HAWORTH AND BENNETT.| General Stratigraphy. lil 
Thickness.—The Topeka limestones, with their included 
shale partings, measure from 20 to 25 feet. 
Area.—The Topeka limestones, lying as they do on the top 
of an escarpment near Elk Falls, seldom come to its face, and 
constitute the floor of a dip slope extending westward toward 
the Howard scarp. The width of this dip slope is variable ac- 
cording as the Howard escarpment reaches to or recedes from 
the one near Elk Falls. 
¢ Characteristics—The lower members of the Topeka lime- 
stones in the vicinity of Topeka are quite blue in color. East of 
Moline they weather buff. The upper layers are charged with 
much calcite. In this part of the state, also, the shale partings 
largely disappear so the limestones come together in one body. 
Many fine fossils may be taken from the small seams of clay 
shale partings. 
Severy Shales.64 
The name Severy shales was applied by Adams to the out- 
crop bounded by the Topeka limestone below and the Howard 
limestone above. The town of Severy, from which the name 
was taken, is built on these shales. 
Thickness.—The Severy shales vary from 40 to 60 feet and 
are mainly clay shales carrying some bituminous matter. 
Area.—The Severy shales, forming mainly the face of the 
Howard escarpment, have nowhere a very wide area, except a 
small widening north of Osage City. 
Characteristics.—Included within the Severy shales is what 
is known as the Osage county coal. This coal varies in thick- 
ness from 8 to 20 inches and in Osage county constitutes the 
workable coal. The shales are coal-bearing everywhere in the 
entire extent from Nebraska to the Oklahoma line. 
Howard Limestone.®® 
The name Howard limestone was given by Adams to the 
limestone lying just above the Severy shales which cap an es- 
carpment somewhat persistent from Valley Falls, in Jefferson 
county, to the south end of the state. It lies a few feet above 
the coal at Scranton, Carbondale, Osage City and Topeka. 
Thickness.—The Howard limestone is from 2 to 7 feet thick, 
and in places forms two beds separated by 1 or 2 feet of shale. 
Area.—The Howard limestone quite frequently forms dip 
64. Adams, Dr. George I.: Univ. Geol. Surv. of Kan., vol. 111, p. 67, 1898. 
65. Adams, Dr. George I.: Univ. Geol. Sury. of Kan., vol. 111, p. 67. 1898. 
