The Missoiiriaii Scries of the Carboniferous. — Keyes. 305 
to the south of Kansas City. At that point it is not over 40 
feet. Northward they are more than double this thickness; 
and southward over 200 feet. 
lola Limestone. The first attempt to designate the forma- 
tion under consideration was by Haworth in 1894. As in the 
case of the Bethany hmestone, the lola forms a notable escarp- 
ment running nearly parallel to the first named. It is a^ single 
bed of limestone, made up of rather thin layers, but having no 
shale bands. It withstands weathering well, and hence im- 
parts ruggedness to the local relief. Beginning at St. Joseph, 
where it is very thin, and fails entirely to the north, it gradual- 
ly increases in thickness until, in southern Kansas, it attains 
a vertical measurement of over loofeet. Its texture is com- 
pact and color buff. Comparatively few fossils occur in it. 
Parkville Shales. The name Parkville is intended to cover 
all those beds, consisting chiefly of shale, that lie between the 
lola and Plattsburg limestones. They are typically developed 
in the neighborhood of the town of Parkville, on the Missouri 
river, in Platte county, Missouri. Thus far they have proved 
rather unfossiliferous. Several thin bands of limestone occur, 
one of which in Kansas is said to assume sufficient importance 
to secure the special name, Carlyle, and to subdivide the for- 
mation into three members, of which the upper is called the 
Lane shale. 
According to deep-v/ell records the Parkville and Thayer 
shales come together northward, and finally merge not far 
from St. Joseph. This is brought about by the fading out of 
the lola limestone. In the Missouri river section the Parkville 
shales nowhere attain a thickness of more than 75 feet; farther 
southward, in Kansas, they increase to 100 feet or more. 
Plattsburg Limestones. As earl}' as 1872, Broadhead called 
the main limestone layers of this formation the "Plattsburg 
group," giving as typical localities, Plattsburg, Parksville and 
Waldron, Missouri. In Kansas these limestones have recently 
been named in different places the Garnett, the Burlington and 
the Toronto. The formation is 35 to 40 feet in thickness. It 
is composed of two principal limestones, which are separated 
by a few feet of shale, the latter sometimes attaining a meas- 
urement of a dozen feet or more. The upper member is a 
gray limestone, which is especially characterized by the fossil 
