SOHR 
HAWOK 
wobth.ND]       INDEPENDENCE    QUADRANGLE,  KANSAS. 
447 
These  surface  rocks  are  not  the  reservoir  of  the  oil  and  gas,  hut 
serve  rather  as  a  blanket  to  confine  the  oil  and  gas  in  rocks  of  geolog- 
ically lower  horizons,  the  nearest  outcrops  of  which,  by  reason  of  the 
northwesterly  dip  of  the  series,  occur  about  30  miles  east  of  Inde- 
pendence. 
The  oil  and  gas  of  the  quadrangle,  as  now  known,  is  found  chiefly 
in  the  lowest  formation  of  the  Pennsylvanian  series,  known  as  the 
"  Cherokee  shale."  This  shale  rests  upon  the  eroded  surface  of  a 
chert  and  flint-bearing  limestone  "  floor  " — the  Boone  formation — 
which  is  commonly  known  by  the  drillers  as  the  "  Mississippi  lime," 
and  is  noted  for  the  zinc  and  lead  ores  that  occur  in  it  in  southeastern 
Kansas  and  adjacent  parts  of  Missouri  and  Arkansas.  The  Boone 
is  not  an  oil  and  gas  bearing  formation,,  and  oil  and  gas  have  not 
been  found  below  it  in  the  Independence  quadrangle. 
A  sketch  of  the  geology  relating  to  the  oil  and  gas  of  the  quad- 
rangle is,  therefore',  concerned  mainly  with  certain  formations  of  the 
Pennsylvanian  series,  of  which  the  Cherokee  shale  is  preeminently 
the  most  important.  The  following  tabular  statement  gives  the  facts 
of  principal  importance  concerning  these  formations: 
Geologic  formations  of  the  Independence  quadrangle. 
Formation. 
Sandstone,  prob- 
ably Elgin. 
Painterhood 
limestone, 
probably 
Oread. 
Buxton  forma- 
tion, prob- 
ably Law- 
rence shale. 
Wilson  forma- 
tion, 280  feet: 
Piqua  lime- 
stone. 
Vilas  shale 
I  o  1  a-Allen 
limestone, 
Thick- 
ness. 
Feet. 
10  + 
320 
40-0 
70 
30-0 
Lithologic  character. 
Medium  grained- 
Fine  grained,  f ossif- 
erous. 
Shale  with  beds  of  sand- 
stone and  coal  and 
lenses  of  limestone; 
contains  workable 
coal,  brick  shale, 
building  stone,  and 
glass  sand. 
Medium  to  coarse 
grained,  crystalline, 
pure;  good  for  mak- 
ing Portland  cement. 
Compact,  light  or  yel- 
lowish ;  good  for  mak- 
ing Portland  cement. 
Semicrystalline.  com- 
pact; useful  in  mak- 
ing Portland  cement. 
Location  of  outcrop. 
Lower  portion  only  occurs  in 
extreme  northwest  corner  of 
quadrangle. 
Crosses  extreme  northwest  cor- 
ner of  quadrangle. 
Occupies  a  belt  along  the  north- 
west portion  of  the  quadrangle, 
narrowing  from  8  miles  in 
width  at  the  north  edge  to  2 
miles  at  the  south. 
In  a  belt  1  to  8  miles  wide,  ex- 
tending from  north  edge  to 
south  edge  of  the  quadrangle, 
west  of  its  median  line. 
In  the  scarps  along  west  side  of 
Fall  and  Verdigris  River  val- 
leys south  to  Elk  River  and 
Table  Mound. 
Do. 
