5 THE PERMO-CARBONIFEROUS RED BEDS OF 



vanian types and few, if any, are considered characteristic of the Permian of Europe. 

 South of Baylor County the Clear Fork formation rests conformably upon marine 

 strata, consisting mainly of blue clays and shales, including considerable thicknesses 

 of limestone containing marine invertebrates. Neither reptilian nor plant remains 

 have been reported from these beds. The Pennsylvanian aspect of the fauna led 

 to the assignment of these beds, under the name 'Albany,' to the Pennsylvanian, 

 in the earlier reports, although they were recognized by some as being possibly of 

 Permian age. 



"Subsequently Cummins asserted the equivalency of the Wichita and the 

 'Albany' formations and recommended the abandonment of the name 'Albany.' 

 Adams corroborated Cummins 's conclusion as to the equivalency of the beds 

 included in the Wichita and 'Albany' formations, but recommended the abandon- 

 ment of all the names, Wichita, Clear Fork, and Double Mountain, as 'having no 

 stratigraphic significance.' In a paper by the writer and others, Cimamins's con- 

 clusion as to the identity of the 'Albany ' with the Wichita and likewise the Permian 

 age of the formation is confirmed. It is shown also that the definition of the Wichita 

 as a formation is sufificiently established to warrant the retention of the name, and 

 that usage is followed in this report. It is to be noted, however, that some lime- 

 stones in Baylor County which Cummins regarded as belonging to the Clear Fork 

 are the equivalents of the upper beds of the 'Albany' and are here included in the 

 Wichita. The upper Permian beds included under the names Clear Fork and 

 Double Mountain in the Texas reports have had very little study, and no attempt 

 has been made to determine a definite line of division between the two formations. 

 In this report these beds are classed as undifferentiated Clear Fork and Double 

 Mountain." 



THE WICHITA FORMATION. 



Cummins ^ originally described the Wichita as follows : 



"The Wichita Beds are the lowest in the series, and are composed of sand- 

 stones, sandy shales, clays, and a peculiar conglomerate. The sandstones and 

 sandy shales are red, gray, and variegated, often containing large oval concretions, 

 ranging in size from one-quarter of an inch to several feet in diameter. The sand- 

 stones are often shaly in structure, while in other places they are massive. They 

 are often ripple-marked and at other places have a cross-bedded structure. The 

 concretions are very hard, and retain the peculiar structure of the sandstone in 

 which they occur. The clays are red and bluish. In the red clays are nodular 

 masses of clay, iron, and lime, which often take the form of geodes, filled with 

 tabular lime-spar in the center. The bluish clay is copper-bearing in many places. 

 The conglomerate is composed of rounded pieces of clay or clay ironstone, cemented 

 together by iron. Fossils occur in all these beds, which consist mostly of plants 

 and vertebrates, very few invertebrates being found. The largest number of the 

 vertebrates described by Professor E. D. Cope were taken from the Wichita Beds." 



In the Second Annual Report of the Texas Geological Survey, page 400, 

 Cummins gives the following additional description of the Wichita Beds: 



"The Wichita Beds, which are the lowest in the series, are easily distinguished 

 from the others by their peculiar characteristics. These beds are composed of 

 sandstones, clay beds, and a peculiar conglomerate. There are no Hmestones in 



" First Annual Report, Geological Survey of Texas, 1889, p. 186. Second Annual Report, Geological 

 Survey of Texas, 1890, p. 400. 



