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Introduction to Mississippi
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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
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Fossils of Mississippi
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Zygorhiza kochii (Prehistoric Whale)–
Mississippi State Fossil
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Fossils of Mississippi
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Myliobatis (Eagle Rays)
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Fossils of Mississippi
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Basilosaurus cetoides (Prehistoric Whale)
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Fossils of Mississippi
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Carcharodon auriculatus (giant shark)
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Fossils of Mississippi
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Mastodon (Wooly Mammoth)
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Mississippi State Stone
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Petrified Wood
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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
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How Does Wood Become
Petrified?
Need
plenty of wood near a water source
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2nd Step to Petrification
Trees
must be knocked over near water
source. Most of the time this is caused by a
volcanic eruption
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rd
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 Wood
Step to Petrification
is saturated with water
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th
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Step to Petrification
 Wood
is buried by mud, silt or ash
 This fairly rapid burial allows the process of
permineralization to begin
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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.
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Petrified Wood is Exposed
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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.
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Wood is Exposed on the Surface
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it is considered a fossil and a rock,
because of it’s mineralized state.
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Landforms of Mississippi
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2 Main Land Regions in Mississippi
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Mississippi Valley Alluvial Plain
 Coastal Plain
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Mississippi Valley Alluvial Plain
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Known as the Delta
 Covers the entire
western edge of MS
 Enriched with silt
deposits from the
Mississippi River
floods
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Coastal Plain
 Extends
over all the State east of the Delta
 Composed mainly of low, rolling forested
hills, prairies and lowlands
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Loess Hills
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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.
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Tennessee River Hills
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Located in the northeast part of the state
 Foothills of the Appalachian Mountains
 Highest point in Mississippi located here (Woodall
Mountain 806 feet)
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Pine Hills
 Often
called Piney Woods
 Located in the southeastern part of the
state
Clarkco
State Park
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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
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Flatlands (Coastal Areas)
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Along the Mississippi Sound
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The coast line (beaches)
Barrier Islands
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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
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Drainage Basin for 31 states and 2
Canadian provinces
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Mississippi River is Divided into 2
Parts
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Headwaters / Upper
Mississippi River
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Lower Mississippi
River
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Mississippi River
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Meandering River System
Floodplain
Cut Bank
Point Bar
Main
Channel
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Mississippi Geology
 Geology becomes
progressively younger
moving from East to
West across state and
into Delta region
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Mississippi Geology
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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!
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Mississippi River
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Mississippi River
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Mississippi River
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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
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The End
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