TWENTY-NINTH ANNUAL MEETING. ths 
GEOLOGY OF EFFINGHAM RIDGE—PRELIMINARY REPORT. 
By J. W. Wiuson, Effingham, Kan. Read before the Academy January 1, 1897. 
The ridge under discussion lies in northeast Kansas, with a general north and 
south trend. The portion under present discussion runs through the center of 
Atchison county. The crest passes one-half mile west of Effingham, the seat of 
the Atchison county high school. The elevation of the railroad track, just west 
of the Delfelder bridge crossing the Central Branch of the Missouri Pacific rail- 
road, one-half mile west of the city limits, is 22.5 feet above the front step of the 
county high school, as recorded by our aneroid barometer. The difference in 
elevation between the county high school and low-water mark at Atchison is 
327 feet. This makes a total of 394 feet difference between the elevation of the 
ridge and low-water mark at the Atchison bridge. The elevation drops 182 feet 
from Delfelder bridge to Muscotah, near the western boundary of the county. 
This ridge, as has been stated, extends nearly north and south, varying north- 
east, and is the watershed dividing the waters that flow west into the Delaware 
river from those flowing east into the Missouri. 
Near the east base the Oread limestone outcrops and is about 20 feet thick. 
This ledge can be traced almost entirely across the state. It is the ledge upon 
which the State University stands. At the western base of the Effingham ridge, 
in the bluffs along the Delaware river, are found a number of outcrops of lime- 
stone, from which nearly all the building rock of the western part of the county 
is obtained. In the bed of the Delaware river sandstone beds are occasionally 
found. Along the west base of the ridge are also found extensive deposits of 
coal—in some places over a foot in thickness —and from which, 20 years ago, all 
the coal supply of the county was furnished. The city of Effingham at one time 
secured all her coal from this region. These veins are worked in but few places 
now, owing to the cheapening of coal by improved machinery. The shales asso- 
ciated with this coal are very rich in vegetable and animal fossil remains. 
The principal limestone ridge in the vicinity of Muscotah is three-fourths of a 
mile west of town, on a farm owned by William Dunkel, and will in the future be 
known as ‘*‘ Dunkel Ledge.”’ 
This outcrop is about 50 feet above the town, and is frequently seen near the 
tops of the mounds east of the Delaware, between Muscotah and Arrington. 
The use of a transit has been secured by the county high school, and these ledges 
will be carefully worked out in our survey to be carried on next summer. 
The general dip of the rocks of this region is to the northwest. Muscotah is a 
little south of west of Atchison. Supposing the average dip in this direction is 
five feet to the mile, the Dunkel ledge, being about 264 feet above low-water 
mark at Atchison, is therefore 162 feet above the Oread limestone. These read- 
ings have not been verified by repeated experiments with the barometer, but are 
approximately correct. They make it probable that the coal of this region is in 
about the same horizon as the Osage county coal. 
I am inclined to believe that the limestone ledges west of Atchison will, when 
carefully worked out, be correlated with the Dunkel ledge, and probably consti- 
tute the bed rock supporting the water-bearing sand in the interior. 
GLACIAL DRIFT. 
I have frequently found in the western part of this county and in Nemaha 
county fragments of red sandstone resembling the Dakota Cretaceous. I think 
I have seen evidences of a moraine south of Atchison. Numerous boulders have 
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