260 University of Kansas Geological Survey. 
and not infrequently near the base. The bluffs of Crooked creek 
below Meade are good examples of this. On the eastern side of 
the creek they are very rugged, with frequent instances of mortar 
beds being well developed, but by no means do they form a con- 
stant stratum continuously along the bluff. On the western side the 
bluff line is not so abrupt, and consequently there is not so good 
an opportunity for observing the mortar beds masses. To the south- 
west of Meade along the upper portion of Spring creek, however, 
some of the hilltops are very distinct and the erosive forms are 
significant of hills with a protecting cap of hard material covering 
softer materials. These can well be studied from the Meade topo- 
graphic sheet. A few of these hills are particularly noteworthy. On 
the north blutf of Spring creek about four miles above Crooked 
creek valley the mortar beds are found lying at the summit of the 
hill, The sandy clay underneath is worn away so that quite fre- 
quently the mortar beds rock projects several feet, forming an 
overhanging cliff. South of Spring creek a similar condition ob- 
tains. Hill point after hill point stands out in the landscape as 
prominent features, on the top of which a horizontal mass of mortar 
beds rock serves as a protection to the soft and easily eroded sandy 
clays beneath. 
Along the Cimarron river from some distance above Arkalon to 
where the river encounters the Red-Beds near Englewood its valley 
is cut downward into the broad plain to a depth of nearly 200 feet. 
As one stands on a prominent point on either side of the valley and 
looks up and down the stream it is easy to see the line of light 
colored mortar beds lying almost at the summit of the bluffs, with 
the darker colored shales and sands beneath. A more careful ex- 
amination shows that for many miles along the stream relatively 
firm rock covers the topmost part of the bluffs, and is largely re- 
sponsible for the precipitous character so pronounced on either 
side of the river around Arkalon. Beneath the mortar beds is 
found masses of sandy clay which constitutes the main mass of the 
blufis. There is strong correspondence between the characters here 
and that shown in the well at Liberal soon to be described, in that 
the coarsest gravel is found near the surface. 
In summarizing the above observations it may be concluded that 
