Il6 KANSAS UNIVERSriY QUARTERLY. 



the vicinity of Altooua, gradually occupying lower and lower positions 

 until it finally disappears beneath the surface south of Benedict about 

 three or four miles. 



Throughout almost the whole of this distance the space between 

 the two limestone systems is largely occupied with heavy beds of 

 sandstone. In fact the sandstone is so abundant and rises into such 

 high hills in numerous places that it becomes a little difficult to de- 

 cide at times just what the relation is between the two. 



Above the second limestone is another system of shales, which 

 contains much sandstone. On top of this and beginning on the hill- 

 tops around Benedict a third limestone appears. This was traced to 

 the northeast by Mr. Piatt and Mr. Kirk and determined to be the 

 lola limestone, with which it agrees in all of its essential (jualities. It 

 is a heavy deposit, abour 35 or 40 feet thick, composed of unusually 

 thick layers, and in many other ways resembles the lola limestone, 

 thus showing that with this system, at least, a lateral extent of twenty- 

 five or thirty miles makes but little change in a great limestone 

 system. 



With the identity of the limestone at Benedict and lola established, 

 wc may now attom])t to correlate the two systems already passed north 

 of the state line. Down the ri\er from Benedict the first limestone 

 met is the one tapping the hills from .-Mtoona almost to Coffeyvillc. 

 It lies about 100 feet below the Benedict- lola system, and is a re- 

 markably heavy system, measuring from 50 to 60 feet thick in some 

 places. This is particularly true at Table Mound, a very interesting 

 elliptical-shaped mound about 175 feet above the surrounding valle\-. 

 It is located northwest of Independence a little too far to be repre- 

 sented on the drawings of this section. On top of this mound the 

 limestone is fully 50 feet thick. ICverything, therefore, — its position, 

 character, distance below the lola limestone, etc , — indicates that it is 

 the Erie limestone, the same as that capping the mounds south of 

 Cherryvale. 



Below this again we have a heavy bed of shales and sandstone from 

 Soto 100 feet thick, — in some places reaching 125 feet, — when a 

 heavy bed of limestone is reached which, it seems, should be cor- 

 related with the Oswego limestone. Here the character of the rock 

 is decidedly different from the rock at Oswego, but from its relative 

 j)osition it must be the same, or some intermediate system which 

 does not crop out towards the east. The latter suggestion is made on 

 account of the fact that deep borings at Cherryvale and Mound 

 City show conclusively that a number of limestone systems do exist 

 at those places, not found along the Neosho River. It will therefore 

 require a great deal of work and careful discrimination in the study 



