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o. St. Jo"h-n-.

· ,THE JOHNJ~RERAR.

LIBRARY. : I .

i . ~r.on9"r1r ~ ~ ~ ~ A ~

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:~ OtD CORN .

.. .. , APIACULTURE. GARDENS AND POULTRY. DAIRY PRODUCTS. - ON HAND. -YEAB8. Number oj Number I . Y.~' BtuJhel. oj Number pounds oj oj pounds Value oj Value oj CHEESE. BUTTEB. lold,OIhertluin

old aomon oj .Ianda honey OjWD," garden prod. poultry and . that 'Used j()f' kand. oj bees. produced. produced. uct. aold. egfl8801d• No. pound.. No. pound.. ehb:'~~ •

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I 8496,08300 'I I . 1881-••••• _ . __ ._ •. _ .••••••••••••••••••••••••••••.•.••••. _ ••. 18,539,240 18,892 142,860 5,.287 8691,26300 786,269

~:::::::~ - .... ~~.~~:~~~ .. ~~ 1882. .•••••••••• __ •••• : .••••••••••.• _ •..•••••••.••••••••••••••• 7,327,421 15,448 I' 41,810 2,544 487,644 00 1,065,16400 723,264 -- --------

-'-

FENCES. --~-.--- -- -- - -- -- -~-

I BOARD: RAIL. I STONE.

I HEDGE. I WIRE.

YBABB. ,

, No. ojrod •• Value. No. ojrod •. Value: • '1'0. oj rods. Value . No. oj~od •. Value. No. oj rod.. Value. l

1881._._ .......................... 2,149,196 83,008,874 40 I 4,353,700 $6,095',180 00 1,490,799 $2,757,97815 \ 14,700,618 $8,085,33990 I 5,li07,689 83,579,997 85

1882 .............................. 1,946,363 2,724,908 20 3,460,151 $4,844,211 40 1,788,836 . 3,309,346 60 15,631,329 ,8,597,230 95 9,920,364 6.,448,236 60 -- ~-.--- ---------- -----~-

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THI:. JOHN CRERA.~

LIBRARY·

SKETCH OF THE GEOLOGY OF KANSAS.

BY O. ST. JOHN.

GEOGR.\J'HICAL POSITION AND AREA.

The State of Kansas lies within the meridians 94° 37' and 102° west longitude, and the parallels 37° and 40° north latitude, having an extreme east-west extent of above 400 miles and a breadth north· south of about 200. It thus pre.sents a parallelogram containin~ an area of above 80,000 square miles, a bit of the northeast corner of which is cut off by the Missouri river; the State of Missouri forms the remainder of its eastern boundary, Nebraska and Colorado' bounding it on the north and west respectively, and Indian Territory on the south.

SURFACE FEATURES ."ND DRAINAGE.

Lying wholly within the prairie region, which to the westward imperceptibly merges into the great plains that occupy a broad belt several hundred miles in width, interven­ing between the Rocky Mountains and the Missouri river, it presents a nearly uniform undulating surface, which scarcely affords an intimation of the considerable range in altitude that actually exists within its borders. The confluence of the Kansas and Mis­souri rivers at Kansas City, the lowest point in the State, has an altitude of 751 feet above the level of the sea; the minimum elevations along the eastern border, at the ex­treme north and south limits, scarcely exceeding 100 feet greater altitude. 1'0 the west­ward there is a gradual and regularly steepening ascent in the surface, with a slight tilting of the northwest corner of the parallelogram, where the height of land attains a maximum elevation of about 4,000 feet. According to the data elaborated from railway survey profiles, and other sources, the contour lines representing vertical intervals of 1,000 feet, exhibit remarkable regularity in their parallelism, trending a little west of south and east of north in crossing the State. Sueh irregularities as they present, and indeed the general configuration of the surface, are chiefly due to erosion, since there exi~t no displacements of the geological formations sufficient to produce mountainous f()IJ~ and gi ve origin to local drainage systems. Probably tbe most conspicuous topo­graphical features in the State do not exceed 500 feet relative altitude, and are distributed along the principal drainage depreRsionR, as bll1f1~, or along the intervening water divides. In the latter instance they sometimes assume the shape of hill ranges; more often, how­ever, forming billowy stretclws of. grassy uplands. Notwithstanding the absen.Je of mountainous elevations, the surface features present great variety, not even lacking the reality of ruggedness along the larger valleys, where the rock bluf!~ are precipitolls and rent by wild ravines. The drainage of the uplands is collected by numberless shallow channels, called" draws," which eilectually drain .thc surface; indeed, the prairies and plains of Kansas are almost destitute of" Itlar"hy tracts. Elsewhere the valleys assume the condition of broad expanses of bottom lan<l, bordered by gentle acclivities rising into the uplands, broken here and there by pictures'lue rock ledges or soil-covered grassy blulls.

(.sn)

E72 STATE BOARD OF AGRICGLTURE. --~~~ ~-- - --~~~--~~~~

'fhp c!da: IH of the superficial contour are very varied; and although they owe their p.'esllnt an:e.1Il,,1oCeS to erosive agencie~, the nature of the subjacent rock formation en­ters as a prominent factor in determining the results as we view them to-day. The phys­ical geography of a region is so inseparably connected with its geological structure, that in order to understand the origin of the varied superficial features of the one, it is ab~ solutely essential that a knowledge of the latter should be acquired. Hence the local aspects of the country are best discussed in connection with the detailed account of the geological structure, to which place further comment on the subject is reserved.

The drainage system of Kansas has a general easterly and southeasterly course, and is about equally divided between the Missouri and the Arkanaas rivers. The former stream, which forms about one-fourth of the eastern boundary of the St~((", receives the direct drainage of a comparatively unimportant area in the extreme northeast corner; but the Kansas river and its principal ~outherly affluent, the Smoky Hill, which gains the Mis~ souri on the eastern bo,rder, embraces nearly half the area of the State. Its ultimate sources rise beyond the limits of the State, in the great plains of eastern Colorado. The principal tributary drainage is southeasterly, in accordance with the predetermined lay of the land, the northerly-flowiug drainage being confined to a narrow belt, in no place exceeding twenty-five miles in width, lying immediately south of the Kansas and Smoky Hill, and defined by a well-marked barrier of uplands. The principal affluents that gain the northern bank of the Kansas and Smoky Hill 'are, the Delaware or Grasshopper, Blue, Republican, Solomon and Saline river8, whose valleys present special characteris­tics in scenery, and to some extent also agricultural adaptability, while they will doubt­less be found to furnish the key to the satisfactory elucidation of the geological structure of the northern half of the State.

A comparati vely limited area in the eastern-central portion of the State is drained by the O"age river, also au independent easterly-flowing tributary of the Missouri, and which traverses some half dozen of the rich agricultural, timbered and coal couuties of that part of the State. Rising in the highlands of Lyon and Wabaunsee counties, which are based upon the heavy limestone ledges of the Upper Coal-measures, it flows southe~terly a distance of about ninety miles to the Missouri boundary, where its valley approx< imately d£fmes the northerly border of the exposed Lower Coal-measure area in the southeastern portion of the State.

The Arkansas river. which receives the drainage of the southern half of the State, has an easterly course ahout half-way across the State, when it swerves to the north and then southeasterly, crossing the southern boundary into the Indian Territory at a point about 121) miles west of the l\Iissouri State line. Its valley is eroded hut little deeper than that of the Kansas, although the volume of its waters, which are derived from perpetual snow fields crowning the lofty peaks in the heart of the l{ocky Moun­tains, far exceeds that of the latter stream, which is fed by springs issuing in the out­lying Platte-Arkansas watershed. The latter divide lose~ its di,tinctive character as a conspicuolls topographical feature el'e it reaches the western bor,ler of Kan8a~, spreading Ollt into great grassy plains traced by shallow ,lrainage channels, anll scored by larger water-courNes. The waterfheds of the latter streams are often narrowed, presenting wedge-like prolongations marking the former eastward extension of the great plains plate all of eastern Colora,j,,_ "'est of the great bend, two consi,lerable streams-the Walnut ane! Pawnee-drain the slope lying south of the t;moky II ill, which is thuE! made tributary to the Arkansas_ Still to the westwan\ this water-divide presents an anomalous basin which is isolatel\ from either of the river courses 011 the north and Bouth. It receives the drainage of parts of four counties, which diHappearR in a Ahallow lake-bell withont vi~ible outlet. Along this p~rt of the A rk,tllRlts several Hhort water­COlHR€S depcending from the IIpland" lORe them"elv,," in the 100Re Roil of the broad hottom-

THIRD 'Bl'ENNIAL REPoliT. 573

land bordering the river, and which, lik\ the sands of the river· bed, is thorGughly Permeated with water. East of the great b!lnd, t~e Neosho and Verdigris are the two ~pal tributaries gaining the north bank of the Arkansas, besides the smaller streams of tie Whitewater, or Walnut and Little Arkansas, that empty their waters within the limits of the State. The Neosho rises in the water.di vide south of the Kansas, and 'towing easterly and southerly it drains an area equal to that tributary to the Odage. Its valley is famous for its agricultural products, while the water power is of equal importance to that of the Blue, in the north p,rt of the State. South of the Arkansas, along the southern border of the State, numerous afHuents intersect the undulating uplands, and in the extreme southwest portion the country is deeply scored by the ,Cimarron and its tributaries.' The latter quarter presents perhaps the most rugged topOgraphical features to be met with in the State. The streams are deeply eroded into the subjacent rock formations, presenting the characteristics of caftous whose walls of . variegated banded strata are sculptured by the elements into the most varied and pic· turesque forms. The'streams are often skirted by belts of timber, while the adjacent uplands are clothed with herbage which will afford pasturage and shelter to the herds that will soon permanently occupy this at present little-known section.

The valley of the Arkansas, throughout its course within the limits of the State, pre­,eeots magnificent reaches of level bottom-land, whose depth of fertile soil is composed of the traveled sediments which the great river itself has transported from the mountains 'and plains lying to the westward. The gleaming stream winds in great curVeS through the br9ad, alluvial plain, confined by low earth-banks, its waters filtered through a br~dth of sands that compose throughout its bed. Here an!I there the border uplands .encroach .upon the valley, revealing shelly limestone st~ata and deep, iron.dyed sand­stone ledges. Already the stream has been made to resume its cobtributions to the enrich­ment of the neighboring lands, to ,which its waters are conducted by irrigating canals. -In'its physical aspects, the Arkansas is very similar to the Platte, of Nebraska: along rn-tions of the river's course the waters are 103t in the sands of its broad, shallow bed during part of the year, to reappear in a maze of intricate channels; but in the spring and early summer, its banks are filled to the·brim with a rushing flood of turbid, sediment­laden water. On the other hand, the Kansas presents all the appearances of a maturer .tream: its bed is more deeply eroded into the rock foundations, and throughout its lower -OOUI'IIe the valley is bounded by beautiful slopes, which terminate in frequent rocky bluffs, rising above the stream to heights of 200 to 400 feet. The valley, as also those of ita principal tributaries, shows a wide belt of low· terraced, alluvial land, of exceeding fertility. The valleys of the lesser streams exhibit every phase of condition traceable to the volume of their waters, and the obstacles they have had to eucounter iu the process 101 eroding their beds. Notwithstanding the uniform gradual descent of the streams, and the consequent absence of waterfalls, the rocky ledges that outcrop in their beds afford .umerous sites for water· power, many of which are indeed already utilized for manu­facturing purposes. , _ Were the valley lands of KansM alone accessible for culti vation, it is safe to say they

-,,,,ould still supply a large share of the world's food, besides m~intaining a population ,,~oeediDg in numbers the million souls domiciled within her borders to-day. But, in ' ~t, her uplands are scarcely les8 productive, under intelligent cultivation, than are the ~eh bottom soils that so generously respond, to the ordinary methods of tillage. The

.elevated plains of western Kansas furnish excellent ranges, capable of' supporting vast )toMB and fiooks. I

;' 1 () 01 , ..... iJu \'

'2...~~"2v€

574 STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE •

• GEOLOGICAL HISTORY.

:rABLE OF GEOLOGICAL FORMATIONS OF THE INTERIOR CONTINENTAL BASIN OF NORTH AMERICA.

I

c.; I Post· Tertiary: £ I

~ i C \ Tertiary:

l

I

\ I Carboniferous:

~ I ~ -\ . ~ I Devoma.ll:

Z ."

\ U. Silurian:

\ L. Sihll'ian:

I Primordial:

;.:: r Huronian. G 1. Laurentian.

'" "'1

: Modern:

j i Pleistocene:

l I Pliocene: i Miocene. LEocene.

I Post-Cretaceous:

( Cretaceous:

\.TUrassic. L Triassic.

I Iv, Carboniferons:

i l L. Carbonif~rous:

I Catskill. I Chemung. j Hamilton.

{ Alluvium.

r Loess. J Terrace. : Modified drift. l Glacial drift.

{ \Vhite River l &c.

~ Laramie. ~ Fox Hills. I Pierre. j Niobrara. I Benton. lllakota.

r Permian. ~ U. Coal-measures.

l L. Coal-measures. Conglomerate. r Chester. i St. Louis.

J \Varsaw. 1 Keokuk. I U. and L. Burlington. lKinderhook, Waverley.

I U. Helderberg, corniferous. L Oriskany. ( L. Helderberg. ~ Salina. lNiagara. . \ Ciucinnati. I Trenton. { Quebec.

Potsdam.

The materials available for the purposes of elucidating the geological structure and mineral resources of Kansas are as accessible to the sludent of Kansas geology as are to be met with in any district of similar extent and situatiou. But the data at present pos­sessed belring on this subject hardly more than subserve the needs of the merest sketch in outline. Therefore it i.< Rcarcely nece,Rary to inclnde in thi, brief review of the salient features of the geologic history of the fitate a detailed 'l.cconnt of the desultory explora­tions that have been pro8ecuted within its border8, and which extend back to the time of the initiatory surveys for the P,wific railw~y,;, AlIIHe'lllently augmented by those ordered by the Htate governrnl'nt, and especi>tlly by the reHearcheA execnted by one of her own most faithful citi1.enH, Professor Benj:tlllin F. l\I,)(lge, the pioneer geologiRt of Kansas. What remains to he performed iR little short of the detail investigation of the charac­teristics of each of the 8everal geological forlllations occurring within the borders of the State, a work which lllll"t I'fl'ccde the illl<'llig~nt eondnct of all enterpriRc Rceking to develop the mineral re.Honrees locke,l in her rtl<,ky slmta. \Vhatcver theRe m'ty be, it is plainly,lisccl'tliblc to all that th"ir character, eX\.('lIt, and accessibility should be made thoroughly well known. Even diRcollraging n'Rldt" I'()HSeRR exad appreciable value in the check,; they afl(ml to the waHle of lahor llnd IIRt'I,,"" ('xpen(litllre of capital in ill­considered ulldertakingR ami unwarranted inve'tlllent~.

· ..JOHN CRE R A t\

.. LIBRARY.

P.BOFILE AND CEOLOCICAL SECTION ACROSS THE STATE OF KANSAS,

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6. Tertiary. 3,+. Cretaceo-us. .:1,.2. U.antl L. Cot:tl-mea~. 1.L.Carboni!erou.f. " Chalk. e. G'Ipnlerous hori~on. d. Cottonwood limestone. e. Osafp' coal. b.Jllae M\i eoal. a.Lead' Zinc.

GEOLOGICAL MAP OF KANSAS. By O. St. John.

B A

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T ert ia.',)" R3.ni1 ,' re S :.llr &: Co. l tl..l;;" Chicag.o.

Cl'CLnCeOliS U l)l)Cl' Coa] - lIIcn ~ nl'cs ~.)WCl· Coal- lIlea~ul'cs :f.J o,vcr Cal~.

THE JOHN CRERAFt.

LIBRARY.

THIRD BIENNIAL REPORT. 575

The region included within the political bounds of Kansas belongs geologically to the great interior or Mississippi basin, sharing intimately in its early geological history and the vicissitudes that attended the accumulation of the cloak of sedimentary formations that envelope the continental areas of the globe. But in order to seek out the earlier chapters of this history, the student must temporarily travel beyond arbitrary bounds, and in the neighboring States of Missouri, Iowa, and Illinois he will find ready to his uses the complete records as recorded in the earliest volnmes of that history and pre­served in the rock formations that were then made. From the time of the earliest of these formations, the Arch:€an and Silnrian, up to the close of the Lower Carboniferous period, the area now included within the borders of Kansas was submerged during entire periods beneath the Paheozoic seas. But at the inception of the Upper Carboniferous period the sea-bed sufficiently emerged as to expose broad land areas above the waters, which quickly became the habitat of a varied and peculiar flora, the conservation of whose remains under favorable circumstances has secured for us the invaluable deposits of coal that constitute the important characteristic of the period. It was, however, a time marked by frequent physical changes, as evidenced in the character of the deposits then laid down, the oscillations in the relations of land and sea now favoring the lux­uriant growths of lagoon vegetation, and then encroached upon by shallow seas, upon whose beds extensive measures of mechanical sediments were precipitated, to be subse­quently converted into beds of coal, shales and sandstones; and often at a later period, as the oscillations became less frequent but of greater magnitude, favoring the formation of extensive accumulations of calcareous matter that went to form beds of limestone.

At the close of the Carboniferous age, in the region to which special reference is here made, the lands maintained their status as such dnring an interval of time equivalent to two entire geological periods, which in other regions witnessed the formation of exten­si ve series of deposits in the earlier periods of the Mesozoic age. Thus it happens that the formations of the Trias and Jura are not recognized in the geologic scheme of Kan­sa~ formations, for the reason that the conditions neceFsary to their accumulation did not here exist; but over the vast area now occupied by the great mountain plateau of the West, the sequence of the earlier ;\fesozoic formations was unbroken. Hence it appears tht the slow encroachment of the sea upon the post. carboniferous land areas of Kansas and adjacent territory was from the mid-continental basin, and it did not reach our ter­ritory until the beginning of the later period of the age, when the various formations representing the epochs of the Cretaceous period were laid down directly upon the Carboniferous floor, without the intervention of either Triassic or J llrassic deposits. N otwith~tanding Rtatements to the contrary, there exists ample evidence of marked non­conformity between the Carboniferous and Cretaceous deposits, showing that the former 'lad been subjecte(l to eroding agencies, and upon the inequalities of snrface thus fash­ioned, t1lP earlier of the Cretaceous formations was unconformably laid down.

Unless observations are misleadin[.';, a similar state of things occurred at a prior date in connection with the sequence of the formations of the Lower and Upper Carbonifer­OUB periods. In the extreme southeast portion of the State, a series of limestone and cherty strata appears, which there is evidence to prove is the e(luivalent of the Keoknk formation of the earlier period. In the more central portion of the great Mississippi basin, the Keoktik constitutes one of the mid(l\e members of the Lower Carboniferous series, upou which s(lcce,ssively rest the Warsaw, St. Louis, and Chester divisionA, which there enter into the complete series of the period. In this southwestern quarter, how­ever, the three latter memhers, if they ever there existed, appear to have been swept en­tirely away hy erosion prior to the ,Ieposition of the deposits constituting tl1'e COftl-measure series, which latter rest unconformably and directly upon the Keokuk formation. The latter bedH exhibit nnmiRlakahle evidence of having partaken in the vertical movement

576 STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. ------- --------

that folded the strata along the axis of the Ozark Hills, lying to the southeast, in which disturbance the superimposed Coal-measures also were involved. But it remains to be ascertained whether this displacement of the original position of the strata involved marks a single throe in the earth's crust, or had its inception about the close of the Lower Carboniferous period, and its conclusion subsequent to the latest depositions of the following period. The latter strata have undoubtedly been influenced by the disturb­ances seated within the Ozark uplift, but it is not so clear that they were included in all the movements that transpired in that quarter-indeed, the existence of appreciable non-conformity between the Coal-measure and the Lower Carboniferous formations mil­itating against the latter interpretation. Therefore it may readily be supposed that the earlier series of this age had been lifted into position, subjecting the upper members to denudation and complete destruction prior to the laying down of the basis deposits of the Coal-measures.

Of the character of the earlier geological formations preceding the middle member of the Lower Carboniferous and including the Devonian, Upper and Lower Silurian, Kan­sas affords no clue, from the fact that in no part within her limits are any of the older rock series exposed to view; on the contrary, they remain deeply buried beneath a mass of subsequently accumulated· strata representing a vertical thickness of 500 to 5,000 feet.

P ALAWZOIC AREA.

The Palreozoic formations appear at the surface over an area of about one-third the entire extent of the State, being confined to its eastern portion. Entering the State from adjacent territory on the east, north and south, their greatest extension westward is along the southern border, or about li5 miles west of the State line. They here pass beneath the superimposed Dakota sandstone, which constitutes the demarkation between the Pahcozoic and Mesozoic series, the junction pursuing a general course about north­northeast to the northern boundary.

The series, as it appears in Kansas, is made up of the Lower and Upper Carboniferous formations, all the older members of the sedimentary series being concealed from view within the borders of the State. Indeed, none of them reappear at the surface unti[ reaching the Rocky Mountains, where their upraised edges have been bared by denuda· tion along the foot of the range. In the latter quarter they have undergone such changes in lithological appearance that, but for the evidence their contianed fossils afford, their identity might hardly be recognized.

LOWER CARBONIFEROUS.

A single member only of the Lower Carboniferous series, viz., the Keokuk limestone, is present in Kansas. It occupies a limited area, perhaps not exceeding forty square miles in extent, in the extreme southeast corner of the State, where Spring river approximately defines its exposed western limit. The formation is' here composed of bluish-gray sili­ceous limestones, interbedded with cherty layers above, and often associated with heavy layers of brecciated siliceous matter. The strata present other evidences of disturbance in their inclined position, probably traceable to the movements concerned in the eleva­tion of the Ozark Hills, which lie some fi fty miles distant, to the eastward.

In connection with some of the more strictly local manifestations of disturbance in these strat~ are associated mineral occnrrences, the presence of which has elicited inter­mittent interest in this region, extending back to the earliest settlement of the neighbor­ing districts. The ores of lead and zinc, occurring in connection with the fragmental deposits, have within the past few years attracted renewed interest in mining enterprises in this quarter. ,That mineral exists, and in considerable abundance, there can be little doubt; but the uncertainty of its location, not being confined to lodes, but occurring in deposits of variable extent and irregular distribution, renders mining exploration at best a hazardous operation.

TUIRD BIENNIAL REPORT. 577

The first di~coveries of ore on Short creek were made in 18i7, where the principal mining operations are still acti'l'ely carried on. As usual with the excitement attending the discovery of rich bodies.,of ore, thousands flocked to the district, and two town sites (Empire- and Galena) were laid ont on opposite sides of Short creek, which at one time contained a crowded population. At present there are perhaps 5,000 people located here, and there are ample evidences of solid prosperity denotillg the continned produc­tiveness of the mines. The early extension of the lines of the Kan~as City, Fo,t Scott & Gulf, and the St. Louis .\: S~n Francisco railroads, to the locality, has greatly benefited its mining industries, afl0rding cheap transportation of the ores to the smelting works, located at \Vier and ~ ew Pittsburg, a few miles to the north. The location of the latter works was determined by the excellence and accessibility of the great Cherokee coal, and which are the principal furnaces for the reduction of zinc ore in the region. Besides the above workR, there is a fine establishment on Short creek for the reduction and reo fining of lead ore; besides, the locality has several works for crushing, washing and separating the ores ready for the furnace. Indeed, comparatively few are aware of the actual dimensions and prosperous condition of the mining operations concentrated in this limited area of southeastern Kansas, and a visit to the Short creek mines and the lead and zinc furnaces affords a gratifying surprise at the evidences of well· considered and successfnl enterprise.

The principal mines occur within an area of about 1,800 acres, in the northeast part of township 34, range 25. Outside of this locality, according to Mr. Charles McClung, lead and zinc have beell found at various places, but not as yet in sufficient quantity to attract attention to near the extent the discoveries on Short creek have received. The ore occurrences bear the most intimate relations to those occurring in the adj acent mining districts in Missouri, where the same formation and mineral deposits, appearing over a greater extent of surface, are more extensively denuded, and consequently more access­ible to scrutiny, although the output of any single locality is probably equaled by that of the Short creek mines. As in that quarter, the ores of lead and zinc are intimately associated. Galena, or the common sulphuret of lead, furnishes almost the entire product of lead in the district. Its derivatives, corussite or carbonate of lead, "dry bone" of the miners, and pyromorphite or phosphate of lead, also occur; the latter, however, so spar­ingly as not to be of economic importance. As usual, the lead carries a small percent­age of sil ver - one to one and a half ounces to the ton of ore. The ores of zinc are t~ common blende or sulphuret of zinc, "black jack," and the derivatives calamine, hydrous silicate of zinc, smithsonite, carbonate of zinc, and zinc bloom, hydrated carbonate of zinc. Of all these ores, beautiful and interesting examples of their crystalline and char­acteristic forms are not infrequent, even the massive zinc ore offering exceedingly attrac­tive specimens of amber and garnet tints. In connection with the above ores of lead and zinc, and which are also intimately associated in the ore·bearing horizons, the fol­lowing additional minerals occur in this and neighboring districts: Chalcopyrite or copper pyrites, beautiful crystal aggregations of which have been discovered by Mr. Erasmus Haworth, and the first met with in this sonthwest lead region -also green car­bonate'of copper in small quantity; pyrites, the bisulphuret of iron, or "mundic" of the miners; calcite, carbonate of lime, or "glass-tif!,;" dolomite, brown spar, composed of carbonate of lime and carbonate of magnesia; and quartz. Bitumen or mineral pitch, also is found in the adj acent Missouri district, occurring as a black viscolls substance, filling cavities in the ore-bearing deposit, and sometimes permeating the rocks. The above-mentioned minerals present variolls paragentic associatiou, from which it may be possible to arrive at very satisfactory conclusions in regard, not only to the actual occur­rences, but the changes in the character of th' original deposits that have taken place in the."process of the chemical and mechanical transformati'lns of their mineral constituents.

578 STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

The geological and mineralogical conditions here prevalent are apparently so closely allied to those which have been so critically studied just acros.~ the border in Missouri, that the results arrived at by Dr. Adolf Schmidt in reference to the latter district are doubtless equally applicable to the present loc:llity. The basis rocks of the district con­sist of a heavy deposit of limestone one hundred or more feet in thickness, and which in places are charged with the remains of a fauna identical with that cbaracterizing typical exhibitions of the Keokuk limestone. Upon the latter rests a series of silioeous limestone strata alternating with massive and concretionary layers and beds of chert. These latter, which also contain characteristic Keokuk f03sil., are locally splintered, which may be, in part at least, traced to the intense preesure and tension to which the strata were subjected during. the movements connected with the Ozark uplift. The ore deposits are chiefly confined to the latter horizons, their occurrence having a vertical range depending upon the extent to which the strata have been disrupted and broken up. Overlying the ore-bearing horizons at many localities occurs a confused deposit of more or less fragmentary chert, with which are associated irregular accumulations of sand and clay, and which attains a thickness of 50 feet or more. The deposition of ores was contemporaneous with or immediately following the transformations induced by chemical agents in the character of the alternating beds of limestone and chert. In portions of the district occupied by these rocks the limestone underwent a chemical change by which it was locally converted into a dolomitic rock. The shrinkage pro­duced in the proces" of metamorphism disrupted the strata, opening fissures which sub­sequently became filled with ore and mineral depositions, forrd!.ng the" runs" of the. miners. In other qnarters, again, the dissolving away of the calcareous layers over more or less considerable areas not only produced horizontal chambers in the series of beds thus acted upon, but caused the associated chert layers to settle, by which they became fractured and brokeu into confused masses, in the crevices of which the ores found lodgment, as also in the larger openings, occurring in sheets and cuboidal maSBe3. In connection with the above-mentioned changes, others followed by which the frag­mental materials were, locally at least, reconsolidated into breccias, the infiltrations composing the paste or matrix consisting of lime or silica. That the latter changes occnrred at a period subs€<] nent to at least the first depositions of ore, is proven by the fact that the matrix incloses fragments of chert with adhering crystals of lead and zinc which were deposited npon them when they were ill the condition of a loosely-aggre- . gated mass of fragmental material. \Vhile these mechanical and chemical processes were transpiring, and possibly reaching back to the date of the earliest mineral deposi­tions, the ores themselves underwent still further chemical changes, producing the various carbonates, silicateF, etc" fonnd in connection with these deposits, or were transported in solution and precipitated elsewhere. The latter processes are doubtless still in operation; even where there is no ore to attack, they are busy affecting the disintegration of the hardest rocks if they contain in their composition the least admixture of decomposable mineral compounds.

It is very prohal,le that the systematic investigation of the facts will reveal features peculiar to the Rhort creek mines as contrastel\ with those of neighboring districts. A day's visit is crowded with the most interesting facts, but they are so varied and nurner-0118 as to elude the attempt to adjn,.;( them into rplevancy f,)r the purposes of detail comparison with better-known rpgions. One can hardly fail of the convietion of the existence of a large amount of orc in cOlllwelion wilh the p"clliiar formations here fOllnd. It wOllld seem reasonable to ('xpcct to fin,l tlw<e oreR wherever the conditions favorable to their accnmnlation {'xiHt. As theRe are remarkably persistent throllghont this AonthweHt region, it lIlay be that 8evptf! eliRtinct ore-bearing horimnA OCCUI', sepa­rated by greater or lesA thicknesReH of limeRtone Atrata that have been nnalTected j,y the

THIRD BIENNIAL REPORT. 579

agencies that were employed in preparing proper receptacles for the various ores peculiar to the region.

UPPER CARllONIFEROl:S.

Far the larger area is occupied by the Upper Carboniferous series, which embraces the eastern third of the State. Geologists recognize at least two, and some three and four, distinct members of the period, in the following order of sequence:

Permo-Carboniferous, l-pper Coal-measures, Middle Coal-measures, Lower Coal-measures.

It suffices the pnrpose8 of the present notice, however, to combine the two upper and the two lower members, for which the terms Upper and Lower Coal-measures are used. Indeed, their separation, however justifiable for the sake of convenience of description and local characterizltion, is mainly based upon lithological appearances met with in different horizons, and to some. extent, also, the association of their organic remains. In the latter respect, however, the fact should not be overlooked that very few forms of the long list of fossils so abundantly distributed throughout these measures are peculiar to any one of the members above recognized. Indeed, it is far easier to recogniz~ many of the individual b,eds that compose the series by the peculiarities dependent on the assemblage of their organic remains, than it is to draw the demarkation between the so-called Permo­Carboniferous and Gpper Coal-measure strata from any evidence affvrded by their fossils· Lithologically, however, these distinctions may be said to be more marked, even present­ing a degree of persi~tency oyer quite extensive areas, and together with their mineralog­ical composition, ofl~ring excellent facilities for identifying them one from the other.

It is therefore possible to tnlce the actual distribtltion or geographical extent of the several members in the region of their outcrop, and upon the consummation of which familiarity with this series of strata depend dednctions of great economic importance. It is only a qnestion of time and p:ltient research to acquire a comprehensive and detail knowledge of the stratigraphy of the series, the practical applicatiou of which informa­tion is readily appreciated in the aids it will ~fl,ml in developing the mineral deposits they contain in districts remote from the ontcropping edges of snch deposits. In Kansas this is all the more important, in view of the fiC! that the productive or Lower Coal series occnpies a surf-Ice area limited compared to its westward extension, where it is concealed beneath regularly-increasing thickne~ses ot" snperimposed measures, which mnst be penetrated in or(ler to reach the horiz}n of the great coals that were accumu­lated early in the period.

I"O\YER COAL-MEASCRER.

The area occupied by the ontcrop of the Lower COli. l·me~slll"es in the State has not as yet been aecnrately defined. The (lernarkation between the Lower and Upper series along the eastern horder of the Btate is located in ~li'l.lni county, about 40 mileR south of the mouth of the Kansas river, and a little more than 100 miles north of the south­east corner of the StRte. Thence it wi II probably he found to pursue a devious westerly course to the valley of the Neosho, which ha~ er()'!E.d a bay-like recess into the Upper measures, and thence we.s! of sonth to some point on the Ronthem boundary, in the neighborhooll of the Verdigris drainage. The area over which thi~ series is eXl'oc;ed may be stater! at between 4,000 and 5,000 .''lllare miles, llpproxilllRtely. The yery base of the Aeries has a limite,! expo,ure of only a. few miles along the course of Spring river, in the extreme sontheast corner of the Rtate, where it rests unconformably upon the nn­evenly-eroded surface of Lower Carboniferous strata; to the north and westward, how­ever, these deposits pass beneath the conformably superimposed Upper Coal-measure series which constitutes the westerly boundary of their exposed extent.

580 STATE Bo.uw OF AGRICCLTCRE.

The serie,; is largely made up of shales and sandstones, with occasioual thin beds of limestone, and still more rare occurrences of iron and lead ores, and probably attains a thickness of ;:;00 or 600 feet. Its chief interest from an economic point of view consists in the occurrence of workable beds of coal. Of the latter there are probably at least three, and perhaps five or six, that range from eighteen inches to four feet in thickness, besides several thinner beds of less or no commercial value. The workable coals are mostly distributed in the lower 400 feet of strata, at irregular inten'als, and are the~elveB va­riable in thickness, locally. t-lome of the latter coals are known to have a wide distribu­tion, both in Kansas and the adjacent counties in ?Iissouri. but for tbe most part they have not received sufficient attention to admit of aHthe numerous exposures being iden­tified with their stratigraphical equivalents at remote localities. To the same lack of familiarity with the stratigraphic details of the serie3 are also due misconceptions in re­gard to the local phases of both the heavier and thinner coal·beds occurring in the re­gion. It is, however, belie,ed that comparati vely few of these deposits are non-persistent in the ordinary acceptation of the term, and these are probably mostly restricted to the lower portion of the series, where they occnpy basins or " pockets" of limited extent. Indeed, along the edge of the Lower Coal-measures it is not an infrequent occurrence to find restricted deposits of coal, sJmetimes of only a few square yards extent, which were accumulated in the ineqllalities of the eroded surface of the mJre anciently formed Lower Carboniferous strata. The latter may be recognized both from their relative posi­tion, often filling trough-like depressions en vironed by ledges of the older formation, and the rapid thinning and disappearance of the coal on all sides. 0.1 the other hand, some of the thinner coals are remarkable for their persistency over extensi ve areas, and which thus become of great importance as reliable guides in the determination of the relative position of less-constant members throughout the series.

In the relative proportions of their constituents, the coals present the usual variability, maintaining, however, a fair average of excellence, as demonstrated both by analysis and practical tests. Chemical examination shows a normal perc en tage of volatile mat­ter, fixed carbon, and ash, while in the amount of sulphur contained they compare favor­ably with. the coals of Iowa and Illinois. Good coking varieties occur, the Cherokee bed furnishing a superior article. Coking ovens are already in successful operation on this coal at Wier and Stilson, in Cherokee county. Mining operations are carried on extensively at only a few localities, and this mainly to meet the home demand for lo­comotive and manufacturing purposes and domestic fuel. However, considerable ship­ments of these lower coals are made to the towns and cities on the Missouri river, and into the western and central portions of the State.

Certain limestones associated with the Lower Coal series possess hydraulic properties, a stratum outcropping in the immediate vicinity of Fort Scott having for several years been wrought for this purpose. The works located here are very complete, with a ca­pacity of 100 barrels per diem, with enlargements in progress which will greatly increase the product. The cement produced has gained a high reputation in the market. Other layers of limestone are sufficiently free from impurities to afford a good quicklime, and semi-crystalline layers occur that are susceptible of recei ving a beautiful polish. The under-clays associated with many coal-beds possess the properties of fire-clay, the depos­its often occurring of workable thickness. Ordinary building stone is fonnd thronghout the Lower Coal-measure area, the sandstone ledges of many localities affording excellent flagging materials. Extensive quarries have heen opened a few miles to the northwest of Farlington, in Crawford county; and in the vicinity of Pleasanton, Linn connly, simi­lar ledges occur, the rock at the latter locality being highly saturated with bitumen.

On Mine creek, a tributary of the o.~age, in Linn counly, evidences of quite extensive mining operationR ex iAt, whose date, which haR been lost, may extend back to the early

THIRD BIENt,IAL REPORT.

part of the century.* The ore sought was lead. In 1874, a compau:v v:-ae ·ill'g'aniz-ed:.lIt Pleasanton, and considerable work performed in exploring the old diggings. A coupl<l of miles southeast of the town, ~Ir. J. 'V. Jones sunk a shaft, in the immediate vicinity of some ancient excavations, from which 2,400 pounds of ore was raised and shipped to the smelting works. The shaft penetrated the more or less indurated, arenaceous shales of the Lower Coal· measures to the depth of ninety feet. The first mineral encountered lay in a compact, arenaceous layer, at a depth of fifty·five feet, where the ordinary zinc ore, or blende, constituted the most prevalent ore. Below this, lead became more abundant, occurring in "pockets," aflording the usual cubes, and occasional beautiful modified crystals of octahedral form, and extending through a thickness of thirty-five feet, to the bottom of the shaft. Judging from specimens picked up on the debris dump at the mouth of the shaft, it is evident that the more or less pyritiferous, indurated or con­cretionary layers were, in places at least, rent by fissures, which were filled by calcite infiltrations and sheets of galena. So far as it was possible to ascertain, (the shaft being caved in and filled with water at the present time,) the ores occur under much the same conditions as noted in the Lower Carboniferous lead and zinc horizons in the Short creek region; and although they occupy a geological horizon probably in the neighbor­hood of 300 feet above the latter horizon, the ores may have been deri ved from the same source and deposited at the same date. Other interesting occurrences may be briefly al­luded to in this connection, showing the various lithologic associates of these ores. Coal, however of a very inferior quality, and probably belonging to the isolated" pockets" accumulated early in the period, has been met with ill the Short creek region, which plainly shows the effects of partial decomposition to which the chert and other memberH have been subjected in this quarter, and which was charged with adhering crystals of blende.

The vast stores of fuel locked in the Lower Coal-measure strata give to the region of country over which they outcrop, a special interest. \Vhile our knowledge of the de­tails connected with these deposits is far from being what it should and might be, yet sufficient acquaintance is Poss€Esed to warrant a degree of assumption in drawing con­clusions as to the probable extent of the supply of fuel that may be depended upon from this source.

The general inclination of the strata with which the coal deposits are interbedded is north of west, with minor undulations that give a local south-of-east pitch to the strata. The dip, however, seldom exceeds 10° to the horizon; usually it is so slight as not to be appreciable lccally. It is plain, therefore, that as we progress westward from the eastern border outcrop of any particular member of the coal· bearing series, for example the Cherokee coal-bed, it must soon disappear beneath the beds of even the deepest of the drainage depressions. At the same time, account should be taken of the general lay of the land, which in the present instance has a gentle slope exactly in the opposite direc­tion to that of the strata, or sonlhea,terly, which steadily augments the depth of super­imposed deposits ill the westward extension of any particnlar stratum which erosion has brought to the surface at its farthest east exposnre. The state of things here allnded to is clearly displayed in the profile section traversing the Rtate diagonally from the southeast to the northwest, given on an accompanying page. Minor undulations, trace-

* Incidentally calling the attention of .Tudg-e AL1alll~ to the ohscurity in whi{'h the date of these old diggings i~ involvf'(l, he kindly acqnaintf'd Ille with data in the archives of the ~tate Historical Society, which "nord Bomo interesting facts relating to the uiscovery of lead in this region. It appears that the earliest discoveries were maue by traders in the employ of Pierre Chouteau, in 179G. Thirty years after­ward, in tho fall of 1826, Mr. Choutean visited the locality, in company with his son Frederick, who is stin living at \V('stport, Missouri, and to whom these relations are uU€'. Mr. Chouteau, however, does not explicitly identify the diggings above referred to, which, indeed, may be of Jater date still.

:SUTE BOARD OF AGRICCLTGRE.

',~,'Meto lb)j,0zark,l,plift, may and doubtless do exert an important influence in modifying 'tlie'rate of the general westerly inclination of the strata in this region, which otherwise might be even more deeply buried than actually is the Cise, Besides, these folds wherever they are of any considerable vertical extent, mmt rai<e the strata along their axis nearer the surface, 80 that it becomes a suhject not merely of interest to the student of geology, but one of direct practical importance in determining the most practicable localities at which the horiz1n of the coal-beds may be sought by boring or shaft exca­vations, SOllle of these undulations are known to involve a breadth transverse to their "strike," or greater extent (and they may extend many miles), of one to three miles, and a vertical displacement of as many hundred feet. And if the observer is able to recognize the stratigraphic identity of the various members uf tbe formation wherever they are met at the surLtCe, the simplest computatiou is required to determine, approxi­mately, the depth at which the horizon of any inferior or older member of the same series of strata may be reached,

In regard to the prevalence of the coals, it may safely be assumed that all, at least, do not cease in a distance of 100 miles; and allowing for a diminution of two-tbirds in the volume of the workable beds over the whole area of the Lower Coal-measures from what the separate beds actnally promise at their natural expoonres, the 5,000 811llare miles of superficial extent occupied by this formation in Kansas alone would affurd a yield of 20,000,000,000 tonH, from an aggregate thickne~s of fOllr feet. That some one or more of the· coal horizons within this area maintain a workable thickness aggregating four feet over its entire extent, would seem to be far under rather th 1n over a fair estimate of the capacity of the district. Anl\ by extending the westerly bounds not beyond reason­able workable depths, within the area occupied by the overlying Upper Coal-measure deposits, the amount of coal accessible at a depth of 500 to 1,000 feet bene tth the sur­face is more than doubled, Allowing further shrinkage of half, within the additional territory, and the total amonnt would reach 30,000,000,000 tons!

"With such resources, and accessibility to markets whose manufacturing interests, de­pending npon steam as a motive power, are being steadily augmented, the State may hope to share with the most favored in the garnering of harvests that man hath not sown.

uPPER COAL-MEASCRES,

As has already been stated, it is sufficient for present purposes to accept the simplest subdivisions recoglli?cd in defining the 1;pper Carboniferous series, Hence, in the fore­going section, nnder the term Lower Coal-measlH'es are embraced the divisions to which the names Lower and Middle Coal-measures have been applied in the neighburing States to the east; also, with reference to the series of strata now to be considered, geologists are divided in opinion as to the actual existence of two distinct members, an npper and lower, which are in either case re"pectively recognized 'by the distinct or provisional terms Permian or Permo-Carboniferous and Upper Coal-measures. Ulllluestionably there exist, in Kans.ls, well-marked litholog-ieal peculiarities which Ren'e to distinguish the earlier and later depositions of the epuch, but tbere i" no c\,idence of a radical change in the condili<Hls Rlllli"ient to mOllify to any markc(i extent the char:1cter of the faulla awl flora, which thronghollt lll:lintain their conl,measure characteristics. IIow­ever, in the present e:tRC, it will [,,, undn,;tooll that the llesignation I; pper Coal-measureB is designed to cmbrace the eutirl' r("lll:tining series of deposits n'ferable to the Upper C:n]"mifl'rolls period, all(l which, in Kansas, ag-grpg-atc in vertical thickness not far from

2,:WO feet. The- expose,l arca of the Uppcr Coal-ll11'aRlll'l'H within the limits of Kansas is e,~Lirnated

at about 2·1,000 Fllluln' llliks. Along- the southeastern border of this area, ero"ion haR [eft outlying remnants of the lower members of the formation, which crown i~olated

THIRD BIENNIAL REPORT. 583

mounds that form a characteristic and pleasing feature in the scenery of the country properly included in the district of the Lowe" Coal-measures. The western boundary bears striking relation to the topographic contour, entering the .state on the north in the immediate vicinity of Blue river, and thence passes in a general south-southwesterly course to a point· on the southern boundary between the Medicine Lodge and Arkansas river8, where it enters Indian Territory. In the northern and central portions of its course, the line of demarkation formed by the overlapping inferior member of the Cre­taceous series, the Dakota sandstone, has been observed at several localities and traced with a near approach to accuracy; but to the south the limits of the form~tion can be only approximately indicated from present information. At the crossing of the Repub­lican near Clay Centre, the Smoky Hill in the vicinity of the conflUEnce of tbe Saline, and in the highlands between the Kansas and Arkansas ri vers at the sources of the N eo­sho, the boundary is sharply marked. The actual limits at the crossing of the Arkansas are masked by the alluvial deposits that occupy the immense expanse of the valley, while south and west of the Arkansas only a few isolated observations have been made, by which to infer the probable boundary in that quarter.

In the character of the component strata, the Upper Coal-me.mres present a striking contrast to the Lower coal series. From the conspicuous and often picture~que features its limestone ledges impart to the landscape, especially along the water-courses, it has been denominated the limestone-making epoch of the period. But its title to this dis­tinction is more apparent than real, the relative proportions of limestone, sandstone and shales in its stratigraphi~al composition actually increasing in the order in which they are named. In the lower portion of the series occur fref]uent and heavy deposits of gray (more or less fragmentary) limestone, which in the middle portion are to a marked ex­tent succeeded by darker, rusty-weathered ledges; and these, again, give way to the heavy ledges of light buft~gray limestone that form so prevalent a stratigraphic feature of the upper portion of the serie~. \Vhile the associated 8hales occur throughout the formation, of which indeed they constitute the major thickness, the sandstones are restricted to its lower and middle portions. Of the latter there are only six well-developed horizons occurring in the formation. as developed along the line of the Kansas valley, and these usually present the condition of arenaceous shales throughout the greater part 'of their vertical extent. They constitute in the aggregate perhaps 400 feet, locally aflording building and flagging layers. A deposit of the latter, in Osage county, is of interest, from the fact that on the under surface of one of the layers are preserved the casts of the imprint of tracks which were formed upon the muddy flats by gigantic Batrachians, the earliest representatives of living frogs and salamanders. Cherty lay~l'il and concretions also occur in many lime"tone horizons throughout the series, impairing their value for huilding purposes. High in the series the l<lller attain unu,;ual development, in placfs forming the summits of a con~picuous range of highlands that may he traced from the valley of the Blue sOIl,lh-30uthwesterly to the southern boundary between the 'Walnnt and Verdigris. llesides its stratigraphic interest, it also constitllte.~ a prominent topo­graphic feature, especially in the s011th, where its presence dOllht.leps determined the southeasterly deilection iu the course of the Arkansas. 1n the lalter 'jllilrter it forms a conspicuous barrier, defining the Verdigris an,l Arkansas drainage, a good idea llf which may be gained in paRPing over the lines of the At. Louis & Ran Francisco and the Kansas City, Lawrence & Routhern Kansas railways. ''In,licatiolle'' of lead arc here reported; whether based llpon the actual discovery of ore or the reRelllblance of the cherty deposits to the lead-bearing chert horizon in Routheastern KanAae, wa~ not ascertained.

Iu the shales at various horizons limited developments of iron-ore nodules are met with, usually the ordinary hematite and carbonate ores. Crystalfl of sulphate of lime are very generally distributed in these deposits. In the upper portion of the series the

584 STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

latter mineral increases in frequency and abundance, the heavy deposits of shales con­stituting the bulk of the uppermost 500 feet of the formation, often showing heavy con­centrations of the mineral in beds of massive gypsum. Although these upper gypsum deposits have the appearance of local intercalations, the outcrop of certain horizons on the Blue and Smoky Hill are known to have an extent of 10 to 20 miles, varying in thick­ness from 5 to 15 feet or more. To the south in the Arkansas valley, in Sumner county, similar deposits occur, though here more of a concretionary or lenticular character, often affording a beautiful white variety sufficiently durable to be employed in building. At Wellington the material may be seen in the fronts of several business houses, and carefully selected and protected from the action of flowing water, it may be found to withstand the disintegrating effects of ordinary exposure. The purer deposits afford a good article of plaster of Paris employed in the arts, and simply ground as "plaster" it may be applied to the soil with most beneficial results to growing crops. For all these purposes the gypsum deposits occurring in Kansas are capable of affording an inex­haustible supply.

The limestone beds in all parts of the formation produce abundant building materials, and numerous layers .re suitable for burning into an excellent quality of quicklime. Even the brown-buff ledges of the middle division of the series may be effectively em­ployed in architecture, while their durability has been thoroughly and most favorably tested. But in speaking of the great limestone deposits in the upper portion of the formation, their abundance and superior excellence for the purposes of building relegate them to the class of the most important of the natural products of the State. In the north and central regions, on the Blue and Republican, the Cottonwood and upper waters of the Neosho and Osage, the outcrop of this horizon everywhere shows a variety of the finest of building stone. The rock is a limestone, varying in color from cream-buff to light-gray, and in texture from exceeding compact homogeneous to minutely vesicular or porous, the ledges enhibiting great regularity and persistence in bedding, the layers ranging from flagging a few inches thick to massive members affording the finest dimen­sion ~tone. The proximity of localities on these ledges to the great railway lines trav­ersing the State, have encouraged the opening of extensive q~larries, whose product finds a steadily increasing and extended market. The completed wings of the State House, at Topeka, exhibit fine examples of the buff and gray varieties of these upper limestone deposits, respectively from the qnarries at Junction City, near the mouth of the Republi­can, and on the Cottonwood, along the line of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Rail­road. In the latter quarter, at Strong City, the ledge is extensively wroilght, and works established for sawing the heavy blocks into flagging, etc. To the southwest, still other ledges occur, and in the vicinity of \Vinfield, in Cowley county, extensive quarries have been opened upon a heavy bed which aflords an exceedingly close-textured, fine-grained, light-drab limestone, furnishing one of the handsomest and best of buihling materials in the \Vest. The rock is easily wrought, ret~ining the most deli.:ate carved designs. It is largely employed in the Govcrnment building at Topeka, and the many fine towns of central and southern Kansas have largely patrolli,ed the 'Winfield quarries.

Besides the ordinary limcstone., there are several depo,its or earthy-drab limestone, which are presumed to have the properties of a hydraulic rock. They have been de­tected at vario1ls horizons in the formation, extending a vertical distance of about] ,500 feet from the base, 1lsnally occurring as thin beds from a few inches to a couple of feet in thickness. One of these layers, ~utcropping in the vicinity of Lawrence, has been successfully tested, a good quality of cement being produced. Doubtless the treatment of other layers of similar character will aflord Hlllally satisfactory results.

Not infrequently carbonaceous horizons occur, especially in the lower and middle por­tions of the series, but they are seldom accompanied by coal deposits that altain a thick-

THIRD BIENNIAL REPORT. 585

ness suitable for profitable working. These upper coals may be distinguished from the heavier depoRits of the Lower Coal-measures by their more brittle texture and greater percentage of impurities, as iUllicated by the residue of combustioh, or ash. However, there are two or three horizons in the middle and lower portions of the formation which locally, at least, afrord coal cf workable thickneRs. Such are the Blue Mound coal, near Lawrence, and the Ooage bed. The latter indeed is quite extensively mined at several localities in Osage county, its thickness ranging from fifteen to thirty inches, the prodnct finding a ready market along the line of the Santa Fe road. To the north of the Osage mines the latter coal diminishes in thickness, the deposit seldom exceeding fourteen inches in the vicinity of Topeka, where it is also mined. It is not improbable that other coal horizons in these npper measures will be discovered of workable thick­ness locally. The lower 1,400 f~et of the formation contain at least five other well­marked coal horizons, none of which, however, are known to attain a workable thickness, indeed seldom showing a thickness of ten inches of coal.

The limestones and other deposits of the series exhibit a tendency to considerable variability in thickness, and it is the general impression that they steadily increase in volume to the westward. 'Whether this augmentation in thickness is attended by a cor­responding diminution of the vertical bulk of the associated shales, it is impossible at the present time to decide for the whole field; but the facts, so far at least as they refer to the strata exposed to view in the hundred miles and more of bluffs along the Kansas river, certainly show a thickening of the limestone ascending the valley, while the intervening shales and arenaceous deposits exhibit cOllRiderable variability, indeed locally being entirely replaced by lImestone. In the latter case extensi VEl ledges of limestone are the result, such as appear in the bluff; on the Kansas below Lenape, where owing to the replacement of two or more well· developed horizons of shale farther east, the limestone attains a thickness of 90 feet- by far the heaviest deposit of the kind known in this region. It i~ therefore important that some notion regarding the proba­ble character and extent of the mutations in the stratigraphic elements composing the formation should be had before embarking in expensive explorations after the productive coals at localities situated well within the area of the Upper measures. It is in many instances possible to secnre the data necessary for the purposes of a clo8e estimate of the relative depth at which the h'orizon of any of the heavy coal-beds may be reached from the snrf~ce, and it is in all cases within the possibilities to arrive at close approximate conclusious in reference to the same. Bllt as man has had nothing to do in ordering the disposition of these valuable deposits, and further, as he may at best examine their character at comparatively few localities aud over a very limited part of their areal extent, it is not to be presumed that he can, with absolute certainty, foretell the physical condition of the deposits at localities remote from their natural or artificial exposures. It therefore brcomes a malleI' of great importance in conducting exploratory operations by means of the drill, that unremitting vigilance be exercised dlll'ing the progress of the work, in order that every and the least change in the nature of the strata penetrated shall not escape attention. Otherwise the evidence furnished by this means may be entirely untrnstworthy, as has AO often happened in similar undertakings in the region of the better-known coal fields of the older States. Could these boring operations have the benefit of a tabular diagram of the strata it i" intended to penetrate, an,l which it is the bllRines" of the geologist to constrnct from actual ohservation of the ('x posed ledges in the region of their outcrop, it woul<! serve lite purposes of a reliable gllide and trust­worthy check on the evidence developed in the process of drilling.

Borings and shaft excavations have been made in theRe Upper meaRllres at severa) localities in the 8tate, but for the mORt part with only partia I BllcceRS, and in some in­stances, as might have been anticipated at the outset, with decidedly discouraging results.

37

586 STATE BOARD OF AWUCTLTVRE.

It is understood that the old Leavenworth ,hafe, the most ,uccesRf,ll of these undertak­ings, was begun on the authorit:, of the veteran geologist, ;\1"50r L. Hawn; and the later shaft at the same locality, which was excavated at the expense of the atate, owes its in­ception to M"jor Henry Hopkins, under whose management the work was so ably exe­cuted. Both of these shafts were undertaken witb the view of penetrating to some of the workable coal-beds known to occur in the ullrlerlvinO' Lower Coal-measures and at the time of the earlier shaft the' work partook decid~Llly'" of an experimental ch'aracter. It is now understood, however, that their openings oecllpy a stratigraphical position be­tween 30) and 400 feet above the base of the Upper Coal series, and in this depth there are known to occur no coals of economic value-indeed, there are only three or four horizons of carbonaceons shales in this portion of the series, in connection with only one of'which occurs a thin layer of impure coaL It is apparent, therefore, that of the 700 feet depth of the Penitentiary shaft, somewhere near 300 feet must penetrate the Lower Coal series. But the information is lacking necessary to enable the identification of the twenty to thirty-inch bed reached in the Leavenworth shafts with any particular coal horizon of the Lower measures, though it is possibly the equivaleut of one of the work­able beds belonging to, or not far removed from, probably below, the Ft. Scott group.

The successful consummation of the enterprise undertaken by Major Hopkins is of inestimable advantage, from the fact of its corroborative evidence in behalf of the p088i­bility of reaching the deep-lying workable deposits, and the encouragement it will afford to similar enterprises in other parts of the State. In connection with the latter mine, the admirable section of the strata displayed in the course of excavating the shaft, the preserv.ation of some of the most interesting data associated therewith being dne to Mrs. Hopkins, suggests important topics for discussion bearing on the stratigraphic constitu­tion of the upper portion of the L~wer Coal-measures, which will be of great utility in directing generalizltiom on the chaf<tcter and extent of the c)a\s over the whole region underlaid by this lower series.

'While the great limestone horizons of the series have assumed prominence in deter­mining the characteristic topographic features of the country which they immediately underlie, Buch as is Been in the series of terrace-like plateaux occupying the uplands intervening between the principal streams, the formation also records interesting facts in relation to movements in the earth's crust to which are due the parallel undnlations so frequently noted in connection with its strata. These undulations, usually of limited extent, sometimes have a breadth of four or five miles transverse to the direction of their course, which is east of north and west of south, and which were accompanied by a vcrtical displacement of 100 feet, more or less. Perhaps one of the most conspicuous of these folds is that occurring in the vicinity of 'IVamego, which repeats on a small scale with wonderflll fidelity some of the more prevalent gigantic plateau fllld~ into which the sedimentary formations havc heen upraised in the region of the Rocky Moun­tains. The date of the undulations may he assigned to the interval following the latest depositions of the Upper Carhoniferolls period, and in their physical features they hear striking resemhlance to the phenomena accompauying the displacement and folding of the l'ahozoic formations upon tlie west fhnk of the Alleghany Mountains, however, in diminished magnilll!k, in which respect they accord with the less exten"ive elcvatory movements aflecting the strata in the ;\!i~si"8ipf'i b~Hin, to which they owe their origin.

Associated wilh some or these miniature monntain L)lds occurring in the northwest portion or 'Nood~on connty, ill southeastern KanRa", are reporte<1 extraordinary phe­nomena, incltl<ling a variety or phaRl'R of metamorphiRm in connection with Atrata pre­snmahly or the age or the Upper Co,t1-111l':tHnreH. The strat!l show moderate diHtnrbance along a narrow \'!.'It extending in a ROlltheaHlerly aud northwesterly direction, accom­panied by partial amI complete replllCl'll\cnt of the original conAtituentH of' the rocks by

TIIIRD BIE);,NIAL REPORT. 587

silica. The changes here observed, as reported by Mr. Robert Hay, who first visited the' locality some years ago, embrace in some of their phases phenomena akin to those noted in the lead and zinc-bearing Lower Carboniferous horizon iu the extreme southeast of the State, and which are due to the more or less complete replacement of the original constituents of the strata aHected. Thi;; is indicated by the abrupt definition, if not actual transition, ot' the mineralogical character of the,same stratum, without, however, changing the original physical features, as shown by the uninterrupted continuity of the lamin[1.' in both the unchanged and the metamorphosed portions. Also, there occur fis­sures penetrating the strata in all directions, which are lined with a variety of minerals, inclnding amethyst, ordinary quartz, etc., and other mineralogical products which bear striking resemblance to those of eruptive origin met with in volcanic regions. These latter, however, appear to be quartzose, and their stained and blackened appearance ritay possibly be accounted for by calling in the aid of thermic action. The locality, from all acconnts, is one of exceeding interest, and although the above statement in reference to the similarity of at least some of the phenomena there occurring to the exhibitions of subversion and replacement observed in the }lead-bearing strata ninety miles to the southeast, it is not assumed that all the changes that have here transpired are trace­able to these causes.

In boring for coal and water from horizons both in th(\ Upper and Lower Coal-measures, gas has been encountered, in some instances in sufficient qnantity to be available for illuminating and heating purposes. The reservoirs, at least in the most conspicuous of tbe occurrences, are situated in the L0wer Coal-measures, occupying porous, arenaceous deposits, overlaid by more or less impervious beds of shales and limestone. The McAl­pine well, near 'Wyandotte, penetrates the measures of the Lower Coal series, and at a depth of about 400 feet reached an abundant supply of gas. Similar borings at Fort Scott aud Rosedale encountered gas, although in less quantity, and that at lola, valuable accounts of which have been given in the proceeding3 of the Kansas Academy of Science by Professors Patrick and Kedzie, met with a crevice or chamber, twenty inches deep, at a depth of 626 feet, which was charged with mineral water and a small quantity of gas. Mineral-impregnated water has been found at many localities in the region of the Lower and Upper Coal-measures, the reservoirs always occurring under much the same conditions already noted, and of course at variable depths beneath the surfltce.

MESOZOIC AREA.

The Mesozoic age in Kansas is represented solely by the Cretaceous formations, wbich occupy by far the most considerable area assigned to the rocks of anyone geological age occurring in the State. The eastern boundary corresponds to the exposed western limits of the Carboniferous formations, upon which few if any outlying remnants exist. The water-divides between the principal drainage depressions are loaded with the sandstones of the lower member, which thus encroach upon the Carboniferous area in peninsula-like pro.iections, separated by bights or b3y-like recesses eroded by the streams. This is the character of the eastern l)Jrder from the Nebra~ka line, at a point about seventy miles west of the Missouri, to the Arkansas valley, the line of demarkation lying to the west of the Blue, but not always clearly discernible, especially where it cro~ses the Arkansas, and in the gently-undulating prairie country thence to the Indian Territory, where it lies fifty or sixty miles further west. The entire southwest portion of the State to the Colorado line is supposed to be immediately underlaid by this series. Bnt in the north­west it passes beneath unconformably superimposed deposits, representing a late epoch of the Tertiary period, where tbe demarkation is aq yet only approximately determined. The areal extent may be Btlted at, approximately, 40,000 s(]uare miles.

588 STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

CRETACEOUS-DAKOTA.

The Cretaceous series in Kansas is made up of at least three formations, representing as many epochs in the geological history of the period, viz., the Dakota, Benton, and Niobrara. They belong to well-recognized lower members of the Cretaceous series of the Upper Missouri region, the upper members of which, however, as defined by Messrs. Meek and Hayden, appear to be absent in the pre3ent region.

The D.tkota or lowest member of the series is composed of heavy deposits of sand­stone interbedded with variegated shales and arenaceous shaly strata, with occasional layers and limited occurrences or "pockets" of impure coal. The sandstones are gen­erally more or less permeated with ferruginous matter, which imparts to the ledges their deep brownish-red color. The ledges often exhibit interesting ex~mples of oblique bed­ding, indicative of their littoral origin or the prevalence of shoal waters during their deposition. The proximity to land areas is also indicated by the abnndance of the re­mains of the plants then existing, which in their general facies bear striking resemblance to the fbra of the warm temperate zone of to-day, with which they are indeed in most instances generically identical. The iron contained in the rock is often concentrated around nuclei, forming extraordinary-shaped concretions in the sandstone. tl-enerally the fossil leaves are thus preserved, the iron forming an unusually firm ceme~t envelop­ing the sand that fvrms the mould - for the specimens are almost invariably in the con­dition of impressions, the organic matter having been decomposed. The most delicate characters of the venation are often beautifully preserved, and collections from this hori­zon have contributed invaluable ai(h toward deciphering the characters of these ancient and earliest ancestors of many of our common forest and fruit trees, including, accord­ing to Professor Lesquereux, the oak, willow, sycamore, sassafras, magnolia, cinnamon, pyrus and prunus, and several conifers, etc. The animal life of the epoch, though of much interest from the fact of its introducing forms so widely dissimilar to those pre\""­alent in the subjacent Carboniferous deposits, holds a subordinate place iu comparison to the rich and varied vegetable org:wisms. A few fishes and a large saurian (crocodile), also se\""eral species of molluscs, ha,?e been obtained in the region of the Smoky Hill, near Brookville. To the south, in the Arkansas valley, similar horizons have been dis­co~ered by Mr. George S. Chase, which are characterized by a molluscan fauna, some of whose forms, at least, indicate more intimate affinities with the Texan Cretaceous fauna than has heretofore been observed so far north in deposits of this age.

Brief reference has already been made to the evidences of non-confurmity of the D.lkota and Carboniferous. An intereating locality where this phenomeuon is well displayed, is in the highlands marking the most easterly extension of the Cretaceous in the water­di\""ide between the Kansas and Arkansas rivers. At the latter locality the peculiar sandstones of the Dakota cap the ridge overlooking the uodulating low uplands of the gypsiferous horizon, and just beneath occur thin limestone layers charged with fossils apparently identical with those so prevalent in well-authenticated Upper or Permo­Carboniferous deposits along the Smoky Hill, a few miles to the north. The gypsiferous shales accompanying the above lirhestones are here uuevenly eroded, and the depressions thus pro,luced are filled wilh peculiar clayey and loose arenaceous deposits containing charcoal fragments, which constitute the basis sediments of the Cretaceolls series. It is an interesting spot, and it require, Arnall e1l",J1"( on the part of the imagination to restore the once existing conditions, when the CretaceOllS sea laved these ancient shores, denuding the encircling Carboniferolls reefs, and rearranging their materials after its own fashion.

The saudstones vary in difierent quarters, and this i" to a marked pxtent alHo indicated by the concomitant topographic features. ln the nort hern portion of their d iHtribu­tion they are usually compact, often indeed inteuHely har,l, forming highlunll ridges, in places marked by quite rugged and al way" pictureAljne features. In the latter quarter

THIRD BIENNIAL REPORT. 589

they form a range of broken hills, offering a well-defined barrier separating the broad stretches of undulating plains based upon the more yielding deposits of the gypsiferous horizon on the one side and the Benton shales on the other. But in the region south and west of the Arkansas, the deep-red sandstones, presumably belonging to the same formation, owing to their soft friable nature no longer afford prominent landmarks, though they still impre8s their presence upon the soil to which they have imparted its red color and loamy nature over a wide outlying belt immediately underlaid by the upper strata of the Upper Coal·measure~.

BENTON.

Of the Benton beds, comparatively little is known. They consist, inferiorly, of argilla­ceous and calcareous shales, inc! uding thin layers of limestone, overlaid by dark-c?lored shales which rarely aflord good exposures; on the contrary, they are for the most part concealed beneath the superficial soil that envelops the gentle slopes in the region of their occurrence. Certain heavy limestone horizons in its upper part, if indeed they are not to be relegated to the Niobrara, afford more tangible stratigraphical evidence upon which to base the limits of its exposed western extent, yet the line of demarkation separating it from the latter formation is for the most part obscure and difficult to trace in the southwest Extension of the formation. With the Dakota, it forms a belt of varia­ble east-west width along the Smoky Hill, reaching a distance of perhaps 95 miles. To the south and west, the area probably expands t~ twice its breadth along the north line of the State.

Besides the remains of molluscs and bony fishes, a few saurians have been obtained from the Benton beds in this State. The limestones are often charged with the shells of Inoceramus, the gigantic Haploscapha, and myriads of the little Ostrea congesta. The for­mation also affords fine examples belonging to the Ammonitidre.

NIOBRARA.

The Niobrara is by far the most important member of the Cretaceous series in Kansas, and in the nature of its component strata it perhaps presents greater variety, as it cer­tainly does better-marked horizons. The lower portion shows alternations of fragmen­tary limestone and shales, which above pass into shelly limestone and calcareous shales, with certain horizons cccupied by chalky limestone. Toward the top, shales become more prevalent and predominant, and besides the fossils they contain, which strongly re­call forms common to the Colorado shales of the Rocky Mountain region, they possess additional interest on account of the abundance and variety of bealltiflll aggregations of selenite crystals. The shelly limestone deposits and chalk-beds are stored with a wonder­fully-numerous and varied vertebrate fauna, consisting of the remains of 1'eliostg, or common bony fishes, sharb, saurians, and most extraordinary of all, birds whose jaws are armed with teeth. •

The Niobrara extends to the western border of the State, in the valleys of the Smoky Hill and Arkansag. In the water-divide between those streams, as also to the north of the Smoky Hill, it is unconformably overlaid by Tertiary deposits. At many localities these deposits are cut up by miniature caiion labyrinths, and elsewhere they exhibit a variety of monumental forms detached by the erosion of the valleys. Interesting ex­amples of the latter are seen in the Monument Rocks, jn Gave county, and Castle Hocks, in l~llis county, described by Prcfessor Mudge_ They show isolated columns and cas­tellated masseK, composed of a coping of limestone and shaft of chalk and compact shale, rising twenty to seventy feet in height.

As no attempts have as yet been made to work out the details of the stratigraphy of the cretaceous formations occurring within the limits of Kansas, it is impossible to state with' even approximate definiteness their actual thickness in this rrgion. However,

590 STATE BOARD OF AGRICCLTURE. --------------- --------------------

taking cognizance of a few facts of general application, and it may be possible to arrive at a rough estimate of the aggregate vertical extent of the series. It is well known that the equivalent strata in the outlying plains belt at the foot of the Rocky Mountains, 170 miles to the west of the western limits of Kansas, have a moderate general inclination to the eastward. The actual elevation of the plains in that region is near 5,000 feet above the sea. 'Within the limits of Kansas, and extending to the eastern border of the Cretaceous series, where their altitude above tide-water approximates 1,300 feet, the strata appear to be little if any disturbed from their original horizontal position. ::'{ow, assuming that the beds maintain their horizontal condition throughout their extent in Kansas, on reaching the .:western border of the State, where the uppermost deposits of the series attain an altitude of 3,500 feet, approximately, there would intervene a thick­ness of strata equal to the difference in actual altitude between the extreme points indi­cated at which the lowermost and uppermost deposits of the series respectively outcrop, or 2,200 feet for the aggregate thickness of the entire series. Various estimates of the tbickness of the different members of the CNtaceous series in Kansas are recorded, the aggregate of which, however, falls considerably short of the result above stated.

Considered in their economic aspects, the Cretaceous formations presen t a variety of products by which they may claim a reasonable share of interest. The sandstones of the Dakota afford a durable building stone, varying in color from light to deep warm browns. In the region of the junction of the Niobrara and Benton formations the limestones fur­nish an abundance of easily-worked, durable material for the same purposes, and for burning into quicklime. Certain layers intercalated in the Booton afford even a superior stone, and which have been quite extensively quarried in the vicinity of Bunker Hill and elsewhere. The layers vary in thickness from a few inches to four feet, the latter being suitable for heavy masonry, for which purpose it has been employed in the con­struction of bridge piers along the line of the Kansas Division of the Union Pacific Railway. The principal or npper limestone of the Benton, which, according to Professor Mudge, attains a thickness of sixty feet, has been traced across the country all the way from the northern boundary to the north slope of the Arkansas valley, everywhere pre­senting the same characteristics. The overlying chalky deposits are of sufficient extent and purity to afford inexhaustible supplies for the purposes to which chalk is applied. Its manufacture has already been succes,fu!ly undertaken in the vicinity of "\'Vakeeney, in Trego county. One hundred and twenty tons per annum is prepared in the condition of whiting, the manufactured article comparing with the best foreign product. The Niobrara forma­tion also contains quantities of pure lime in the condition of calcite lining fissures in the shaly strata. Concretions of septaria occur abundantly in the Benton shales, which re­semble those from which the finer qualities of cement are manufactured. Clay suitable for potters' use and mineral paints are reportedto exist in lllany counties.

Associated with the Dakota deposits are thin beds of lignite coal, which, notwithstand­ing their inferior quality, are used to some extent for fuel in the neighborhood of their outcrop .. The best developed of these <\eposits shows a variable thickness of one foot and less to three feet, and has been traced from the Nebraska line, west of the Blue, to the Arkansas valley. Lignite is known to occur in perhaps a dozen counties in the belt underlaid by the Dakota.

Salt.-One of the most extensive salt districts in the country occurs in the central por­tion of the State. The area embraced in this saline district forms a belt extending from the Nebraska line southwesterly entirely across the State into Indian Territory, with a variable east-west extent. The surface in,lications consist of both salt springs and more or less extensive marshy tracts, whose soil is saturated with brine. Some of the latter, si~uated in Hepublic and ad.ioining counties, cover areas of one to two or more square miles, occupying the valley depressions. During the dry season in midsummer, the salt

THIRD BIENNL"L REPORT. 591

collects by evaporation, incrusting the surface to the depth of a fraction of an inch, where it may be gathered for domestic uses. Reduced by the ordinary methods, the marsh brines yield a superior '1ualily of salt, as demonstrated by analysis.

At an early day attention was drawn to the brine springs at the confluence of the Sol­omon and Smoky Hill, near Solomon City, and subsrquently borings at the locality de­veloped the exi~tence of an inexhaustible wpply of brine. The wells, of which there are three or four, range ill depth from 80 to 100 feet, penetrating the superficial deposits and variegated shales to a heavy bed of gypsum. 'IV eak brine was enconntered at two or three horizons before reaching the gypsum, just above which the source of the strong­est brine is met with (20 0 to 30° Baume, or .5 to 8 per cent. salt). To-day the National Solar Salt Company is actively engaged in converting the brine, which is pumped by steam power and 1lowed into a series of shallow vats which occupy an area of fifteen acres. An annual product of 35,000 bushels is produced. The salt bears favorable com­parison with the product of Eastern and foreign brines, as shown by the results of chem­ical analyses given in the following table:

I N.S.S. Co.

Sulphate of lime.......................................................................... 1.260 Sulphate of l11agnesia.................................................................. .042 Chloride of lnagnesinm ...... ............... .............. ..................... ...... .227 Chloride of sodiullJ. .................... ....................................... ....... 97.433 Chloride of calcium ....................................................................................... , Water ............................................. " .... " ........ "............................ 1.038 i

Syracuse. i

1.33

.13 97.12

.15 1. 27

Ashton's dairy.

1.2272 .0769 .0591

97.7598

.8770

A marsh in Barton connty, on the Arkansas, examined by Profes50r Mndge, presented much the same conditions in location, occurrence, and purity of the product that obtain in the northern portion of the area. 8eventeen miles sonthwest of Winfield, in the sonthwest portion of Cowley connty, at Geuda Springs, brine issues, which is being util­ized by artificial evaporation. Six miles east of Wichita, brine was obtained in a shaft penetrating the gypsilerous horizon of the Upper Coal-measures to the depth of 440 feet, which afforded a fine quality of salt, though the works are temporarily abandoned.

The salt area of Kansas oilers another exemplification of the intimate relations of saline and gypsiferons horizons occurring in other parts of the world. Although the brine springs issue within the limits of the belt partly occupied by the lower member of the Cretaceous series, they are probably supplied from saline reservoirs or deposits belonging to the gypsiferous horizon of the subjacent Upper Carboniferous formation. The latter conclusion would seem to be well established by the reBtil ts of the artesian borings near Solomon City, which encountered brine reservoirs in the latter deposits. The remarkable deposits of pure salt along the Cimarron in the southwest, although they appear so dissimilar from the ordinary marshes in the north, doubtless had a simi­lar origin and history. At the latter locality, extensive accumulations of beautifully crystalized salt are found, forming deposits overspreading shallow basins along the stream, in some instances to the depth of two feet.

However, other geological horizons ailord reservoir" for the accumulation of brines, the origin of wllich would appear to be less intimately connected with the occurrences briefly mentioned above. The latter are seated at various depths in the Upper Carbon­iferous series. Near Alma, in Waballnsee county, brines were reached in an artesian boring at ,lepths of 174 and 3i8 feet from the su;face, (the well reaching a total depth of 585 feet,) the reservoir thus holding a stratigraphical position aoout 1,100 feet above the base of the Upper Coal-measures, or near the horizon of the strata that cutcrop in the vicinity of 8ilver Lake, in the Kansas valley. At the above-mentioned locality considerable salt was formerly manufactured, but the supply of brine is said to be inad-

592 STATE BOARD OF AGRICCLTURE.

e'Iuate for successful operation of the work.. Ordinary wells at O,awatomie, Miami county, penetrate the Lower Coal-measures from a horizon many hundred feet below that at Alma, brines of excellent 'Iuality being met. The accessibility of the sources, abundance and streng,h of the brine supply, and l'uri\y of the manufacttlred product, make it merely a 'llle"lion of time and demand when the State will not only produce salt for the local consumption, bllt a large surl'lll~ for export.

CE~()/'OIC A REA-TERTI .\RY.

Thc Cenozoic area embrace" about 11,500 s'lU<tre ruiles, in the northwestern portion of the State. This latest of the gcological ages is rei)resented in KaGs~s, as at present un­derstood, by only a single member, belonging to the late,t or Piiocene epoch of the Ter­tiary period. It has been identified with the White River form"tion, which constitutes the surface rocks over an immense extent of territory to tlte west and north, in the adja­cent States of Colorado and Nebraska. The formation eX!E'nd" east along the northern boundary nearly to the Rel,uhlican, or half-way aCrOR" the State. Thence the extreme border limit. fall within a wfst-southwest line Extending to the west line on the upper waters of the Smoky Hill. South of the latter stream, in the elevated divide reaching over to the Arkansas, the same formation has been identified, where it occupit's 'Iuite an extensive tract extending east from the Colorado line a di8tance of about pighty·five mileR. The latter body has bren separated from the larger area ly iug to the north by the excavation of the valley of the Smoky Hill, whose spri;'g-sonrcf's issue in this hori­zon within the limits of Colorado. Its extension south has been limited by the same cames operating in the region of the Arkansas valley; but the relations of the present limits to the former easterly bounds of the formation have not been determinfd. Occur­rences are reported in the region south of the Arkansas, in the sonthwestern portion of the Stat~, which suggest possible identity with the deposits to the north. As f"r east'as Harper county, pebbles are occasionally met with scattered over the surface, which may have been derived from Pliocene strata lying to the west.

The line of demarkation separating the Pliocene beds from the underlying Cretaceous is generally readily recognized in the marked contrasts in the character of the compo­nents of the respective formations. The degradation of the later deposits in the region of their occurrence has strewn the slopes with the coarser materials, which are dispersed over the lower levels occupied by the Cretaceous, where they bear 8!riking resemblance to drift depoRits of the Qnarternary period. Numerous remnants of the formation are scattered over an outlying belt of v"riable width, standing as ridges and buttes crowning the divides between the streams, whose erosion has detached them from the main area. The latter occurrences present vivi,l evidences of the results of erosion within a com­paratively recent date in diminishing the actnal areal extent of the formation, the ulti­mate easterly limits of which it is dillienlt to establi"h even cor'j:cturally. This is due to the generally friahle nature of the depo,its, which are revealu\ over vast areas in the rolling water-divi,\cH only by the loamy character imparted to the soil by t.heir disinte­gration.

In regard to the physie,rl cond ition of the Rllbj :tcent CretaceOlw strata which here formed the floor upon which the materials of the \Vhite l{iver formation were Jai,l down, there is evidence that their snrface wa" not only unevenly €rod"d, bllt that this erosion had pro­gressed from Cllst to w,'st, so that the Tertiary depo'its re,stcd upon lower and lower Cre­taceous horiwIlH thc farther cast th"y ('xtptldl'd; inticl'd, tl1l>Y may once have partially overspread the arl'll ,.I' the denuded Upper Carboniferous. Although in the Rtridly local aspects of non-conformity in these formatiolls the det:tils have yet to be (tc<jllirptl, itA more general phenomena are strongly cont rasted in the pxtretll(,H of the eaRterly and wPHterly exposures of the line of contact between the old .. r 'Illd the newel' depoHitH, where the latter rests reRpeetively lIpon lower ant! lIpper horizolls of the Niobrarn.

THIRD BIENNIAL REPORT. 593

The materials composing the White River beds in the northwest region are described as consisting chiefly of loos'ely-aggregated sands, locally more or less calcareous, forming irregular strata of brown and gray sandstone, passing above into firmer layers composed of coarser sand and pebbles of various sorts of metamorphic rocks, including eirnilarly water-worn fr:lgment~ of fossil wood. Generally the layers are too friable or irregularly consoli,lated to answer for building purposes. Many of the before·mentioned outlying mounds owe their preservation to the presence of these more, firmly solidified layers which cap their summits, often presenting interesting featmes in the landsc~pe. To the latter belong the Breadbowl, in Phillips county; Sugarloaf, in Hooks county; Sheridan Buttes, etc. Elsewhere occur siliceous beds of several feet thickness, associated with which there are several varieties of chalcedony, and fragments of the tusks of a gigantic mammal, probably the elephant, which are thoroughly silicified, afl0rding beantifnl ex­amples of dendrite or moss-agate. All the fossil bones, of which there are considerable numbers, representing an interesting extinct mammalian fauna, including remains of beaver, rhinoceros, horse, camel, deer, wolf, also a turtle, etc" are more or less silicified and fossilized.

The Sheridan Bnttes, which lie one and a half miles southwest of Sheridan station, near the Kansas Pacific Railway, rise about 200 feet above the valley of North Fork of Smoky Hill, and from their isolation they present a prominent landmark. The summit is capped by a heavy ledge of light gray, very hard silicious rock, containing a small admixture of calcareons matter, which has been roughly weathered by atmospheric agents which have worn miniature grottos in the higher of the two culminating cones. Underlying the Pliocene beds and composing the bulk of the buttes, is a heavy deposit of brown, chocolate-colored shales, containing large concretionary masses of limestone and septaria, with seams of dark and amber-colored calcite, beautiful compound' crystals of selenite, forming layers in the shales. The latter horiz':lIl and the remains of fishes sparsely occurring in the limestone concretions are exactlv like the Colorado shales of the region to the west. The shales also bear mnch pyrite, which together with the Rulphate of lime, may account for the so-called "alkali" impregnated soil and water prevalent in this qnarter.

East of the latter locality, in the Saline-Smoky Hill divide, near 'Vakeeney, inter­esting exposures of the Pliocene are met with. It here ghows a heavy ledge of highly­calcareous gray conglomerate, varying in compactne's from soft to exceedingly hard layers, and filled with irregular calcareous nodules. The latter, together with the gravel liberated by erosion from this horimn, are widely distributed in the soil of the region. These deposits rest upon the chalky beds of the Cretaceous, the contact, in places, being marhd by copious springs of pure water that issue from the stratified gravel derived from the disintegration of the conglomerate. In connection with the Pliocene, there also occnrs a peculiar soft white deposit known throughout the region as "native lime." It is also evidently a product resulting from the tritnration of the calcareous beds of the Pliocene, which in turn owe their calcareous cOIllPonents to the degradation of the suhjacent chalky beds. Treated in the same manner as the chalk, it forms a laminated precipitate, probably indicating the presence of siliceolls matter in an extremely com­minuted condition. Too friable to be burned intp quicklime, in the natural state it is a poor substitute for lime.

Twin Mounds, to the southwest of Lenora, in the northwest portion of (; raham county are quite conApiclIoUS landmarks overlooking the valley of the North Fork of Solomon river. The crest of'the mounds is forme.l hy a heavy ledge of hard, light dmb-buft limestone, with occasional grains of quartz, sloping up from the south, and abruptly broken down on the north facing the val!ey. The BlImlllit of the east eminence is de­nuded of Boil, exposing the surface of the fragmentary ledge over a small area. The

594 STATE BOARD OF AGRICl"LTURE.

rock locally mllch resembles in texture and compactne~s a lithographic ~tone. In neigh­boring ravineH seventy· five feet below the sllmmit, a thickllE,8 of ,ixteen feet or so of soft, friable, gray, irreglllarly·bedded calcareous sandstone is exposed, the outcrops show­ing mural faces much eroded by weather action. This depoeit has afforded the remains of mastodon or elephant. The Pliocene here al80 rE"ts upon the shaly and chalky lime­stones of the Niobrara, and is accompanied by similar" native lime" deposits described abo\'e.

The formation is known to reach a thickness of -100 feet in X orton county, about mid­way of its east-west extent in Kansas, while in the highlands on the western border of the t:itate, where the altitude is at least 1,500 feet higher, it probably attains a much greatEr thickness.

POST-TERTLUlY.

The Post-Tertiary period embraces all that class of geolcgical phenomena whose in­ception dates from a time immediately following the close of the Tertiary period, and whose forces continue in active operation to the present day-a period partaking of a transitional and preparatory character of limited duration compared with the lapse of time involved in the completed history of the preceding geological period, but one which is crowded with extraordinary mutations that may be grouped into epochal intervals of greater or less significance, according to the diversity of their records and the extent of their occurrence.

To the earlier of these epochs belong the "drift" or Glacial deposit~, which consist of coarse materials, as bonlders, sand and clays, generally without order in their arrange­ment, and which are dispersed over an immense area of the northern temperate region of the continent. Next in chronological sequence follows the Champlain epoch, during which time the preceding Glacial deposits were to a greater or less extent worked over by currents and the coarser materials rearranged in distinct strata, and which have received the applicable designation, "modified drift." The latter deposits naturally occupied the inequalities in the snrface, and as their origin was much less intimately connected with the climatic conditions which exerted so marked influence in determining the distribu­tion of the Glacial deposits, their regional occurrence was greatiy extended. It thus happened that the succeeding Terrace epoch found abundant materials along the drain­age depressions out of which it~ streams in the process of excavating their beds fashioned the topographic features which suggested appropriate name for the epoch. The latter operation has been brought down to our own time, although the streams themselves have contributed distinct deposits, which constitute the fertile intervals and extensive bottom­lands along their courses, and which also exhibit more or less perfect examples of ter­racing.

As might be expected during a time when erosive action was so largely confined to the effects consequent to the drainage of the shallow waters that occupied so extensive an area immediately following the Glacial epoch, contemporaneous with which there also occurred a slight elevation of the surface as evilienced in the existence of raised beaches, opportunity was ollered for the appearance of a variety of minor phenomena, such as deposits formed under more equitable conditions of marine sedimentation never display. In the interior continental region to which Kansas belongs, an event of important geo­logical significance, if indeed it lllay not be accorlled epochal distinction, was interpolated between the ordinary occnrrencps of the period at a tillle Rll!Jse'luent to the modified drift epoch, if indeed it was not also precedel! by the Terrace epoch, to which the region affected by the innovation owe~ it~ mbAt valuahle ant! inexhaustible of natural resources, the vast soil deposit or LoesA that waH then accullllllated.

GLAOIAL FORMATION, OIt DRn'T.

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THIRD BIE~NIAL REPORT. 595

ist in the region, they probably occur in the beds of the larger and deeper drainage de­pressions. It is well known that the valleys of the Missouri, Kansas ::md Arkaneas and their principal tributaries were marked out and had acquired their greatest magnitude during what lllay be termed the initiatory epoch of the period, antecedent to the G 13cial epoch, whose deposits at least partially refill them, besides mantling the uplands. J.J­though it is not to be presumed that more than a me3ger portion of. all tbe phenomena connected with these drift occurrences have been noted and brought into their proper relations, but such facts as have been observed seem to' relegate the majority of the boulder deposits that are scattered over the eastern-central portion of the State to ,remnants be­longing rather to the modified deposits than to the true drift, which latter has entirely wasted under the triturating action introduced by the cnrrents that rearranged their materials during the Champlain epoch. However, in sinking the caissons for the Mis­souri river bridge at Atchison, it was reported that the excavation, on passing through the alluvial sands, penetrated a boulder-charged blue clay, the description of which cer­tainly recalls typical exposures of the Glacial drift as seen in the bluff:; at the moulh of the Big Sioux, near Sioux City, and elsewhere along the Missouri. It happens, there­fore, that very limited areas indeed, within the limits of Kansas, retain more than ves­tiges of the undisturbed Glacial deposits.

MODIFIED DRIFT, OR CHAMPLAIN DEPOSITS.

During the succeeding epoch were produced the stratified gravel and sand deposits that have so general distribution throughout the eastern portion of the State, and whose occurrence is coextensive with the former extent of the Glacial deposits, the westerly limits of which have not been definitely ascertained. It is not improbable that the agen­cies whose activity during this later epoch wrought so widespread destruction of the drift, also encroached upon adjacent areas, appropriating whatever materials the currents could move. Thus are fonnd associated in the modified gravel-beds a singular assem­blage, not only of pebbles and sand, but not infrequently the fossils of various formations, whose condition plainly shows the vicissitudes to which they have been subjected subse­quenfto being snatched from their native ledges_ But its other relations should be of special interest to agriculturists, especially those referring to the important part its gravel­beds perform as a subsoil, in the wider acceptance of the term. Usually too deep-lying to be stirred by the plow, their chief importance is due to their affording an effective under-drainage and reservoirs for the accumulation of filtered snrface-water, furnishing an abundant supply to springs and wells. In the uplands it usually occurs as a stratum of sand and gravel of greater or less depth; it may indeed be absent, locally. In the val­leys, also, it has suffered extensive denudation, so that its present appearance may afford a very indefinite notion of its probable original magnitude. However, over a consider­able area in the northeast their prevalence is much more strongly marked, especially as displayed along the route of the Central Branch road in crossing the highlands reaching over to the Blue valley, which exhibit in their regular outlines and abrupt-terminating bluff declivities characteristic drift topography.

With the exception of a vertebra of a small fish, which was found in the gravel-bed twenty feet below the surface, and upon which a heavy blanket of Loess rests, in the up­land bench in the western suburb of Topeka, no fossils have COllie to the notice of the writer that can pOAiti vely be traced to theH-e deposits. The fish to which this meager vestige be,longed must have existed at least as early as a time preceding the accumula­tion of the LoesA, and the ApOt where it was lodged indicates that it sported in the an­cient Kansa(when its currents swept the gravel bench, or fifty feet at least above their present level. '

I_OESS FORMATION.

If In Kansas the evidences of the Terrace epoch are rather to be sought in the results of ita_somewhat circumscribed erosive action, which are chiefly manifest along the drainage

596 STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

channels, than in the completed terrace structures to which it owes its distinguishing featureR. The low terraces along most of the streams are probably moRtly of a later origin, as they are composed of finer materials transported and built up by the streams thelllselve_, after they had cut ont the older deposits that once filled the valleys. But before the latter st~ge was reached, to some cause or other which had its seat far beyond the limits of Kansas, the outlet to the Missouri urainage system was obstructed and oits w·aters dammed nntil they a,sumed the appearance and condition of a vast lake or estuary occupying thousands of square miles. The basin thus formed, (and whose origin may be attributable to a moderate sub"idence and conecqllent encroachment of the Gulf waters upon the area of the -'Iissi,;sippi basin,) received Ihe drainage of the Upper Mis­souri, whose waters were then, as they are now, heavily charged with the fine particles derived from the disintegration of the soft arenaceous and clayey strata of the Tertiary and the marls of the Cretaceou~, through which the course of the river lies for a thon­sand mileR. On entering the pxpanee of quiet waters the transporting power of the cur­rent was arrested, liberating its burden of almost impalpable sediments, which were deposited npon the bed of the lake. It were possible to arrive at an approximate con­clu~ion as to the interval of time requisite for the filling of the Loess lake basin, when its barriers were forced and the currents resumed their functions as eroding and trans­porting agents. What the great stream had erected it persists in pulling down; but in spite of its resistleFs power there remain to this day monumental evidences of the Loess epiwde in the history of the river.

The magnitude of the Loess deposits is strikingly displayed in the bluff4 that hound the river valley for hundreds of miles in its course through the States of Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, an,l ;\1issouri. They here attain a thickness of 200 feel, extending back into the a<ljacent nphnd country many miles, where they occnpy a level, showing that at the culmination of the epoch they probably reached as great again thickness. The deposit everywhere rests upon those of the preceding epochs j indeed for the most part, masking the Glacial and modified drift over the greater portion of the area of its basin extent, within which they are only revealed by the subsequent action of the streams, whose beds have severed the superincumbmt deposit aff0rding hundreds of limited exposures displaying the stratigraphical relations of the entire series.

In composition, the Loes'! consists of exceedingly finely comminuted materials, in the proportions of 82.15 per cent. silica or sand, 9.GG carbonate of lime, 1.31 magneeiuffi carbonatE', .67 alumina, 3.89 ferric oxyd, the remaining percentages conoisting of moist­lUI', organic malter, ancl 10"', 223. The above cloHely agrees with the resnlts of analysis of the sediment of Missouri river watpr (high-water stage) at Couocil Rlufk The cal­careons matter is often concentrated, forming irregular, tuber· like concretion., sometimes with an organic Ilnclens. Sncll an example was exbnmed fl"Om, a remnant of the Loess at the contlnpnce of Elhow creek and nine river, wllich partially enveloped the incisors of a small rodent. Xearer Manhattan, in the ravine north of Blnemont, the· remains of a Mastodon were discovered in a silllilar position. Hilt for the most part, very few of these occurrences are reportell in this region, althongh in adjacent districts the formation is said to abonnd with the remains of a 'lnile varic,\ fanna. In its physical aspects it sholVs obscnre larnin:c or lines of tiepo"ition, all'\ IIsllally presents throughont a homo­geneous texture, 311<1 brownish to light-bid!" c'llor. The deposit is remarkable for the cohesion of its particles, to which is due the exceedingly steep slopeR into which the bluff" weather. ""ells a hundred feet in depth have been excavate,l in the formation without the neceSRity of uHing curbing, either of Atone or wood: Toward the borders of the haRin, the deposit contains a slightly larger aumixtllre of clayey matter, as might be expected in snch situations.

The occurrence of the Loess formation approximately marks the limits of the lake

THIRD BIENNIAL REPORT. 597

basin in which it was deposited, which, in the valley of the Kansas, probably extended as far west as the confluence of the Republican, Approaching the Missouri, its thick­ness steadily increases as also its more general distribution, occupying valley and up­land alike. Prior to the damming ana conseqnent arrest and deposition of the sediment brought down by the great river, its valley presented a very difl'erent appearance from that of to-day. In order to restore its pre-Loess condition it is only necessary to ignore the presence of the vast accumulation of yellow loam that fills the depressions and crowns the bluffs throughout some hundreds of miles of its course in this region. The subse­quent events in geolo!(ic history are so intimately connected with the pres€Dt era both in their physical and organic aspects, that the ,occurrences are appropriately considered in connection with the physical geography of the country. The draining of the Loess basin was attended with terrace phenomena exactly like those produced during the Ter­race epoch; but the nature of the deposit has made it possible for the ordinary atmos­pheric agents of erosive action to record some of their most beautiful effects in the picturesque weather-sculptured bluff; that border the Missouri.

ALLUVIUM AND SOILS.

Soils consist of the more or less finely comminuted materials derived from the de­gradation of rocky ledges, and a small accession of organic matter which is constantly being augmented by the decay of vegetable and animal matter existing upon the sur­face. In order to determine the origin and nature of soils, it is necessary to take into consideration the varied past and present conditions under which they were formed, and the character of the rock formations from which their mineral constituents were derived. It happens, therefore, that in their local aspects soils present a wide range of variation, effects which may be directly traced to geologic causes of more or less remote occur­rence. Indeed, the process Dlay be witnessed in all its phases to-day, from the disintegra­tion of rock strata, and the transportation of their detrituR by streams, to the building-up of the rich alluvial deposits along their courses by periodic fre3~ets.

In a region enveloped by the drift deposits, the soils may present greater or less di­versity, according to the extent to which subseq uenl-acting agencies have wrought in redistributing their materials -leaving knoll" and ridges of boulders and pebbles on the site once occupied by the undisturbed boulder clays, whose finer materials have been transported to greater or less distances by streams and rains and winds, and redistributed over the lower declivities and terraces in the valleys; again, the denuding action has been carried only sufliciently far as to liberate a few of the coarser materials, which na­ture has quickly seized upon and converted into a meager stratum of 103m, blanketing the tough, clayey subsoil. But the results are 80 varied that in many regions almost every q'Htrter section of land offers peculiar phases to puzzle the geologist and annoy the farmer. Of the latter class of soils, however, few if any ex hibitions are met with in Kansas.

Sllfficient has already been detailed in relation to the origin and occurrence of the Loess to afford some notion of the character of the deposits which constitute the bulk of the Boil over a large portion of northeastern Kansa~. Nearer the Missouri, the Loess s9il envelops alike upland and valley, everywhere aflurding the same distinguishing characteristics and fertility; indeed, it is a vast accumulation of soil, every part of whieh is ready prepared for cultivation. In the interior, it gradually djrnjni"h~R in thickneMH, and finally disappearA in the uplands; but in the principal valleys it persi"tR and is known to occur as far we,t as Manhattan, where eXl'oRureR many feet in thickm'RR ex­hibit the peculiar characteristics of the formation. The southern limits of the LoeRs probably correspond to the water·divide south of the Kans'iS; ).Jut at pn'sent little is known respecting the details of its distribution in that quarter. In the vicillity of To­peka, it forms a heavy blanket mantling the undulating plateau upon which the town is

598 STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

partly built, and where it is separated by a thin stratum of modified drift from the sub­jacent limestone and shales of the Upper Coal-measures. In the more remote portions of the Loess basin it is probable that the deposit carries a somewhat larger admixture of clayey matter. This condition is indicated by the local occurrence of a "hard·pan" stratum immediately beneath the superficial humus-charged layer of soil.

Incidental reference has already beeu made to certain soil occurrences whose origin is traced to the ,leuudation of the Glacial deposits. To the latter source may be traced many soil deposits occurring in the uplands, aud especially the gravel terraces of more or less frequent OCCUflence in the valleys. Their extent may be even greater than the comparatively few observations at the present time recorded might lead one to infer, but they are far too imperfectly known to determine their relative importance in the membership of Kansas soils. There is no section of the State to which the superficial deposits give special topographic features, such as is conveyed by the term "drift region," if we except the region in the northeast portion of the State, which may with greater or less appropriateness be designated as the" Loess region," and the highland area lyiug to the west between the Blue and the upper course of the Grasshopper, which is apparently heavily enveloped in the earlier-formed modified drift deposits. True drift boulders and pebbles of quartzite and various metamorphic rocks are found as far south as the divide separating the Missouri from the Arkansas drainage, and west at least oue huudred miles from the mouth of the Kansas; but the latter materials have undoubtedly been worked over during the subsequent Champlain epoch, and are, there­fore, rather to be classed with the modified drift. In relation to the latter, as just remarked, it seems highly probable that they may be fouud to have extensive distribution in this regiou; but as the conditions to which the epoch owes its existeuce were of greater geographical (southward) range thim those which produced the true Glacial deposits, their consideration is complicated by the necessity of taking coguizance of a class of products derived from quite a differeut source, and which viewed by themselves. possess a clearly local aspect. To the latter belong the ordinary superficial deposits spread over the southeastern portion of the State, among which no vestige of true Glacial erratics (such as quartzite aud other metamorphic boulders, which may be traced to their northern homes, whence they were transported by the agency of ice) have been detected, but whose accumulation was due to the denudation and disintegration of the limestone, sandstoue and shaly deposits occnrring in the region where they exclusively constitute the evidences of the action of powerful denuding agencies, which may, with much reason, be identified with the Champlain epoch.

There exist other and iu many instances conspicuolls phenomena which IDay in part be ascribed to the same or even earlier epoch in the history of the period which wit­nessed the formation of the various superficial deposits met with in this region. To the latter occurrences belong the gravels which prevail in the region occupied by the Ter­tiary deposits, in the northwest part of the State. Other local deposits equally marked though less extensively distributed, (becausc of the more circnmscribed area' of the out­crop of the ledges whose degradatiou furnished the materials,) are the sand benches near St. Gt'orge and below Topeka in the border of the uplands of the Kansas valley, and the enormous accumulations of chert debris found in the limited area occupied by the Lower Carboniferous rocks in the extreme southeast corner of the Slate. Over the region under­laid by the Dakota samlstones occurs a sandy belt coextellsive with the outcroFl of the formation; aud over the much more extensive area occupie(1 by the Niobrara limestone and marly strata, the soil partakes in a marked (Iegree of the peculiarities imparted by the rocks upon which it rests, in its calcareous 'jualities. In nearly all cases these soils bear excellent reputlttion for fertility wherever they have been tesled, as evidenced by the enormous yiehls of grain reported in the counties where they chiefly prevail.

THIRD BIENNIAL REPORT. 599

Elsewhere occur considerable areas, in the larger valleys, which are occupied by ac­cumulation;; of loose sand, which the winds ceaselessly shift in the direction of their prevalence, and in which they have wrought Rome curious topographic freaks. The upper reacheR of the Arkansas valley afi0rd, perhaps, the m05t striking examples here especially referred to. It would appear that these accuillulations, ,,-hicIt in places assume the character of yeritable sand-dunes, owe their origin to the erosive actton of the river, at a tiille not reruote geologically, when the volume of waler greatly exceeded that of to·day. The currents of that time not only swept a wide bell immediately based npon Cretaceous arenaceous deposit~, but the flood also probably carried much sand from regions along the upper course of the river, and whose accumulation was determined by obstructions encountered by the currents, the same as mark the formation of bars along the margins of streams to-day. Subsequently the winds have taken a prominent part in remolding and changing their outline, nntil they, too, are being thwarted in their in­jurious freaks by the steady encroachment of vegetation, which is covering even the most barren of (he "sand-hills" with a robe of herbage and copses of plnm shrubbery wherever the operation is nnobstructed by artificial means, and which may indeed undo in a brief space what has required a long interval for nature to perform in their reclamation.

In the case of all these soil depositp, while tbe processes may well have dated from early in the period, they are unquestionably still in operation. And so with respect to the whole face of the country, eroding agents are ceaselessly active, employing the elements in the work of degrading and transporting, leveling and filling up the inequali­ties in the earth's surface.

Sketch of the geology of Kansas

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