Marcu 1, 1912] 
Adams first described the transition of the 
light-colored sediments of Kansas into the red 
deposits of Oklahoma and Adams made a re- 
connaissance in Texas. Later, Kirk traced the 
Wreford limestone into a red sandstone in 
Oklahoma. Beede suggested that the sedi- 
ments of the red beds were derived from the 
Arbuckle-Wichita Mountain region, and Gor- 
don made further studies of the Texas region. 
During the past summer the attempt was 
made to take up the study of this transition 
in somewhat greater detail in order to dis- 
cover more fully its nature and significance. 
The horizons of the rocks lying between the 
Neva limestone and the Wreford limestone, 
as represented in Kansas, and a part of the 
way, the Fort Riley limestone were studied. 
A trip to the Wichita Mountains was made to 
study the relation of the red beds to the Per- 
mian conglomerates. With the exception of a 
single reference this paper deals with the 
strata of the beds studied. 
In tracing the limestones and shales of the 
basal Permian beds of Kansas southward into 
Oklahoma the relationship of the light-colored 
sediments to the red sandstones, red shales 
and red limestones of Oklahoma is clearly re- 
vealed. It is shown that some of the heavier 
ledges of limestone first become sandy along 
their outcrops in patches a few rods across. 
Farther south the sandstone areas increase in 
size until the limestone appears only in local 
areas in the sandstones and is finally wanting. 
Traced farther southward, the sandstones be- 
come deep red or brown with local. areas of 
white, The decimation of the fauna: sets in 
as the limestones diminish and the remains of 
life are not found far beyond the limits of 
the limestones. The shales become red very 
much farther north than do the sandstones, 
and are frequently more deeply colored. Some 
of the lower limestones become red before they 
change into sandstones. The sandstone 
ledges continue for some distance southward 
383-386, 1901; ScIENcE, XV., pp. 545-546; XVI., 
p. 1029, 1902; Bull. Geol. Soc. Amer., pp. 191-200, 
1903. Beede, Jour. Geol., XVII., pp. 710-729, 
1909. Gordon, Jour. Geol., XIX., pp. 110-125. 
Kirk, Third Bienn. Rep. Okla. (Terr.) Geol. Surv. 
SCIENCE 
349 
as rather even, uniform beds, but farther on 
they are found to thicken and thin in a some- 
what systematic manner. 
Several ledges of sandstone frequently oc- 
cur in a single section and where one of these 
ledges is found thickened the others are apt 
to be thicker than normal. Likewise they are 
all found to be thin over certain areas. The 
regions of thickening and thinning were found 
to be parallel belts lying north and south at 
right angles to the major drainage lines. Two 
of these belts together with an intervening re- 
gion about eight miles across were studied. 
The sandstones thicken at the expense of the 
shales, sometimes eliminating them. In one 
instance a thin limestone was traced south- 
west into one of these zones. A sandstone 
twenty feet or more beneath the limestone 
thickens and rises above the limestone and 
practically unites with the sandstone some 
distance above it. The limestone seems to die 
out a few feet from the sandstone, but farther 
west the latter shrinks to its normal thickness 
and the limestone is present in its proper 
position with its usual characteristics. 
In these zones of thickening which are fre- 
quently several miles wide, the sandstones are 
very irregularly cross-bedded and frequently 
ripple-marked, while the thickening is un- 
even. It would seem that these zones are 
opposite the mouths of streams which brought 
sediment into the sea, where the coarser ma- 
terials were carried farther from the shore 
than opposite the inter-stream spaces. The 
irregular thickening of the individual beds 
may be due to current work, wave action and 
heaping into local dunes by the wind, though 
the action of the last factor is uncertain. 
The irregular bedding and ripple marks indi- 
eate a sort of littoral or very shoal condition 
for the deposition of the sandstones and 
shales. 
As this interesting transition of sediments 
is traced still farther southward, we find, be- 
fore reaching the latitude of Shawnee, that 
the sandstones become more abundant over 
the whole area, more lenticular, more irregu- 
larly cross-bedded and imperfectly lithified. 
In a single railroad cutting a thick lens of 
