A KECONNAISSANCE IN THE BLUE VALLEY PERMIAN. 



1)Y .1. W. BEEDE. 

 With Plate XLIII. 



This paper has to do largely with the lower Permian and the 

 upper portion of the Coal Measures, as they are represented in 

 Kansas north of the Kansas river and in southern Nebraska. 

 The sections given here are selected near the railroads, so as to 

 36 of easy access for comparison to any one wishing to study 

 :hem. 



The Blue Valley & Northern railroad runs along the Big Blue 

 river from Manhattan, in the upper Wabaunsee formation, to 

 :he upper Chase formation, near Beatrice, Neb. At Stockdale, 

 [ind north to Cleburne, a most excellent idea of flint-hills topog- 

 raphy may be obtained from the railroad. The little town of 

 riarrison, on the east side of the river, is located at the foot of a 

 bluff more than 200 feet high capped by the P'lorence lime- 

 stone. Randolph is located in a typical Permian valley, with 

 ^teep bluffs on either side ; Cleburne is in the mouth of a 

 typical Permian gulch. By taking the wagon road from there 

 :o the northwest up the gulch, an excellent idea of the pleasures 

 3f driving in the flint hills may be obtained. 



For the study of the upper Permian, good exposures may be 

 found from Waterville to Barnes and Greenleaf, on the Central 

 Branch (Mo. Pac), or from Marysville to Hanover, on the 

 Grrand Island. On the latter road, the best places to study the 

 strata are a few miles southeast of Hanover, in the large hills, 

 ?ome of which are 100 feet high, with all the strata exposed in 

 the road. The accompanying map gives an idea of the ap- 

 proximate distribution of the formations. 



WABAUNSEE FORMATION. 



In volume 5, page 119 et seq. of the Kansas City Review of 

 Science and Industry, 1881, Professor Broadhead published 

 ?ome notes on the geology of the Central Branch railroad, in 

 which he discusses, among other things, some sections within 



[191]-K.U.Qr.-A ix 3-July, 'CO. 



