U.S. Geological Survey Home AASG Logo USGS HOME CONTACT USGS SEARCH USGS
National Geologic Map Database
Geologic Unit: Memphis
Search archives
Map showing publication footprint
  • Usage in publication:
    • Memphis Sand*
  • Modifications:
    • Original reference
  • Dominant lithology:
    • Sand
  • AAPG geologic province:
    • Upper Mississippi embayment
Publication:

Moore, G.K., and Brown, D.L., 1969, Stratigraphy of the Fort Pillow test well, Lauderdale County, Tennessee: Tennessee Division of Geology Report of Investigations, no. 26, 1 sheet.


Summary:

Name Memphis Sand given to "500-foot sand" at base of Claiborne Group. Unit is very light gray, fine- to coarse-grained lignitic sand, with minor silt and silty clay. Thickness 213 m. Major aquifer. Overlies Flour Island Formation of Wilcox Group; underlies Cook Mountain Formation of Claiborne Group. Age is middle Eocene.
Type section (subsurface): depth-interval 186 to 399 m, Fort Pillow test well, at the site of old Fort Pillow on the Mississippi River, Lat. 35 deg. 38 min. 39 sec. N., Long. 89 deg. 49 min. 35 sec. W., Lauderdale Co., west-central TN. Named from City of Memphis.

Source: GNU records (USGS DDS-6; Reston GNULEX); US geologic names lexicon (USGS Bull. 1520, p. 200).


Map showing publication footprint
  • Usage in publication:
    • Memphis Sand*
  • Modifications:
    • Areal extent
  • AAPG geologic province:
    • Upper Mississippi embayment
Publication:

Frederiksen, N.O., Bybell, L.M., Christopher, R.A., Crone, A.J., Edwards, L.E., Gibson, T.G., Hazel, J.E., Repetski, J.E., Russ, D.P., Smith, C.C., and Ward, L.W., 1982, Biostratigraphy and paleoecology of lower Paleozoic, Upper Cretaceous, and lower Tertiary rocks in U.S. Geological Survey New Madrid test wells, southeastern Missouri: Tulane Studies in Geology and Paleontology, v. 17, no. 2, p. 23-45.


Summary:

Unit geographically extended from western TN to southeastern MO.

Source: GNU records (USGS DDS-6; Reston GNULEX).


Map showing publication footprint
  • Usage in publication:
    • Memphis Sand*
  • Modifications:
    • Areal extent
  • AAPG geologic province:
    • Upper Mississippi embayment
Publication:

Hosman, R.L., 1988, Geohydrologic framework of the Gulf Coastal Plain: U.S. Geological Survey Hydrologic Investigations Atlas, HA-695, 2 sheets, scale 1:2,500,000


Summary:

Unit is geographically extended from western TN and southeastern MO into northeastern AR. Overlies Flour Island Formation of Wilcox Group; underlies Cook Mountain Formation of Claiborne Group. Age is Eocene.

Source: GNU records (USGS DDS-6; Reston GNULEX).


Search archives

For more information, please contact Nancy Stamm, Geologic Names Committee Secretary.

Asterisk (*) indicates published by U.S. Geological Survey authors.

"No current usage" (†) implies that a name has been abandoned or has fallen into disuse. Former usage and, if known, replacement name given in parentheses ( ).

Slash (/) indicates name conflicts with nomenclatural guidelines (CSN, 1933; ACSN, 1961, 1970; NACSN, 1983, 2005, 2021). May be explained within brackets ([ ]).

Accessibility FOIA Privacy Policies and Notices

USA Gov U.S. Department of the Interior | U.S. Geological Survey
Supported by the National Cooperative Geologic Mapping Program
Page Contact Information: Personnel
Page Last Modified: Thu 04 Apr 2024 03:26:04 PM MDT