THE WESTERN INTERIOR GEOSYNCLINE 155 



Pennsylvanian time. If, as suspected, the channel deposits are contempo- 

 raneous with certain sandstones and conglomerates of late Pleasanton age in 

 north-central Missouri, this erosion interval occurred before the beginning of 

 the Missouri epoch. 1 



The location and trend of the channels are shown on the accom- 

 panying map (see Fig. 1). The east- west channel has been desig- 

 nated the " Warrensburg " and the north-south one the "Moberly." 



In describing these deposits Hinds and Greene state that — 



the Warrensburg sandstone fills a channel about 50 miles long, extending from 

 north of Lewis Station, Henry County, northward to the north bluffs of Mis- 

 souri River. The sandstone belt, as at present exposed, has an average width 



of two miles, but just south of the Missouri widens to six miles 



The Moberly channel extends from South of Madison, in Monroe County, 

 west to Chariton River south of Salisbury. Its length is nearly 40 miles and 

 its average width less than 3 miles. The maximum depth shown in drill records 

 is about 200 feet. 2 



With regard to the nature of the streams which gave rise to the 

 channels the same authors express themselves as follows : 



It is believed that the Warrensburg channel was made by water flowing 

 from higher country on the Ozark dome, bringing with it sands and muds 

 derived largely from early Pennsylvanian sediments. The Warrensburg stream 

 was joined when it reached the present site of Missouri by the Moberly River 

 descending westward from an Ozark peninsula in northeastern Missouri, and 

 the united streams continued northward or northwestward to the open sea. 3 



Referring to the channel deposits presumably of a similar age 

 in Iowa, Hinds and Greene say: 



The Red Rock sandstone of Marion and Jasper counties, Iowa, lies in a 

 channel 2\ to 3 miles wide that has been traced for 27 miles from Eagle Rock 

 northeastward. This sandstone has a maximum thickness of 100 feet and has 

 all the characteristics of the Warrensburg and Moberly sandstones. 4 



It will be noted that the trend of these old channels, both in 

 Missouri and in Iowa, indicates that the drainage development 

 during the temporary uplift in late Des Moines time was influenced 

 by the geosyncline. 



1 Op. cit., p. 91. 3 Ibid., p. 93. 



2 Ibid., pp. 95 and 97. 4 Ibid., p. 94. 



