC.. GL.._s_.________________________

White Path_ _________________ _

L. & N. Rwy ------ - -

840 1,192 3,614
122 332 412
155 2,963
644 1,090
418 83 185
258? 215 10 628
808 1,044
661 300 350 350 1,156 931 329 1,357 234
85 390 2,641 2,628 95 392 150 795 500 490 618 2,769 17 729 138 261 50 18 315
348 918 1,500 255 235 576 528 142
201
265 15 1,444

184

GEOLOGJC.dL SURVEY OF GEORGI.d

TOWN

AUTHORITY

ELEVATION

Whitesburg________ ____ ___ _____ ______ Weather Bureau_______ _ White Oak..__ _____ __ ______ ____ ____ __ U.S. G. S. ___________ _ White Path_ ________ ___ ____ ____ __ ___ L. & N. Rwy ---------Whitesburg__ __ __ __ __ ____ __ __ __ __ _ Weather Bureau_______ _ Wilcox ___ ------ -- - - ---_ __ ___ __ _ S. Rwy_______________ _ Willacoochee__________________ ___ ___ A. C. L. ______________ _ Willetts____ _______ ___ ____ __ ____ __ _ U.S. G. S. ___________ _
Willie__________ ___ ____ ___ ___ __ ____ U. S. G. S.. _---------Williams______________ ____ __ -----__ _ S. Rwy_______________ _ WillinghSJIL..._______ ____________ ___ A. C. L. ______________ _
Willis- -------------- -- ---- --- ----- - M.D. & S. ___________ _ Wilscot :!\-fountain, Fannin Co. __ ____ __ _ U.S. G. S. ___________ _ Wilson, Mount, Union Co. ___ _____ __ __ _ U.S. G. 8-----------Winchester_______ ______ ___ ___ __ ____ C. of G.______________ _ Winder_____________________ ______ _ S. A. L. ______________ _ Wmston________________ __- ---- _____ S. Rwy_______________ _ Winters_____ _____ ____ ____ __ _______ __ G. R . R._____________ _
Wolfpen Ridge, Towns County______ __ U.S. G. S. ___________ _ WWooooddlabwinne_______________________ __________________________ US.. AS.. GL.._S__.___-__-_-_-_-_-_-_-_--_
Woodstock-------- - ---- - ------- -- --- L. & N. Rwy---------- WWoorothd_v_i_ll_e_._--_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_--_-_-__-_--_-__- GG.. RS.. &RF-.-_-_-_-_-_-_-__-_-_-_-_- _
Wra.Y--------------------- --- -- - --- - A. B. & A. Rwy------- Wrens_________________ __ ____ ____ ____ U.S. G. S----------- Wrightsville_ _ __ _____ ____ ----- -_ __ __ Aneroid______________ _
Yancey_ ____ ___ _ __ ___ __ ____ ___ _ S. Rwy--------------- Yellow Mountain, Union County__ _____ U.S. G. S----------- Yonah., Mount, Whit e County__ ______ _ U.S. G. S----------- Young Harris____ --- --- ----- - --- - -- U.S. G. S------------ Zenith____ ___ _______ --- - - - --- -- - -_ Aneroid_------------- .. ZunL - -- - --- - -------- ---- - -- - --- -- A. B. & A. Rwy_______ _

1,050 15
1,444 1,050
116 247 250 87 544 319 394 3,151
3,047
463
941 1,135
786 4,251
14 661
992
693
415
279
423
335 706
3,173
3,173 1,928
567 656

The abbreviations used are,
A. & W. P.-Atlanta and West Point Railroad. A. B. & A.-Atlanta., Birmingham & Atlantic Ra.ilrosd. A. C. L.-Atlantic Coast Line Railroad. C. of Ga..-Central of Georgia Ra.ilioad. G. R. R.-Georgia. Railroad. G. F. & A.-Georgia, Florida. & Alabama Railroad. G. S. & F.-Georgia Southern & Florida Railroad. L. & N.-Louisville & Nashville Railroad. M. D. & S.-Ma.con, Dublin & Savannah Railroad. S. A. L.-Seaboa.rd Air Line Railroad. S. & S.-Savanna.h & Southern Railroad. S. Rwy.-Southem Railway. U.S. A. Eng.-United States Army Engineers. U. S. G. S.-United States Geological Survey. U.S. C. & G.-S.-United States Coast & Geodetic Survey. W. & A.-Western and Atlantic Railroad.

INDEX

A

Page

ifra~~~~~~:-::::=:::~-:.-:.-.-:=::..~==--:~::==--=~~=:~--=:::::
Altitudes of Gool:gla ----- -------------- of t he Blue"ltidge......... --- --------------------- ot the H:lghlancL.. .. . ....--- - - ... . .. . ... - - ... . and forms of Cohutta Mountains-------- ---------
ADDaloacba:tliaonnGanedoudlias.ttdnicvtiisvioencsharnadctbeoru. _nd_a_r_ie_s__-_-_______--_-__-___-_-___-_-__--__-_-_
DI'Ovinces o1------------ ------
Appendix................ ... . . ................ .. . . ... . - - -----
AAntlnauncthaePelRatiedague.s..-.-.--- ... -----------........... --------.---. ....-...-....------------

8-10 47
167-186 106-108
100 lll-112
55-56
55 55-92
167-186 143-146
69-74

B

Blue Ridge- - -- ----------- ------ altitudes of. . .. .. ------------- ------------------ - - - drainage o!..-------- --------------------I>ositlon and limits ol.--- - ---- - - - - - s:vstem and trencL........ .- - - - - - - - - - - --------
Bountdoapno'glminpesbiocffGoremozsgotaf-,_-_-_-______-_- _.._-_--__-_-_____.._._.._.._._-_--____-___.._._.._.._.
Brantley, J . E .. cited- . - - - - - - - -- -------- - -
c

102-110 106-108 108-110
102-104 104
104-105 1-2
51

CCaamn,pMbe.llE. .M cairtieuds-R-.-Look-o-u-t-P-la-t-eau...-. ..-.-..-.-..-..-.-..-.-..-.-..-.-..-.-..-.-..-.-..-....-.-..-....-..

54 148-165

The ValleY Province..... . ....................... - ---------- --------- 133-147

Causes of Blghland ReliEif----------------------------- 101-102

OC e nnttr aall RUapnlga ne .d..._. ._. ._._. ._._. -_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_- _-_ __ -_-_-_- -_-_-__ __- -_-_-_- -_-_-_- -_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_- -_-_- _

11Z..l13 67-91!

development of sm:tace---------- -------- - --------- 87-92

general relattons...- ----------------- ------

M

subdivis!ons and boundarles.........---------
Cgh~ick~toapmgoag~ur!glf:al)Vh~iacl~lcehy~a_r_~a_=e_:t_e:_r:_o:_f:_:_-:_-_:-_-_-._=-_:-_:-_=-_=_-=_._--__-_:-_:-_:-_:-_:_-~_-:_:-_:-_:-_:-_:-_:_:_:_:-_:-_:-_=-_:-_=_--_:-_._-:_

67-60
~
49 9 14&-147

8i~k~~~~~~~====~==~==========--===~:===~=~============

11
33

Clliamxato;tne toefr:Graecoe;r.g.-!-a_-__-_-_-_--_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_--_-_-_-_-_-_-____________-_--_-_-___ ---_

29 3-4

Ollmate Coastal

PoltatihneoHt iGgbeo}ragn!da..-..-.-.--------------

------
------

-
----

--------
-----------------

126-129 17-M

dralne.ge of------ .... - - - - - - ... ----------- .. ------- - 45-M

direotlon of flow of str81UllS...-------- ------------ ----- 4,6-4.6

general relations..............--------------------------- 19-20

gloecoaltoigoyn,ofs-iz-e -a-n-d -d-is-ti-n-ct-i-v-e -ch-e-.r-a-ct-e-ri-st-ic-s.-.-. .-. .-.-. .-.-.-.-. .-_-___ __ _ _-__ __ -_-_ _
DODds, lakes and slnks--------------------------------------
rtver sYStem.... -. -- .. . ------- . ------ - - ... --- . . . ---------- . ----.

19-20 19 50
~9

subdivisions of---------------------------------------

20

Coastfoj=~~~~~~~~:======: ..::==~=====:~~==~~~===~~ swOJDDS ln.--------------- ---------

51- M 1'1-46

21-M

....

83-M

coh~~~~.aro:~~~=:::::=~====:=::::::::::::======--=

S0-33 110-ll2

Control oiHume.n Aff111Is. geogmDhic.-------------------------- 157- 162

Oooke, c. Wythe. The Coe.stalPla!.n......- - ------- - ------ - I 17-M

g~~JE:!t~- --~---=::.~=~~==~==~:====~--==~-~==::=~=::=~:~::: Correlation of Coastal Terraces-------------------------- 33-34 35 30 112-lli

186

INDEX

D

Page

Dahlonega Plateau..------- -----------------Development of surface of Central Upland .... ----------- --------------DevelOJJment ot surface featunes of Georm---------- -----DDiirsetcrltbiollntioonf folofw.:DoOfI>sutrleaatlolDnS..._C_oa_s_ta_l_P_la__:i_:n_-_--_ ________-_-_-__--_-_-_-_-_-_--_-_--_-_-_-_-_-_-_ DiVisions and boundaries ot AI>llalaChian Georgia_._ __________________ _____ Divis1ons o!Ooa.stal Plain of Georgia, topograobic.--------- ----- ------DDoraulngah.ager t_y_P_l_a l_n_._.._ _-_ _-_ _-_-_-_-_-_ _- -_- _- _ _-_ _-_ _-_-_-_-_-_-__-_-__-_ -__-_-_-__-_-__-__-_-_-__-_-__-__-_
BClouaestRaildPglea_ln..-.-.-.-.....-. --------.-__. .....-.-..----- -- --..-.-......... .-.-..--- ----------------...-... Oahlltta Mouutains------- ---------------General Dlan of Highland... ........---------- --------Higbland....----------------------------- --- Hiwassee PlateaU..---- -- ----- ----- ---Little Tennessee Plateau.........------------ -------------.... _ _ Runoff of Highland ------------------------------Ducktown Plateau...... ..--------------- -- ------- ---.:tODoO.lSnoinot lgOornafp-a-h-ni-cd--flol-cm-nist.s---.--..-. .-.--.--..-._...-.--..-_---..-.-.-.-.---. -_-- _-_-_-_--_-__-_-__--_-_-_-_-__-----_

64-69
87-92 14-17 45-46 157-162 55-56
17 40-41 94-120 108-110 45--54
112 94 94-97 117 119-120 94 114-116 115 114-115 115-116

E

Eastern range______ ... . ------- . - - --- -.----- - ------- --- . - 113--114

.:mEEm:l.elccatn.riadwttiy.o. pncrlootedtdut.oc.wed.g.r.bB.y-.:-Dw- -ha-i-tc-e--mr-o-a-po-sw-oe!r

in 1923--- --- G eo r-g-i-a.-. -. ----- --

---- - --- ------- ------ - ----

8 37 3

F

Fall L!De Hills...... ---------- ---- - - - - ----- ... Folirnets.tst:!ovef rG. esYorSgtieam..._._.._._. -_-_-_-________- _-_--_-_-_-_--_-______ __-_-_-__-_-_-_--_-_________-_Forests of the 'Highland ........... _ _ _ ____ _ _____ _________ _____ __________ Fort Mountain..---- -- -------- ----- - - - Fort Valley Plateau.------------- -- --------- - .. ------.

42-44 48
9-10 128--129 134-136
41-42

G

GGeaonrngeiatt., H!llll"Y. dted-------------------- -- ---

137

agt:!culture of------------- ---- ----- - - 8-10

a.ltltudes of.- - ----- ---------
bgofiunnfJdar.ry~li~ne-s<>ro:f:.:.:-:--=-::-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:::::-::::::~:.=.~--=-=-=-=-=--=-=-=--=-:-:- -:--:--- -:--:.:..-:

167-186 1-2 9 11

c:l:lm.ate of--- ------- -- ----------- - -------------

3-4

coa.s-..al Plain of------------- -- - --------------- --- 19-54

cbastal Terraces of - - - -------- - - ---------- -- --- 21-34

develo:oment;of surtace:fearures-.- - -- --------------- -- 14-17

el!ll1a.natlon ot toDograohic lllaPS- ----------------- ----
gfoeroe1sotSgicOfLo:-rm-a.t-lo-n-s -in-..-.-...------.--------.-..-.-..-----------.-....-.-..-.------- _.-

3 9-10 6-7

geology of- ------------ -------------------------- - 4-5

l1m~ oml!oltdiihclhnaeaeenrg tcrriLaoai.nlln.d.Dru.ae~ ..r.ns.-o.o-ddt.ru.nls.r..1ec.c=zse.te-lis-.o._nO-n:-i:--f-:-o---:--r--=--1-=--9--:.2---:-3----:----:-----:----:------:-----:-------:---:---=------:----:---:-----~----:--.----.---------------:-:----:---:----:--:----:---:---.-:.----:------:~----------------------------~-----------------:--:---:----:-----:----:----

1-2 77-86
5 5 10 64-76 11-12

tsssphoutruoierldtvsasyitconae!cot.-etet.s-seau-aostfr-uatA-rae-wIc>s-heJ-oo)faf-lee_le-._a...c_-t.b._u.-._l.r.-.a-e.-n-s-.--.-.--.._---_-.---_---_---_----_--.-_---_---_-----_----_---_----_-.--_.----_---._----_.--.-_-.--_.--._--.--_.---._--_-_-_-__---_-_-_--_.---_----_----_----__--_-_-._--.--_------_----_----

55-92 8-9 13
13--17 1-12

=~i?~c%ViSions oL--:::::::::::::=::..--:=:=:::::-:-:::::==

2--3 15-17

to.oogrn:Dbic divisions of Coastal Plain oL.---------- -----------
t otal mileage of public roads of-- -- --------------- -- - --- - -

17 10-11

tt roat.anlsmo oilretaagt ieo nOflnr.a.-i l-r-oa-d-s- -o-f-- --.-.--- ---- ----- ---- - - -.. ----------- ------------_-_--- --- -- --- ---

11 10-11

water water

oower. suulll:;r

Sll1ll.dIIllDllloflwl'YerotO. -i-------------- ------- ----------------------------------- ---- -- --

General deScrl.Dtlon of Valley Province....- - ------------ --- ------ -- - - -

8 5.8 133-129

~~~~of&:=pi-,jin =~::::::::::::::::::: :::~::::::::::::::_--:

112 19-20

Geograohic Oon:tral of Human a.ttairs----- ----- ------- ---------- -- 157-165

INDEX

187

Page

~llJihic Provinces of Southeastern u-. S-- ------ ---- ------ - - ---

16

=i~~1r~~~----~=~~:~:~. ~=~~~==~-:=~===:==~-=== 19--20

120-126

Griffin. A. M.. citecL..._ __ ______ __________ _ _______ ________ _

77-80 37

H

HHHHalJaugnz:gl>PeleehnrrUs..,lWIiAS'r.t.aE.tLne.nc..:!acscO,iittOecec-lcL-.Lt.-e- --<---L~ ------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------

IDgbland, the. ---------------- -- -- ---------- -------------------

acllftmituadteeos1o-f--------------- ----- -- - ----- ---- ------------- ----- --- ----- ---------- ---------- -----

d1:ai.nage of.. ------------------ ----- ------- - -.. -- -- -------- -.

dra!nager=off of ------ ---------------------------------

fgoerneesrtsalopf-la-n-of-d-.ra-ln-a-g-e -o-L- ----------------- -- ---------------- ---------------- -- -- ---

genernl plan of relief of- --------------- ------- -- ---------

geology ol- - - - - --- - - - ------- ------------------------

srades of streams oL------ ----- -- ------ ------ ------ -------

llOPula.tion oL----------------- -- ---- ----- --------------- --

llOWer of Princl:PaJ

sbtraesai nmssOoft~---- ------------------ - ----------

- - ----------- -- ----- -- ----- --------

srrtreemalliiineieSmftl.o)tcOtfsa-r.utt-asnetl-rsoun-o:.ta.--_lt--o-_n-_n-_--s_--o_-_L---_._---_--_-_-_---_---_-_--_--_---_-_---_--_-_---_--_---_--_---_--_----_--_---_---_---_----_---_--_----_---_---_----_---_---_--_-_----_-_---

trends of relieL----------- -------------------------------------
trend of streams...... ------------------------ -------------- ----
HiwasPdtsoOreaDSelinotPiaslo.argna.tepeaaobn.fiU-cd--t-ol-.i.rm-m-.i.ts--sO--of-L-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hull, J.P. D. , altecL........ .. . .. .......... ----------------------- ---

1

Industries and Trade.. ----------- -- --- ----- --------------------lntroductory-the state as a whole.... . . . .. -- - -- ----- - - - ----- - -- ----
statement. surface features of Georgia. ------ ---- ----- -------- - -- - ---

K

5-:1 54 29
93-1~
roo
1.26--128 94,-97 94
128-129 94
98-99 120-126
96-97 129--131
97
95 98-120
101-102
100 131-132
!l!J,-1()(1
95-96 l l&-117
117 116 117
38
166 1-12 13-17

Keith. Arthur, The Highand------------ -- ----------- ---- ---- -- ------ --- -- ----- ------ 43-132

L

LaForge, Laurence. Geographical Control of Human Affairs...... . ............. . .. 157-165

IPnrtorvoidnucecstoorfyASDtDataelma.cehnita-n G--eo-rgi-a_-_- -_-_--_-_-_--_-_-_-_-_-_-_--_-_-_-_-__-_-_-_-_-_-_--_-_-__
The Surtaaa Features of Georgia._____ _ _ _________ __ _ __ ___ ______ _

13-17
55-92 13-17

Leading crops, 1924. value of--- ---~------ - - ------ - ----- - ---

9

of--- Little Tennessee PlateaU--.. positfon a.nd Uml:ts

.-.------------

----- ------------- --------------- ----- ------------.-.-.

LLooocaatttiiooopnnoaag.nrnadd,pbdboiiscut:nltnoderamtll:vlseeoscfoh--fa-Hr-alc-&t-hel-rsa-no-tf-LA-~-D--D--a--l-:a-c--- b-ia-.-n---G---e-o--r--g-i-a--_---_-_-- --_---_--_---_--_--_--_----_---_--_---_-

118-120 118
118-119 93 55

LLooccaa.tt.iloonn.as.inzdesaizneddoitsGt!eno~cgtlivae.-c-ha-r-ac-te-rs-o-f -Coa-s-ta-l P--l-ai-n.__-_-__--_- ___-_-_-_-_-_-_-_--_-_--_

1-2 19

fg~~i~a't~~ =========== = =--=::::::::=:=:::::::::::::

38 148-156

fg~~~tea.~:_cit~-====::::::.:=--..:=::-.:::..-====:::=--:::::..-:

54 39-40

M

. .~MJ8.1r'1nte t.er?ra$ce~s.~ctoreredla.ti-o~n:~o~f:-----=~-=--.:-=----~~-~-:-::-:-=-:-~-:------=-~:-==-=~--~-==-=-=-~-=--=-~

35 33 138 54

~J ~~~".~~~le.==::::::== = ===--=-======-.:.:: :: ===:::
~:CU production of Georgia for l92L- - ----- ----- - -- -- -- - - - - -

l -12 80-82
5

ral resources ol Georgia--- - - - - ------- -- --------------------

5

N

Nesbitt, R. T .. cited..___ ____ --------------------------- ------- -- ------- --------- -- -----

54

188

INDEX

0

Page

OOOgckheeel!oeocnhkoeeok.neleeievS.eorrui.vn!eidYr..S..stYe.i.iS.l.t.e-_m-.--_-_-_--_--_-_--_--_-_--_-_--_--_-__--_-_-_--_--_-_--_-_--__---_--_-_--_--_---_--_--_---------------------------------------

48 47 31

SWRIIID----------------------------------- ----- 52-54

terrace. -------------- ---------- ------- - -------- - 26-29

QrlgitnreaJnldIiddegveeoloLp-m--e-n---.o-f- C-o-a-st-al-T-ez-:r-ac-es-_-__-_-_-_-_-_ -_-__-_--__-__-_-_-__-_-_-_-__-_-_-__-__-_-_
Other Industries in. Georgta.________ ________ ______ __ ____ ______ __ ________

2'1-29 30-33
10

p

clted...____ ______________ _________ __ --------- ---------- PPPlielenlldhi.mololoson.wtJa.GyveT.o.ergniaac_e_._._.._._._._._-_-_-__-_-_-_-__-_-_-_-__-_-_-_-_-__-_-_-_-__-_-_-_-__-__-_-_-__-_-_-_--_-__-_-_-_-_-_--_
Plains. Dougherty __ ___________ _______________ __ ____________ ___ _____ ______ __

24-26 51
64-76 40-41

PPllaatteeaaUu-. --------- ------------------------------------------------- --- 39--40

ADtalal lJlJotnELe-g-a-.. .-.-. ..-.-. .... -____- _-_- _-_ _ _ _- -_-_ -_-_-_- _--_--____-_-_-_-_ _-_-_-_-__-_-_-_-_-_ _- _- -_-_
DF oucrtkVtoaWJlOey._-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_--_-_-_-_--_-_-__-__-_-_-_____-_-_-_-_-_-_-_--__-_-_ _-_-_-__-__-_-_-__-_-_-__-_-_-_

69-74 64-69 114-116 41-42

mGrweeanssVeilele.-..-.-..-.-.-..-.-..-.-.-..-.-..-.-.-..-.--------------- --------------------- -----------------------------------

77-80
116-117

Little Tennessee.......... ..... . - --------------------- - -------- 116-120

LWoaoskbo1untg.i;.o.n._._-_-_--____-_-_-__-_-__-_-_-__-_-_-_--_-_--_-_-_-_-_-_-______-_-_-_-_-_- -_-_-_-_-_-_ _-_-__-__-_-__-_ 146-156

Plan of Ducktown Plateau........................_________ _________________

83-86 115

Ponds. lakes and s!nks of Coastal Plain.------ ---------- -- -----

50

Povu:~~~;_o~f:=-::::::=-:::=::-::::::::::=::::-::-:=:::=:::::=:::::::
PosltioofnHa.nigd hlilma.intsd.o-t-B--l-u- e--R-id-g-e-..-_-_-_-_- -_-_-_ _-_-_-_-_-__--__-_-_-_-_-_--_-_-_-_-_-_-_--_-__-_-_-__-_-__ _-_

11-12 157-162 129-131 102-104

ofof
01.

DHCuiowchkausttostewaeMnPPolaultanettaeaua.I.un...__s_..__-__-_--_---_-_--_--_--_-_-_---_--_-_--_--_--_--_---_--_--_---_-_--_--_--_-_--_--_--_--_----_--_-_--_-_-_--_-_--_--_--_--_--_--_--_

110 114-115
116

LittleTeunesseePlateau..... ................................. - - - ---

118

Princil:lal basins o.J; H i ghland

- -------------------- ------------------------

95

Provinces ol APDalachian Georgia.. ..... ..----- ------------------------- -- ----- 55-92

~
of

v:aRl~le:y-, isoeuntehiieiaids.teesrciniiUit.cSili...Og!e:o:g:r:a:o::b:1:o::.:.:..:.:.::.:.~.

.::_._-:_:_::_:_::_::_:_::_::_:_:_:_:_:_:_:_:_~_=_

133-147 133-134
16

Public roads. -rot a! mfieage of- -------------------------- --------------------- 10-11

R

Rallroad mileage 1n Georgia________________ _______________ _______ ___ ___ __

11

Rangecgeseae.nsntceterrrroaallsll.sJ-.->---l--a---n----o---f----c--r--o---s--s--..-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Relief, general])lan of Highland --------------------- -------------- - -

112-114 112-113 113-114
112 96-99

HJlilggbhllaanndd...c.a..u.s.e.s..o.L..-..-.-.---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
RRiivdegressY, AstnemnuscohfeCe.o.a..s-ta-l-P-l-a-!n--. .-.-_-_.-.-..--_--.-------------------------- ----..------- -.-.-.-..-.-.-.-..-.-.-.-..-.-.-.-.

9s-120 101-102 134-146
46-49

RRopmuteetVesraroa.CtIlIte:rlySa.-f.t.i-a.._.-.--_. .-_.-_.-._._._-.__.-_._.-_.-.__.-._-._.-_.-._-.-._-._.-._._._._.-._._.-_. .-_-._.-._._._.-._.-_.-_. .-_.-_. -_. .-_.-_. .-_._-._-. ._.-_.-_. ._.-_.._-._-._.-._-.-_.-.

35 139-143 163-165

Runoff. dmlllage, of Righland------- -- ------ ----------- --------- --- --

94

S

Satilltae.irraivceer.,-s-Y-s-te-m.....-..-..-.-.-.-. .-.-.-. .-.-.--------------------------------------------------------------------

47 22-24

[~~~;~=~=~==~~==~===:::::::::::::=-====~-=~~:=::~ Savanna.h. river sYstem............------------------------------------
Soils of Georgia ____ _____ _________________ ________________ ______ _____

46 34 30 49 6-9

SSot.uMnda.ryO'sk,edfevneor,kesYe.S.t.c.l-ll.-...-....-...-.--------------------------------- -----------------------------------------------

31 48

SSutebpdhievnissioonn.scainteddb..o.u-n- -l-ia-r-l-a-,-s- -o-f--C- e-n-t-ra-l--U--p-l-a-n-d------------------------------------------------------

33 57..00

SSUUIrIflalloclaefiYCfeooaatrsuwtraealstPeolr!aoGinoe.wo.e.r.rg.si.ao...f.-G_.e_..o-_rg_-ia_-._-._.-._.-_.-.-_.-._-._.-._--_---_---_---_--_--__--_--_-_-_---_-_--_--_--_--_---__--_-_---__-_--__--_-_

20 8 13-17

Suwasdnteeuvede. ylroiavpfem..r-,en-sYt-lo-rtfe--m-- .-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

14-17 13 48

INDEX

189

Page

SWaiDIO>SkeoffeCnookaeseta.-l-P--l-a-i-n_._.__._-_------------------------.---_.__.____-_-_-_-__-_-_-_-_-_--_-_-__-_-----_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-________ -__--_-__--__. 5512--5544

SystemBlaunedRitdrgeen,dooff. .C--o-h__u_t_t_a__M_ -o--u-n--t-a-i-n-s--------__-_--_-__----------_-__-_------__-_-_-_--__--_-_-_-__-_-_-_-_-_-_-_- .--_.--_-.-.

111014

T

Talla,poosa Teas, L . P ..

Uatptleadn-c-L----------------------------------------------- --- --------

---------------------------

Terracceo,asCstt&lael.x,. tcoolotl-rG-r-ee-lo-ar-tgi-oia-n._-_o-f_-___-_-___-__-__-_-___-__----_----_---_----_--_--_----_--_--_--_-_-_--_-_---_--_----_--_--_--_--_-_-_---_--_-_.--_--_-_-_----_--_--_--_-_-_---_----_----_----_

RcoazrriBelhautri.oitn._o_f m__a_t_in_B__-_-_--_-_-_ _--_-_-_-_-_-_-_ -_ -_-_-_--_-_-_-_-__-_-_-__-_-__-_-_-__-_-_ _-__-_-

POekDehfeonloowkeaey-_-_-_-_-

-_-_--_--_-

_--_--_--_-_-

-_-_-_-_-_--_-_-_-_-

_--_-_-_-

_--_-

-__

----- --------- ----
~- -- --------

RSai.vt1erll-.a-...-..----------------- -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The ma:inland ot Sat!lla. Terrace. --------------- ----------------------
smeaarisshlae.sndofs.S-a.-till-a t-err-ac-e------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TTTihOthrtDoooun!~g!gntUauh~t>&PfhlYalo~asWo..anfi.ndw:Gg-he-raoo-n:rl-deg--:i-i-an--_~-d-_i--~g_-_e~-n_-_o_--_uc_-s-_-t:i_V--:_ll-i_-~S--_--~_--.--_----=-_---=_---=--_-=--_---=-_--=----=_---=-_-=---_=---=--_--_=--_=-_---=-_----=_-=-_---=_--=--_--=_-=---_=--_-=-_=---=_---=-_--=--_
Topo~hic cha.ra.cter of the Central Upland. __________ __ _____________ _

diVlSiGns otthe Central Upl.and........- ---------------------- - ----
div1sions ~O.oasta.ll'lain.----------------------------------
f<i:ogp-~,~:&"~==-~==--=====:==::::::::: :..::=:..:==---== :== =:

forms of Ducl.:town PlateaU----------------------------------------- ---- --

forms forms

ootf

mwassee Plateat1--....------ - ---------------------------Ltttls Tennessee PlateaU---------------- ------ ------------

TotalmomfapipleusaboglfeicGoreforoaardfgsliiaoi,nae.Gxdtse>iolnarngGaiatei_oo_nu_oifa_---_-_-_--_-_-_--__--_-__--_--__---_-_--_-_-_----_-_-_-_--_-_--__-__-_-__--__--__--_--

Trade and industties---- --.--- --...-------------... ..-.------
'l'rattl.c routes----------- ----- ---- -- - -- - -------------- ----------------.----
T~raigl"R~idge=of ~Okef&e~no~k&eenTcerimC.I.I.S:-=--:-=--=-=--:::-:::-..::-:-::-..-::-..-::-:-::-::-::-:-::-::-:-.-.--::::-:-:--..-:-:-
TTyrepniodaslo:ffoHnnlsgohf l1&il&nld:ll~aendLs-u-m-m-it-s------ --------------------------------------------------------

U

74-76 38 29
33-34
21-34 35 29
2&-29 24-26
35 22-24
22 22 23-24 1-12
13 54 45 36-39 2-3 60-63 61 17-45 15-17
104-105 115-116
117 116-119
3 11 10-11 166 163-165 27-29 1()...11
131-132 99-100
100

United States Geological Survey, cited---- -------------- --- --------------------- -----

3

UplanTda,llCapenotorsaaL_-__-_-_-_--_-__-_--_-__- -_-_-__-_-_-_-_-_-_--__-_--_-_-_-_-_-__-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_- -_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-__-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_--_

57-92 74-76

Tifton---------------------------- ----- --------------- --- -- ----- ------------------ 36-39

v

Valley. Chickamauga_ . ____________________________ __ __ ______ _ _ _ __ 14&-147

.PRroo'ml'l:enc..e._.._._..____ _________________________-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-__--__-_-_-_-__-_-_-__-_--__-_--__-_--_--_ 133-147

13ll-143

Value of lea.<ttng croPS. 1924---------------------------- -- --- ------- --------- -

9

VVaelautceho.fOMttion,erceitlePdr.o.-d-u--ct-i-o-n -of-G--e-o-r-g--ia-,-1-9-2-3-------------------------------------------------------------

5 21,51,54

W

Wasb:lngton Plateau_ _____ ________________ ___________ _ _____ __ _

83-86

Water Powers of Geoma. summary oL-- --------------------- -------------

8

:::: Wr!eglhec~t~ri..cici~~ro~d~uc-ed~=1n-1~92~3-- -~- -=---_-:-_-:=_:_ :~_-::::.--::-::.----::-.--:=.-=-=- --=-----:-:-

--

----
=-.::._-

8 5-8
54

~ II'