CORRELATION OF THE KINDERHOOK FORMATIONS 

 OF SOUTHWESTERN MISSOURI. 



In a recent geological report on Greene county, Missouri, 1 

 by Professor Edward M. Shepard, the stratigraphy of a portion 

 of the southwestern part of the state surrounding the city of 

 Springfield, has been described in detail. Some of the correla- 

 tions proposed for the Kinderhook formations, however, are 

 erroneous because of the almost entire disregard of paleontologi- 

 cal evidence. The Kinderhook formations in the area are not 

 abundantly fossiliferous, and unless careful search be made for 

 fossils they may be easily overlooked. All the principal forma- 

 tions, however, contain distinctive faunas which furnish the data 

 for a definite correlation of the beds. 



The formations described by Shepard that must be included 

 in the Kinderhook, are as follows, beginning with the lower- 

 most, the names being those used in the report : 



i. Eureka or black shale - - - - o to 4 feet 



2. King limestone 1 to 15 feet 



3. Sac limestone - - - - 1 to 18 feet 



4. Phelps sandstone - - - - o to 4 feet 



5. Louisiana limestone - - - - o to 8 feet 



6. Hannibal sandstone and shale - - 10 to 90 feet 



7. Chouteau limestone - - - - 3 to 30 feet 



The most conspicuous of these formations in the region cov- 

 ered by the report are the Sac limestone, the so-called Hannibal 

 sandstone and shale and the so-called Chouteau limestone. In 

 his geological map Shepard has recognized only three divisions in 

 the series which correspond in general with the three formations 

 just named. The Eureka shale and the Phelps sandstone are 

 also formations which are apparently worthy of separate defini- 

 tion, but the King limestone and the so-called Louisiana lime- 

 stone may prove, upon sufficient investigation, to be nothing but 



'A Report on Greene county, by Edward M. Shepard, Geol. Survey of Mis- 

 souri, Vol. XII, pp. 12-245 (December 1898). 



130 



