BULLETIN OF THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA 



VOL. 8, PP. 287-304 MARCH 31, 1897 



AGE OF THE LOWER COALS OF HENRY COUNTY, MISSOURI* 



BY DAVID WHITE 



{Read before the Society December 31, 1896) 

 CONTEXTS 



Page 



Introduction 287 



Local stratigraphy of the coals '. 288 



Source and nature of data employed 288 



Relation of age of the coals to early Mesocarboniferous epeirogenic move- 

 ments in Missouri .... 288 



Composition of the flora 289 



Distribution of the species in other American basins . . 290 



Approximate horizon of Henry County coals as indicated by fossil plants. . . . 292 



In the bituminous series 292 



In the anthracite series 292 



Relative age of Henry County plant beds 294 



Comparison with other floras of the United States 294 



Vertical range of the Missouri species in the British coalfields 295 



Stratigraphic range in the Franco-Belgian field 299 



Summary of conclusions respecting the stage of the Missouri flora in the 



Old World basins 302 



General considerations as to the early Carboniferous flora 302 



Introduction. 



The studies on which the following somewhat epitomized discussion 

 is based were prosecuted with the purpose of ascertaining, so far as the 

 available data will permit, the comparative age of the basal coals of the 

 Lower Coal Measures of Henry county, Missouri, and their approximate 

 stage in sections of the Mesocarboniferous in other typical areas. The 

 materials used are taken from a more extended work on the floras of the 

 Lower Coal Measures of Missouri, in which the systematic treatment of 

 the species involved in the present problem will be found. 



The plants so abundantly gathered from the lower coals of this region 

 may be regarded as typical of this zone in the trans-Mississippi area; 



* Published with the permission of the Director of the U. S. Geological Survey. 

 XLJII— Bull. Geol. Soc. Am., Vol. 8, 1896 (287) 



