﻿the 
  Pennsylvanian 
  Strata 
  of 
  Kansas. 
  371 
  

  

  The 
  only 
  thing 
  supporting 
  the 
  hypothesis 
  that 
  the 
  bowlders 
  

   are 
  the 
  surface 
  exposures 
  of 
  an 
  intrusion 
  or 
  extrusion 
  is 
  the 
  

   alignment 
  of 
  the 
  large 
  mounds, 
  which 
  is 
  linear 
  and, 
  therefore, 
  

   in 
  harmony 
  with 
  the 
  idea 
  that 
  the 
  bowlders 
  came 
  from 
  either 
  

   a 
  dike, 
  sheet 
  or 
  flow. 
  A 
  sheet 
  or 
  flow 
  is 
  the 
  more 
  probable 
  

   because 
  of 
  the 
  correspondence 
  between 
  strike 
  of 
  strata 
  and 
  

   alignment 
  of 
  mounds. 
  However, 
  if 
  an 
  intrusion 
  be 
  responsi- 
  

   ble 
  for 
  the 
  bowlders, 
  it 
  must 
  have 
  been 
  large, 
  if 
  coarse-grained 
  

   textures 
  be 
  criteria 
  of 
  size 
  of 
  intrusion, 
  and 
  this 
  fact 
  of 
  coarse 
  

   texture 
  thoroughly 
  disposes 
  of 
  any 
  possibility 
  that 
  the 
  large 
  

   mounds 
  are 
  the 
  outcroppings 
  of 
  a 
  flow. 
  If 
  an 
  intrusion 
  be 
  

   present, 
  the 
  shales 
  ought 
  to 
  be 
  modified 
  to 
  some 
  extent, 
  espe- 
  

   cially 
  if 
  the 
  intrusion 
  be 
  large, 
  as 
  must 
  have 
  been 
  the 
  case. 
  

   There 
  is, 
  however, 
  absolutely 
  no 
  evidence 
  of 
  any 
  alteration. 
  

   Furthermore, 
  the 
  presence 
  of 
  the 
  flint 
  and 
  quartzite 
  bowlders 
  

   offers 
  difficulties 
  to 
  this 
  hypothesis. 
  Lastly, 
  if 
  either 
  a 
  dike, 
  

   sheet, 
  or 
  flow 
  exist 
  here, 
  somewhere 
  the 
  parent 
  rock 
  ought 
  to 
  

   have 
  been 
  seen 
  in 
  place 
  ; 
  but 
  so 
  far 
  as 
  observed, 
  every 
  bowlder 
  

   rests 
  on 
  shales. 
  It 
  appears 
  quite 
  positively 
  certain, 
  therefore, 
  

   that 
  this 
  hypothesis 
  can 
  not 
  be 
  held. 
  

  

  The 
  hypothesis 
  that 
  the 
  bowlders 
  are 
  water-borne 
  makes 
  

   necessary 
  an 
  inquiry 
  as 
  to 
  the 
  sources 
  from 
  which 
  they 
  might 
  

   have 
  been 
  so 
  carried 
  and 
  the 
  competency 
  of 
  present 
  and 
  past 
  

   streams 
  to 
  have 
  brought 
  about 
  the 
  transportation. 
  The 
  pres- 
  

   ent 
  streams 
  of 
  Kansas 
  are 
  not 
  of 
  high 
  gradient 
  and 
  throughout 
  

   this 
  region 
  they 
  do 
  not 
  appear 
  to 
  have 
  been 
  so 
  since 
  their 
  

   origin. 
  The 
  drainage 
  is 
  eastward 
  and 
  such 
  has 
  been 
  its 
  direc- 
  

   tion 
  since 
  early 
  in 
  the 
  Tertiary. 
  Prior 
  to 
  the 
  Tertiary 
  the 
  

   drainage 
  was 
  westward. 
  The 
  nearest 
  western 
  points 
  from 
  

   which 
  granite 
  bowlders 
  might 
  have 
  been 
  carried 
  by 
  streams 
  

   since 
  the 
  beginning 
  of 
  the 
  Tertiary 
  are 
  in 
  the 
  Rocky 
  Moun- 
  

   tains, 
  fully 
  fiYQ 
  hundred 
  miles 
  away, 
  and 
  for 
  streams 
  of 
  such 
  

   gradient 
  as 
  those 
  of 
  Kansas 
  possess, 
  or 
  have 
  possessed 
  since 
  

   the 
  early 
  Tertiary, 
  the 
  task 
  would 
  have 
  been 
  an 
  absolutely 
  

   impossible 
  one. 
  Moreover, 
  not 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  present 
  large 
  streams 
  

   of 
  Kansas, 
  which 
  heads 
  in 
  regions 
  of 
  igneous 
  rocks, 
  flows 
  within 
  

   seventy-five 
  miles 
  of 
  the 
  locality 
  of 
  the 
  bowlders 
  which, 
  as 
  

   previously 
  stated, 
  lie 
  on 
  the 
  extreme 
  headwaters 
  of 
  a 
  small 
  

   tributary 
  of 
  the 
  Verdigris. 
  If 
  a 
  Tertiary 
  or 
  later 
  stream 
  

   deposited 
  the 
  bowlders 
  where 
  they 
  now 
  occur, 
  very 
  great 
  

   changes 
  of 
  drainage 
  must 
  be 
  assumed 
  and 
  this 
  necessitates 
  such 
  

   great 
  erosion 
  that 
  it 
  is 
  difficult 
  to 
  understand 
  how 
  the 
  bowlders 
  

   could 
  have 
  avoided 
  destruction. 
  The 
  Rocky 
  Mountains 
  as 
  a 
  

   source 
  for 
  the 
  bowlders, 
  hence, 
  can 
  be 
  eliminated, 
  and 
  all 
  Kan- 
  

   sas 
  streams 
  which 
  head, 
  or 
  since 
  early 
  Tertiary 
  times 
  have 
  

   headed 
  in 
  the 
  Rocky 
  Mountains, 
  as 
  transporting 
  agents, 
  must 
  

   be 
  eliminated 
  from 
  consideration. 
  

  

  