Introduction Louisiana is entirely made of Mississippi mud. Its surface rocks are 50 million old. Louisiana is famous for Petroleum which is deeply buried under the whole state.

LAND Mount Driskill, Bienville Parish are the highest Point in Louisiana. New Orleans is the lowest point in Louisiana. Atchafalaya and Wax Lake Deltas are the fastest growing natural features Lafourche and Terrebonne Parishes are experiencing the highest rate of land loss. Houston Ridge is the oldest shoreline feature in Louisiana.

WATER Lake Pontchartrain is the largest natural water body in Louisiana Toledo Bend Reservoir is the largest artificial lake. The Great Mississippi Flood of 1972 affected the entire Mississippi alluvial valley. Louisiana coastline gets directly effected by the growth and the decline of the Antarctic ice sheet.

ROCKS Agate is the gemstone of Louisiana state which is a verity of translucent microcrystalline quartz called “Chalcedony”. The oldest exposed rocks in Louisiana are small patches of Late Cretaceous marine rocks.

FOSSILS Petrified palm wood is the Louisiana state fossil and is characterized by prominent rod-like structures within the regular grain of the silicified wood. The largest fossils found in Louisiana are the bones of Basilosaurus, a primitive whale, called by paleontologists “archaeocetes.” The oldest fossils found in Louisiana are Paleozoic marine invertebrates.

CONCLUSION The surface of the state may properly be divided into two parts, the uplands and the alluvial. Near the coast, there are many salt domes, where salt is mined and oil is often found. Louisiana contains a number of areas which are, in varying degrees, protected from human intervention. Petroleum and gas deposits are found in abundance both onshore and offshore in waters.

REFERENCES Louisiana Geological Survey Geological Society of America Reviews in Engineering Geology