Geological Papers. 75 



A DESCRIPTION OF THE CHANGES IN THE COTTON- 

 WOOD LIMESTONE SOUTH OF COTTONWOOD 

 FALLS, KAN. 



By J. A. Yatbs, Manual Training Normal School, Pittsburg. 



TN THIS paper I shall describe the changes that I observed in the 

 -*- Cottonwood limestone and some of the changes that were no- 

 ticed in the formations above and below it. The Cottonwood lime- 

 stone forms a rather prominent escarpment along the Flint Hills, 

 being about 150 feet below the Wreford limestone, which forms the 

 upper escarpment of what is known as the Flint Hills. Towards 

 the southern part of the state, beginning some fifteen or twenty 

 miles north of Grenola, the Neva^ limestone thickens up and pro- 

 duces a heavy escarpment from three to four miles to the east, giv- 

 ing the appearance in the topography of two ranges of flint hills. 

 This appearance continues to the south line of the state, the Florena 

 shales and Cottonwood limestone having been entirely eroded from 

 this eastern range of bills, the Eskridge shale covering a large part 

 of the rather broad plateau which connects the two ranges of hills. 

 In a broad way it might be said that the Neva limestone appears 

 at the top of the east range of hills, or the first escarpment, and 

 the Cottonwood limestone at the base of the next escarpment. 

 Throughout the entire course from Cottonwood Falls to the south 

 line of the state the limestone at the top of the Florena shales, and 

 often two other layers of limestone, which occur in the Garrison 

 formation below the Wreford limestone, may be seen. Also, the 

 upper, middle and lower Neva limestones appear in the formation 

 below and seem to be continuous. 



Some of these formations change greatly in their lithological 

 •characters as one follows them south. Also, rather strong anti- 

 clines are noticed at the divides between the river systems, and 

 synclines at the heads of these streams. This is especially notice- 

 able along the divide between the Verdigris and Fall rivers, where 

 the dip is about 1°. Also, near Derry, now called Blodgett, the dip 

 is 2°; as the streams run east, in the main, the dip on one side is 

 to the north and on the other to the south. 



While the lithological characters of the Cottonwood limestone 

 'change many times in the territory mentioned, the Florena shales 

 remain more constant in character than any other formation near 



1. For description and nomenclature of the formation in this paper as they appear at other 

 ;points in the state, see Cottonwood Falls Folio, No. 109, U. S. Geological Survey. 



