﻿282 
  REPORT 
  UNITED 
  STATES 
  GEOLOGICAL 
  SURVEY. 
  

  

  richer 
  and 
  more 
  varied 
  type 
  of 
  vertebrates. 
  Thus 
  far 
  no 
  Pterodactyls 
  j 
  

   have 
  been 
  found 
  north 
  of 
  the 
  Kansas 
  line. 
  In 
  Saurian 
  genera, 
  the- 
  

   Nebraska 
  deposits 
  have 
  given 
  less 
  in 
  quantity 
  and 
  also 
  less 
  in 
  generic 
  

   and 
  specific 
  varieties 
  than 
  Kansas. 
  This 
  difference 
  begins 
  before 
  we 
  

   reach 
  the 
  State 
  line, 
  as 
  we 
  did 
  not 
  find 
  a 
  single 
  Pterodactyl 
  bone, 
  and 
  

   very 
  few 
  of 
  Saurian, 
  within 
  20 
  miles 
  of 
  the 
  Nebraska 
  boundary. 
  

  

  The 
  upper 
  portion, 
  which 
  we 
  shall 
  call 
  Niobrara 
  proper, 
  or 
  simply 
  

   Niobrara, 
  is 
  very 
  unlike 
  the 
  lower, 
  which 
  shades 
  imperceptibly 
  intO' 
  

   deposits 
  like 
  the 
  Benton. 
  The 
  two 
  divisions 
  differ 
  in 
  a 
  very 
  marked 
  

   degree 
  both 
  in 
  the 
  character 
  of 
  the 
  fossils 
  and 
  in 
  physical 
  appearance- 
  i 
  

   This 
  Niobrara 
  occupies 
  a 
  belt 
  of 
  the 
  country 
  next 
  adjoining 
  the 
  Plio- 
  

   cene, 
  about 
  30 
  miles 
  in 
  width 
  in 
  the 
  northern 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  State, 
  but 
  

   gradually 
  widening 
  to 
  more 
  than 
  twice 
  that 
  extent 
  in 
  the 
  Smoky 
  Hill 
  Val- 
  

   ley. 
  It 
  is 
  well 
  defined 
  in 
  the 
  tributaries 
  of 
  this 
  river 
  nearly 
  to 
  the 
  high 
  

   divide 
  between 
  it 
  and 
  the 
  Arkansas 
  Yalley. 
  It 
  is 
  but 
  poorly 
  repre- 
  

   sented 
  on 
  Walnut 
  and 
  Pawnee 
  Creeks, 
  in 
  Ness 
  and 
  Hodgeman 
  Counties 
  j, 
  

   and 
  on 
  the 
  slopes 
  toward 
  the 
  Arkansas 
  River 
  it 
  is 
  seldom 
  seen, 
  and 
  

   then 
  almost 
  devoid 
  of 
  its 
  characteristic 
  fossils. 
  It 
  also 
  loses 
  most 
  of 
  

   its 
  physical 
  and 
  fossiliferous 
  features 
  before 
  it 
  enters 
  Colorado, 
  west 
  

   and 
  south 
  of 
  Fort 
  Wallace, 
  and 
  soon 
  after 
  entering 
  that 
  State 
  it 
  entirely 
  

   disappears. 
  It 
  is 
  composed 
  of 
  chalk 
  and 
  chalky 
  shales- 
  The 
  former 
  is 
  

   of 
  various 
  shades 
  of 
  color 
  from 
  buff 
  to 
  pure 
  white, 
  and 
  is 
  seldom 
  suffi- 
  

   ciently 
  hard 
  to 
  be 
  used 
  as 
  a 
  building-material. 
  Some 
  of 
  the 
  buildings 
  

   at 
  Fort 
  Walhice 
  were 
  constructed 
  of 
  it, 
  but 
  did 
  not 
  prove 
  substantial. 
  

   The 
  whiter 
  portions 
  are 
  almost 
  pure 
  carbonate 
  of 
  lime, 
  and 
  cannot 
  be 
  

   distiuguisbed 
  from 
  the 
  best 
  specimens 
  of 
  foreign 
  cbalk. 
  Professor 
  

   Daua, 
  in 
  the 
  last 
  edition 
  of 
  his 
  Manual 
  of 
  Geology, 
  p. 
  455, 
  says 
  there 
  is 
  

   no 
  chalk 
  in 
  North 
  America 
  except 
  in 
  VVestern 
  Kansas. 
  

  

  G-. 
  E. 
  Patrick, 
  professor 
  of 
  chemistry 
  in 
  the 
  Kansas 
  University, 
  has 
  

   published, 
  in 
  the 
  Transactions 
  of 
  the 
  Kansas 
  Academy 
  of 
  Science, 
  an 
  

   article 
  on 
  this 
  chalk, 
  from 
  which 
  we 
  extract 
  the 
  following 
  remarks, 
  with 
  

   his 
  analyses 
  : 
  

  

  Examined 
  under 
  the 
  microscope, 
  it 
  appears 
  perfectly 
  amorphous 
  — 
  a 
  simple 
  aggrega- 
  

   tion 
  of 
  shapeless 
  particles. 
  The 
  Rhizopod 
  shells, 
  which 
  almost 
  universally 
  occur 
  ia 
  

   the 
  chalk 
  of 
  the 
  Old 
  World, 
  sometimes 
  comprising 
  nearly 
  its 
  entire 
  substance, 
  seem 
  to 
  

   be 
  quite 
  wanting 
  in 
  our 
  Kansas 
  chalk. 
  With 
  a 
  good 
  microscope, 
  and 
  a 
  high 
  power, 
  I 
  

   have 
  been 
  unable 
  to 
  detect 
  a 
  trace 
  of 
  them. 
  

  

  The 
  amount 
  of 
  impurity 
  varies, 
  of 
  course, 
  in 
  different 
  samples 
  of 
  the 
  chalk, 
  but 
  in 
  no 
  

   specimens 
  that 
  I 
  have 
  seen 
  does 
  this 
  amount 
  exceed 
  15 
  or 
  16 
  per 
  cent. 
  Two 
  samples 
  

   yielded, 
  upon 
  analysis, 
  the 
  figures 
  given 
  below. 
  No. 
  1 
  was 
  a 
  fine 
  specimen 
  of 
  snowy 
  

   whiteness; 
  No. 
  2 
  had 
  a 
  little 
  yellowish 
  tiuge, 
  and 
  was 
  as 
  poor 
  a 
  sample 
  as 
  I 
  could 
  

   select. 
  

  

  No. 
  1. 
  No. 
  9.. 
  

  

  Moisture 
  34 
  .58 
  

  

  Insoluble 
  in 
  acids 
  (silica, 
  lime, 
  and 
  alumina) 
  69 
  11.40' 
  

  

  Alumina 
  (little 
  oxide 
  of 
  iron) 
  43 
  .97 
  

  

  Ferrous 
  carbonate 
  14 
  2.^3 
  

  

  Calcium 
  carbonate 
  98.47 
  84. 
  19 
  

  

  100.07 
  99.97 
  

  

  This 
  chalk 
  is 
  found 
  at 
  various 
  strata, 
  in 
  thickness 
  varying 
  from 
  1 
  to 
  

   8 
  feet. 
  It 
  differs 
  in 
  purity 
  and 
  other 
  features, 
  in 
  the 
  same 
  stratum, 
  in 
  

   different 
  localities. 
  Unlike 
  the 
  European 
  chalk, 
  it 
  never 
  contains 
  flint 
  

   nodules. 
  

  

  The 
  higher 
  strata 
  were 
  the 
  most 
  impure, 
  being 
  intermingled 
  with 
  sand 
  

   and 
  other 
  coarse 
  ingredients. 
  Sometimes 
  we 
  found 
  thin 
  layers 
  of 
  flinty 
  

   from 
  half 
  an 
  inch 
  to 
  two 
  inches 
  in 
  thickness. 
  Occasionally 
  these 
  layers 
  

   were, 
  in 
  part, 
  covered 
  with 
  a 
  thin 
  coating 
  of 
  chalcedony. 
  

  

  The 
  later 
  strata 
  have 
  been 
  deposited 
  not 
  far 
  from 
  a 
  shore-line, 
  sut 
  

  

  * 
  

  

  