116 University of Kansas Geological Survey. 
Hill obtained a thickness of 122 feet in his Black Hills’ section, and 
102 feet in the one at the Blue Cut.t. The thickness of the sections 
measured by the writer is as follows:—Stokes’ Hill (Black Hills of 
Hill) 112 feet; hill south of Belvidere 121 feet; Blue Cut Mound 131 
feet; Avilla Hill in southern part of Comanche county, 110 feet; hill 
south of Hackberry creek, Clark county 185 feet; to the north in 
the Amphitheatre section of Bluff creek 140 feet; and on Mt. Nebo 
in the western part of Clark county 74 feet. In all of these sections 
the entire thickness is given, with the exception of the first two men- 
tioned in which the Kiowa is not capped by another formation. 
The rocks composing the Kiowa formation consist largely of 
shaies as indicated by the name, Kiowa shales. A thin, hard stratum 
composed largely of calcareous and arenaceous material mixed with 
gypsum, containing usually great numbers of a small Gryphaea, is 
generally found at the bottom. Above this are very black, thin 
argillaceous shales with occasional thicker layers suggesting the 
name paper and wafer shales; while above, these change gradually 
to those that are coarser and bluish-black to gray in color. These 
fine black and coarser bluish-black to grayish shales form that por- 
tion of the formation which Professor Cragin calls the Fullington 
shales.2 In turn these gradually change to yellowish-gray argilla- 
ceous shales with thin layers of limestone either yellowish or pinkish 
in color that contain an abundance of fossils, especially Ostrea and 
Gryphaea. For this upper part of the formation Professor Cragin 
has proposed the name Tucumcari shales.2 This formation is well 
developed in that area formed by the adjacent northwest part of 
Barber, southeast corner of Kiowa and northeast corner of Co- 
manche; in the southern part of Comanche county and across the 
central part of Clark county. 
The fossils of the Kiowa consist of both vertebrates and inver- 
tebrates, a total of 78 species having been reported by Professor 
Cragin. The Champion shell-bed at the base of the formation con- 
tains 36 species according to Professor Cragin, twenty two of which 
occur above in the higher Kiowa, while fourteen are only known 
1 American Journal Science, 3d series, vol. L, pp. 209, 210. The thickness of the 
Black Hills’ section is given as 106 feet on p. 209, which is apparently a mistake as 
the sum of the thickness of the various layers enumerated is 122 feet. 
2 F. W. Cragin, American Geology, vol. XVI, pp. 361, 379. 
3 Ibid., pp. 261, 381. 
