KANSAS ACADEMY OF SCIENCE. 53 
Ill. GEOLOGY AND PALEONTOLOGY. 
PHYSIOGRAPHY OF SOUTHEASTERN KANSAS. 
BY GEO. I. ADAMS, LAWRENCE. 
Read before the Academy October 28, 1897. 
The National Geographical Society of Washington has published a volume of 
monographs entitled ‘‘The Physiography of the United States.’’ In this volume 
Major Powell, of the United States Geological Survey, has discussed physio- 
graphic processes and features, and defined in a comprehensive way the physio- 
graphic regions and districts of our country. It is the purpose of this paper to 
discuss briefly the geologic structure of Kansas as relates to the regions with 
which it has a common history, and in particular to define the physiographic 
features of the southeastern part of the state. 
PHYSIOGRAPHIC REGIONS TO WHICH KANSAS IS RELATED. 
The regions to be considered in a discussion of the structural history of Kan- 
sas are shown in the accompanying map. The Ozark region embraces the Ozark 
plateau of southern Missouri and northern Arkansas and the Ozark ranges of 
eastern Indian territory. The Ozark plateau extends just into the southeastern 
corner of Kansas. The prairie plains region extends to the north and west of this 
region. In Kansas it covers about the eastern fourth of the state. It is divided 
into a glaciated and a non-glaciated district, the division lines running approxi- 
mately east and west just south of the Kansas and Missouri rivers. West of the 
prairie plains stretches the Great Plain plateau, terminating at the base of the 
mountains. That district of this region of which Kansas forms a part is known 
as the Arkansas plateau. The Park Mountain region embraces the mountains of 
southern Wyoming, central Colorado, and northern New Mexico. Between these 
ranges lie the mountain valleys commonly called parks. 
REGIONAL BOUNDARIES IN KANSAS. 
The regions are defined and mapped in a broad way by Major Powell. Just 
what are considered the limits in each case is not told. Within the borders of our 
own state, however, they are manifestly well defined in nature and will admit of 
closer mapping. The regional boundaries are here, also the boundaries of geo- 
logical formations. In discussing the physical features of Missouri, Marbut * 
has made the line of separation between the Carboniferous and the Subcarbon- 
iferous the western margin of the Ozark region. In Kansas the line follows 
Spring river, thus giving the region but a very small extent within the state in the 
extreme southeast corner. The western limit of the prairie plains is apparently 
the escarpment along the eastern border of the Permian formation. This isa 
very natural division, and a traveler passing westward cannot fail to notice the 
sudden rise in the elevation and the change in surface features. In the southern 
portion of the state the transition is marked by the Flint Hills. 
GEOLOGICAL STRUCTURE OF KANSAS, 
The geological structure of Kansas is best understood by reference to a section 
extending in an east and west direction from the dome of the Ozark region to the 
*Physiographic Features of Missouri: Mo. Geol. Surv., vol. X. 
