Tin-: PERMIAN SYSTEM IN KANSAS. 5 1 



THE OSBORNE LIMESTONE. 

 Named from occurence at Osborne and in Osborne 

 county, Kansas. Crowning the Victoria shale and consituting 

 the lower formation of the Niobrara. Limestone in rather 

 thick courses. -'Devil's Gap," in southeastern Rooks 

 county, is in this limestone. Courses thicker than in Rus- 

 sell formation; some thin ones, especially at summit. Lime- 

 stone harder and better for building than Smoky Hill 

 chalk, but softer than and inferior to the Downs limestone. 

 Formation forms bluffs in forks of Walnut creek in 

 Ness county; of Solomon river in Osborne county; occurs 

 at Ft. Hays, forming upper member of the "Ft. Hays" 

 (lower Niobrara and Benton) of Prof. B. F. Mudge; and 

 forms bluffs on Whiterock creek, from above Lovewell to 

 near Whiterock, passing thence into Nebraska through 

 Whiterock-Republic divide. Fossils: Inoceramus deformis, 

 I. broivnii, RadioUtcs au.f<tinc)isis, etc. 



THE SMOKY HILL CHALK. 



Upper formation of the Niobrara. Named from the 

 Smoky Hill river, on which it is magnificently developed. 

 Chalky and marly limestones and chalk. Jiluish and marly 

 in the lower or Trego zone, (named from its conspicuousness 

 in Trego county, Kansas,) and yellow (to white, red, etc.) 

 and more chalky in the Norton zone (named from occur- 

 rence at Norton and in Norton county, Kansas). A horizon 

 of jasper, the Graham jasper (named from its occurrence 

 in Graham county, Kansas) near the upper limit. Lenses 

 of hard, so-called "Bell-rock" in base or transition to 

 Osborne limestone. On Smoky Hill river from western 

 Ellis county to vicinity of Ft. Wallace; thence chiefly 

 northward and northeastward. Includes "Castle Rock" 

 in Gove county, and many similar monumental forms. 

 Fossils: Inoceramus (Haploscapha) grandis, Uintacrinus 

 socialis, the huge tish, Porthens molossus, many large reptiles, 

 Cimoliosaurus snovii and other enaliosaurs, with mosasaurs, 



