Stratigraphic evidence in the central Mississippi embayment indicates that apparently a stream of major size has occupied continuously the approximate same location as the existing Mississippi River--at least since Late Jurassic time. Significant quantities of deltaic sediments are present in the Smackover Limestone (Late Jurassic) and in most younger units. The stream which has persisted since Jurassic time is referred to here as the "Ancient Mississippi River."

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