REPOi^r ON FIELD WORK IN GF.OLOCV. 



O 



b. THE OTTAWA-HOLLIDAY SECTION. 



Let us now return to Ottawa and trace the section along the rail- 

 road to Holliday. 



After leaving Ottawa no limestone can be seen until Edgerton is 

 reached. But could one deviate a few miles to the right or left from 

 the line of the road one could find the Ottawa limestone in the low- 

 lands along different streams. The surface of the high prairie is 

 from fifty to a hundred feet above the limestone. 



At Edgerton,, however, the low valley of Wolf creek exposes the 

 limestone for about two miles. During a portion of this distance the 

 road bed is above the limestone, but in the lowest places it is below it. 

 As seen here it consists of a stratum about ten feet thick, composed 

 of several different layers, corresponding quite well with the character 

 of the Ottawa rock. 



To the east of Edgerton the surface covering again conceals the 

 limestone for about five miles, when the low ground of a valley a few 

 miles west of Olathe again brings it to view. Its characters here are 

 similar to those observed in the Wolf creek valley just mentioned. 

 Again it becomes concealed and is next seen in the northern part of 

 the town of Olathe. From the fact that in all cases where the rock 

 is not visible the road bed is above it, as shown in drawing, from its 

 frequent occurrence at intervening points in the low grounds at one 

 side of the road, and from the strong structural and lithologic resem- 

 blances, we may conclude that the limestone thus described as oc- 

 curring in Olathe and points westward is identical with the Ottawa 

 limestone. 



From Olathe to Holliday there is a rapid descent, and correspond- 

 ingly lower strata are brought to view. About thirty feei below the 

 upper limestone beds in Olathe a second system sets in. It is com- 

 posed of two strata, each of which includes different individual 

 layers. The two strata are separated by a stratum of shale approxi- 

 mately ten feet thick. This limestone system continues along the 

 hillside to Holliday, where it constitutes the summit of the Kansas 

 river bluffs, and is nearly 200 feet above the road bed. The charac- 

 ter of this system, its distance below ihe Ottawa limestone, its being 

 composed of two strata with a thin stratum of shale between them, 

 all point to the conclusion that this is the equivalent of the Garnett 

 limestone; yet the distance is so great, and the rock if continuous 

 being entirely concealed, it would be unsafe to class them together 

 excepting in a provisional manner. 



Below the above mentioned limestone system there is a heavy bed 

 of shale about 150 feet thick, below which a tliird limestone system 

 appears, consisting of two strata separated by about 20 feet of shale. 



