BEEDE: RECONNAISSANCE IN THE BLUE VALLEY. 195 



is considerably thicker at some localities than at others. At the 

 Hawk quarry, at Beattie, it is seven feet in thickness. For 

 comparison, the Hawk quarry section is given below : 



Haivk Quarry {at Beattie). ^/[^'^; Jj'^\?j; 



7. Hard shales and argillaceous limestones 7 — 19+ 



i3. Limestone 1 — 8 12—2 



"). Limestone 1 — 6 10 — 6 



1. Very hard fossiliferoue shale 2 — 9 — 



3. Limestone with abundant F'n.'oil'ma and chert nodules 2—8 7-0 



2. Limestone with thin layers of chert concretions 2 — 4 — 4 



1. Gray limestone with blue streak through center. 2^4 2 — 4 



Nos. 1 to 3 are the Cottonwood Falls limestone. The differ- 

 ence in the appearance of the shale is probably due to the greater 

 protection which it had in this quarry, and suggests that it might 

 be difficult to correlate sections in this region by well records, 

 as the argillaceous limestones and calcareous shales would pre- 

 sent about the same appearance to the average workman. 



The above sections give an ample idea of the Cottonwood 

 formation in this region. The Florena section would be a repe- 

 tition of the others. On the whole, it presents about the same 

 appearance as south of the Kansas river. The stone has the 

 same color and texture and thickness and is extensively quarried 

 in many places. The overlying shales seem to be a little thin- 

 ner here than south of the Kansas river, but present the same 

 faunal characteristics, with their millions of Chonetes gramUifer 

 and many Derbya and Seminula argtntea. This characteristic 

 is quite as prominent a feature as the texture and color of the 

 limestone below. 



NEOSHO FORMATION. 



This formation, the base of the Permian, is a rather narrow 

 band geographically, and follows closely the underlying Cot- 

 tonwood formation, as it is not much more than 100 feet in 

 thickness, and the escarpments formed by the Strong flint and 

 Cottonwood limestone are generally rather close to each other. 

 Professor Knerr gives a section in this formation near Bigelow . 

 which would show it to bo ninety-eight feet in thickness. His 

 section of the bluffs is as follows : * 



"A little south of Bigelow the Permian first becomes conspicuous in the bluffs 

 called Twin Mounds. Here the Cottonwood Falls rock is thirty feet above the 

 railroad, and is six feet thick. 



*Loc. cit. 



^^ 



