THE CARBONIFEROUS ROCKS IN SOUTHEAST KANSAS. 273 



GEOLOGY. 



THE CARBONIFEROUS ROCKS OF SOUTHEAST KANSAS. 



BY G. C. BROADHEAD. 



At the eastern boundary of Miami county, Kansas, we find the high lands 

 to vary from 950 to 1050 feet above the sea, the valleys being 875 to 910. In 

 the Neosho Valley the elevation at Neosho Falls is about 1000 feet. Up to this 

 place and a little farther, we pass over a gently sloping country. It then rises 

 more rapidly, being 11 50 feet on higher land. West of the Verdigris the country 

 rises more rapidly and is more rugged. 



In Osage county coal is profitably mined, which, according to Prof. Mudge, 

 belongs to the Lower Coal-measures. The Lower Coal-measures pass southwardly 

 along the Neosho Valley, which seems to occupy a trough in these measures, but 

 eastwardly, including Miami county, the northern half of Anderson and the 

 county northwardly, only the upper series are exposed, connecting with similar 

 measures in Missouri. 



West of the Verdigris River the Upper Coal-measures also extend, but soon 

 disappear beneath the "Permian." The main productive Coal-measures of 

 southeast Kansas lie south of Miami county. Passing from Paola southwest- 

 wardly to Greenwood county, we find only a thin coal-seam occasionally mined, 

 but with no profitable result. Near the line of Greenwood and Woodson coun- 

 ties a seam of less than a foot in thickness is sometimes mined. This is the most 

 western exposure of coal belonging to the Carboniferous formation. In the west- 

 ern part of Woodson and in Greenwood counties the lowest exposed rock is fifty 

 feet of coarse sandstone which I have referred to the Lower Coal-measures, but 

 only a few fragmentary remains of plants were found in it. Above this are thin 

 limestone beds full oi Fiisulina cylindrica and nearly 200 feet more of sandstone, 

 with other limestone beds above, containing well known Carboniferous fossils, 

 including Fusulina cylindrica and Choetetes. The step now is more rapid to the 

 " Permian." 



Entering the State near the fine of Cowley and Chautauqua counties, we 

 find ourselves upon a long dividing ridge extending and well defined for seventy 

 miles northwardly. 



This ridge is much higher than the country east or west of it, and is known 

 in southern Kansas as the " Flint Hills," on account of numerous fragments of 

 flint lying strewn over the surface. It includes the Permian rocks of Kansas and 

 might appropriately be termed the "Permian Mountains." Its elevation above 

 the sea is 1560 feet near Greenfield, in northeast part of Cowley county 1600 

 feet; and the highest point near the corner of Greenwood, Elk and Butler about 



