196 G. I. ADAMS RED BEDS OF NORTHERN TEXAS 



map and sections published b}^ the Texas Survey, it will be seen that in 

 drawing the line at the western border of the Carboniferous from Clay 

 county to Young county Mr Cummins was apparently influenced by 

 the occurrence of the red color and the absence of limestones. In locat- 

 ing it in southeastern Haskell county, at which point one of his sections 

 ])egins, he placed it at the western border of the limestones and the be- 

 ginning of the typical Red beds. 



The approximate limit of the red color, as the writer observed it in 

 Texas (figure 2), is very similar to the line which was drawn in northern 

 Oklahoma. It cuts diagonally across the strike, transgressing more 

 widely in the higher formations. Where the Albany limestones extend 

 northward into Baylor county the red color is not so conspicuous, al- 

 though it is exhibited in the shales to a considerable extent. It pre- 

 vails to the west of the Albany limestones as far south as my field work 

 extended. 



Age of the Red Beds 



The age of the Red beds in northern Texas has usuall}^ been consid- 

 ered to be Permian. This opinion has been largely based upon the evi- 

 dence afforded by vertebrate fossils. A large amount of material from 

 the breaks of the Wichita river has been described by Cope* and other 

 writers, but the exact localities from which the specimens were derived 

 were seldom stated. Some localities which are mentioned are clearly 

 below the horizon of the limestone in northeastern Baylor county, at 

 the old military crossing on the Wichita, from which the cephalopods 

 which are considered of Permian age were obtained by Mr Cummins and 

 described by C. A. White.f As has been shown, this limestone is refer- 

 able to the Albany division, which has furnished an abundant invertebrate 

 fauna which has been regarded by some as of Permian age, although it is 

 included as a division of the Carboniferous by the Texas surve}^ Fossil 

 plants have been obtained by Mr Cummins from the head of Godwin 

 creek, in Baylor county, and from 3 miles west of Antelope, Texas. They 

 were studied by Professor William M. Fontaine, who has referred them 

 to the Permian. j: 



The results of this reconnaissance contribute little toward the placing 

 of the line between the Carboniferous and Permian in Texas. It is 

 shown, however, that it is possible, by means of the stratigraphy, to de- 

 termine the relation of the vertebrate and invertebrate faunas and the 



* Trans. Amer. Phil. Soc, vol. xvi, pp. 285-288. 



t Amer. Nat., vol. xxiii, p. 109. 



J Bull. Geol. Soc. Am., vol. iii, 1891, p. 217. 



