136 KANSAS UNIVERSITY QUARTERLY. 



river valleys, and of producing the terraces, mounds, and broad 

 valleys unoccupied by streams, so common in Kansas, has not been 

 given as much attention as its importance merits. The foregoing 

 observations and discusssions are offered as preliminary, and will be 

 elaborated as our work progresses. 



The Surface Gravels of Eastern Kansas. 



ERASMUS HAWORrH. 



Perhaps no county in the eastern part of the state is entirely free 

 from surface deposits of gravel which are radically different in charac- 

 ter from those further north belonging to the glacial deposits, and 

 from the various Cretacious and younger gravels found in different 

 parts of western Kansas. The glacial gravels are found in the north- 

 eastern counties but are unknown over the greater jjart of the state. 

 The gravels imder discussion are composed almost entirely of flint, 

 or chert, and are often fossiliferous. They vary in size, ranging from 

 the size of a pea to 5 or 6 inches in diameter. Their shape is 

 rounded, but often decidedly angular, and occasionally they have 

 sharp, cutting edges. In color they range from the light chalcedonic 

 varieties through ilifferent shades of yellow and red to dark, as river 

 gravels usually do when staine«l with iron which is in various stages 

 of o-xydation. The light buff color greatly i)redominates. 



They are found in beds of various dimensions, and in different 

 positions with reference to the surface. Sometimes they form only a 

 little sprinkling on the surface; sometimes they form heavy beds from 

 two to three feet thick at or near the surface, and at other times they 

 are buried from 10 to 20 feet beneath a surface soil. Their position 

 is as varied as the surface of the country where they occur. They 

 are found in the creek and river beils, along the banks of the streams, 

 underlying the rich soils of the valleys, on the uplands and divides, 

 and finally on top of the highest hills in the country. 



Geographically they extend from north to south, from east to west, 

 not over all the surface, but so extensively that one may not be at all 

 surprised to find them at any particular place. They are found in 

 great abundance at the northern edge of Ottasva, and almost all along 

 the A., T. lV S. F. R. R. from that point to beyond Independence. 

 They are abundant on both sides the Neosho river from its source to 

 its point of leaving the state, and are much more abundant along the 

 Cottonwood river. The court-house at Cottonwood Falls stands on 

 a hill covered with gravel to the depth of 10 feet or more. The work 



