"Rivers of Time: How Ancient Rocks Ended Up in the Mississippi Lowlands"

 The presence of isolated boulders in areas with soft soils, especially in the Gulf Coast region, is indeed intriguing and could be a sign of ancient geological processes. While there wasn’t a mountain range in the immediate region during the more recent geological past, these boulders might point to two primary explanations:

1. Ancient Uplands and Erosion: The Appalachian Mountains, located further east, once extended farther into the continental interior and reached higher elevations. Over millions of years, erosion carried sediment and occasional larger rock fragments downstream, some of which could have been deposited much farther south. The boulders you’ve found may be remnants of this erosion, transported by ancient river systems when sea levels and river courses were different.

2. Glacial Erratics: Although glaciers did not reach as far south as Mississippi or Louisiana during the last ice ages, certain large boulders could still be glacial erratics transported by river systems. During periods of glacial melting, rivers carried rocks and boulders southward. These stones could have been deposited in their current locations as the ancient Mississippi River and other tributaries shifted over time.

These boulders likely bear the mark of extensive geological history, either through riverine transport from the Appalachian uplift or remnants of larger, older formations long since eroded and transported south.

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