Hamilton County Geological Formation
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Hamilton County is at the southwest corner of East
Tennessee, bounded on the south by the Georgia
State line. About one-fifth of the county is part of the
Cumberland Plateau and its escarpment. Conglomerates,
sandstones, siltstones, and shales, with a few thin coal
seams underlie the plateau. These relatively level
rocks are of Pennsylvanian age. The escarpment
is lined with limestones, sandstones, and shales
of Mississippian age. The rest of Hamilton County is
in the Valley and Ridge, underlain by limestones,
dolomites, shales, and sandstones. Rocks in this
area are mostly faulted and folded and range from
Cambrian to Mississippian in age. The Cumberland
Plateau in Hamilton County is a linear upland about
five miles wide along the western side of the county
that includes parts of Walden Ridge, Raccoon, and
Lookout mountains. Walden Ridge, the regional name
given to the plateau in Tennessee east of Sequatchie
Valley, forms the most southeastern part of the
contiguous mass of the plateau in Tennessee.
The average elevation of this tableland is about 1,800
feet, gradually rising westward to more than 2,000
feet along the Hamilton-Sequatchie County line.
"Tennessee Topology"
by David D. Starnes
TN Div of Geology, Bulletin 86
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Cumberland Trail
Hamilton County Geology
Formation Breakdown
01 Alluvial Deposits
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21
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02
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39
07
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15 19
17
03
03 07
1818
15
25
19
07 1420
1915
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30
08 Graves Gap Formation
09 Indian Bluff Formation
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Map produced by Jim Brannon - Cumberland Trail SST - 11/09/2009
18 Newman Limestone
19 Pennington Formation
20 St. Louis Limestone
21 Chattanooga Shale
22 Sneedville Limestone
31 Juniata Formation
32 Knox Group
33 Lebanon Limestone
34 Longview Dolomite
35 Middle and Lower Parts of Chickamauga Group
36 Newala Formation, Mascot Dolomite
39 Sequatchie Formation
15 Fort Payne Formation
17 Monteagle Limestone
27 Carters Limestone
38 Ridley Limestone
14 Bangor Limestone
16 Grainger Formation
26 Bigby-Cannon Limestone
37 Pierce and Murfreesboro Limestones
13 Vowell Mountain Formation
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25 Rockwood Formation
30 Copper Ridge Dolomite
12 Slatestone Formation
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25 32
40
32 44
43
41
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39
07 Gizzard Group
24 Clinch Sandstone
29 Chickamauga Group
05 Cross Mountain Formation
06 Fentress Formation
23 Brassfield Formation
28 Chepultepec Dolomite
04 Crooked Fork Group
11 Rockcastle Conglomerate
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29
03 Crab Orchard Mountains Group
10 Redoak Mountain Formation
2539
07
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25
Ordovician Period
Ordovician
Period
03
40 Wells Creek Formation
Cambrian Period
Cambrian
Period
03
02 Crab Orchard Mountains & Gizzard Groups
Pennsylvanian Period
Pennsylvanian
Period
19
Mississippian Period
Mississippian
Period
14
07
Silurian
Silurian
Period
Period
39
29
41 Conasauga Group
42 Maryville Limestone
43 Maynardville Limestone
44 Nolichucky Shale
45 Pumpkin Valley Shale
46 Rome Foundation