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The Geology

The Geology. of. of. Mississippi. Introduction to Mississippi. Named after the Mississippi River Located in the southeastern part of the U.S. Bordered by Tennessee (N), Alabama (E), Mississippi River (W), and Gulf of Mexico (S) 32 nd largest state (47,695 square miles)

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The Geology

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  1. The Geology of of Mississippi

  2. Introduction to Mississippi • Named after the Mississippi River • Located in the southeastern part of the U.S. • Bordered by Tennessee (N), Alabama (E), Mississippi River (W), and Gulf of Mexico (S) • 32nd largest state (47,695 square miles) • Highest Elevation- Woodall Mountain, 806 ft • Lowest Elevation- Coast, sea level

  3. Fossils of Mississippi • Zygorhiza kochii (Prehistoric Whale)–Mississippi State Fossil

  4. Fossils of Mississippi • Myliobatis (Eagle Rays)

  5. Fossils of Mississippi • Basilosaurus cetoides (Prehistoric Whale)

  6. Fossils of Mississippi • Carcharodon auriculatus (giant shark)

  7. Fossils of Mississippi • Mastodon (Wooly Mammoth)

  8. Mississippi State Stone • Petrified Wood • Best known site is the Mississippi Petrified Forest, in Flora Mississippi • The Mississippi Petrified Forest is the only Petrified Forest in the eastern United States

  9. How Does Wood Become Petrified? Need plenty of wood near a water source

  10. 2nd Step to Petrification Trees must be knocked over near water source. Most of the time this is caused by a volcanic eruption

  11. 3rd Step to Petrification • Wood is saturated with water

  12. 4th Step to Petrification • Wood is buried by mud, silt or ash • This fairly rapid burial allows the process of permineralization to begin

  13. Permineralization Begins • Minerals and elements enter the wood from water and fill in the "pores". This is what causes the wood to become petrified. When all the pores of the wood have been filled, the color can change.

  14. Petrified Wood is Exposed • The wood begins to be exposed on the surface due to weathering (rain). Because the "pores" of the wood have been filled with minerals, it has become resistant to weathering and rotting, allowing it to stand on the surface virtually undisturbed.

  15. Wood is Exposed on the Surface • Now it is considered a fossil and a rock, because of it’s mineralized state.

  16. Landforms of Mississippi

  17. 2 Main Land Regions in Mississippi • Mississippi Valley Alluvial Plain • Coastal Plain

  18. Mississippi Valley Alluvial Plain • Known as the Delta • Covers the entire western edge of MS • Enriched with silt deposits from the Mississippi River floods

  19. Coastal Plain • Extends over all the State east of the Delta • Composed mainly of low, rolling forested hills, prairies and lowlands

  20. Loess Hills • Composed of windblown deposits of clay sized material • Loess can be seen in Vicksburg along I-20 • Many fossils can be found in these deposits • Loess cliffs can maintain vertical cliffs unlike most other sediment.

  21. Tennessee River Hills • Located in the northeast part of the state • Foothills of the Appalachian Mountains • Highest point in Mississippi located here (Woodall Mountain 806 feet)

  22. Pine Hills • Often called Piney Woods • Located in the southeastern part of the state Clarkco State Park

  23. Black Belt or Backland Prairies • Called this because their soils are largely black in color. • Long narrow prairie lies in the northeast section of the state • Black belt run through 11 counties

  24. Flatlands (Coastal Areas) • Along the Mississippi Sound • The coast line (beaches) • Barrier Islands

  25. Mississippi River • Longest River in North America (2,350 miles long) • Mississippi-Missouri River is the 4th longest in the world • River basin, or watershed, is the third largest in the world

  26. Drainage Basin for 31 states and 2 Canadian provinces

  27. Headwaters / Upper Mississippi River Lower Mississippi River Mississippi River is Divided into 2 Parts

  28. Floodplain Cut Bank Point Bar Main Channel Mississippi River • Meandering River System

  29. Mississippi Geology • Geology becomes progressively younger moving from East to West across state and into Delta region

  30. Mississippi Geology • Continental Glaciation approximately 10,000 years ago during the Pleistocene has shaped most of Mississippi’s physical terrain as we know it today • Glaciers during the Pleistocene created and shaped the whole upper part of the Mississippi River!

  31. Mississippi River

  32. Mississippi River

  33. Mississippi River

  34. Jackson Volcano • Extinct volcano • 2,900 Feet Below Jackson • Peak of volcano is below the coliseum off I-55 • No other capital city or major population center is located above an extinct volcano

  35. The End

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