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Geologic History of Kansas

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Appendices, continued

Appendix C--Supplement to Structural Nomenclature in Kansas

This list is a supplement to "Geologic Structures in Kansas," Kansas Geological Survey Bulletin 90, pt. 6 (Jewett, 1951).

Agra Anticline--The Agra Anticline was named by Parkhurst (1959a). The structure is a generally northeast-trending anticline which extends from southeastern Phillips County to northwestern Smith County. The Phillipsburg Syncline separates the Agra from the Stuttgart-Huffstutter Anticline, farther to the west. To the east of the Agra Anticline is the axis of the Salina Basin.

Alta Vista Anticline--The Alta Vista Anticline was shown by Merriam (1960c) to trend north and to have a steep east flank. Closure in surface beds amounts to about 30 feet. This small anticlinal structure is one of many located along the north-northeast-trending, south-plunging Nemaha Anticline, and is located in northeastern Morris County in sec. 3 and 10, T. 14 S., R. 8 E. The abandoned Alta Vista gas field is located on this structure.

Ashburn Anticline--The Ashburn Anticline is a north-northeast-trending structure located in southwestern Morris County in sec. 29, T. 14 S., R. 10 E. Merriam (1960a) showed the structure as one of several along the prominent Alma Anticline, which is 'Just cast of and parallel to the Brownville Syncline. The eastern limit of the anticline is probably a high-angle reverse fault. Closure is about 35 feet on the Viola and progressively less in younger beds. Brinegar (1960) was able to demonstrate that part of the Mississippian section on the southeastern flank of this structure is repeated in one of the wells on the east side of the Ashburn oil field.

Cambridge Arch--The name for the Arch comes from the town of Cambridge, Furnas County, Nebraska. Merriam and Atkinson (1955) modified the concept of the Cambridge Arch in Kansas as shown by Bass in 1926 and reproduced by Jewett in 1951. Even now, there is some doubt as to whether the structure is a series of northwest-trending anticlines as shown by Merriam (1958c) or whether there is a prominent bend in the axis of the feature as shown by Reed (1955).

Chesapeake Fault Zone--This fault zone is recognizable on several published maps (Merriam, 1960b). The name, previously applied in southwestern Missouri, is hereby applied to the extension of the fault zone in Kansas. Branson (1944) reported that the Chesapeake Fault extends for a known distance of about 80 miles from Stone County to Dade County, Missouri. Many minor faults are associated with the main one, which is nearly parallel to the Ste. Genevieve and Cap-au-Gres Faults.

Cimarron Syncline--The Cimarron Syncline is located in Lane, Gove, Trego, Ness, Hodgeman, and Finney counties. It is a large synclinal area just east of the Oakley Anticline. Lee and Merriam (1954a) showed this north-trending, south-plunging syncline on an isopachous map from top of the Stone Corral (Permian) to top of the Dakota (Cretaceous). The basin was formed when the Oakley Anticline developed, dividing the Hugoton Embayment.

Coats Anticline--The Coats Anticline is located in sec. 24, T. 29 S., R. 14 W., in Pratt County, Kansas. Curtis (1956) described the field as a small anticline on which Simpson, Viola, and part of the Mississippian formations have been truncated on a pre-Pennsylvanian uplift. More than 150 feet of closure is evident at the horizon of the top of the Arbuckle. The Coats oil field is located on the structure. Brewer (1959) interpreted the structure as faulted.

Comanche Arch--The Comanche Arch, hereby named for Comanche County, is a large, broad, east-trending anticlinal feature located in parts of Barber, Pratt, Kiowa, Comanche, Clark, Ford, and Meade counties, Kansas. Merriam (1957b) called attention to this feature and noted that it limits the southern end of the Western Kansas Basin. This arch is especially evident at the horizon of the Stone Corral. To the south of its crest, beds dip rapidly southward into the Anadarko Basin of Oklahoma.

Countryman Anticline--The Countryman Anticline (Merriam and Goebel, 1959c) is a north-trending structure located in Cowley County. Structure at the horizon of the top of the Mississippian reveals three areas of closure on the crest of the Countryman; the maximum local closure is 50 feet. Closure for the entire structure probably is somewhat larger, however. The surface trend is closely coincident with the trend on top of the Mississippian. Surface closure is less, because seemingly only about 20 feet of closure is evident in outcropping beds.

Densmore Anticline--The Densmore Anticline is a low, elongate anticline trending nearly normal to the Stuttgart-Huffstutter Anticline. It extends from the southeastern part of the Cambridge Arch southeastward to the southern extremity of the Stuttgart-Huffstutter Anticline. Parkhurst (1959a) named this structure for the town of Densmore, in southeastern Norton County. It separates the Long Island Syncline on the north from a closed synclinal area on the south.

Denver Basin--The axis of the Denver Basin closely parallels the front of the mountain ranges in eastern Colorado and trends approximately north-south. The basin is asymmetrical, the west flank being steeper than the east. The southeast flank of the Denver Basin extends into extreme northwestern Kansas, in Cheyenne County. Regional dip in Cretaceous beds is to the northwest, about 20 feet per mile. The Denver Basin is also known as the Denver-Julesburg Basin or Julesburg Basin.

Goodland Anticline--The Goodland Anticline is a northeasterly plunging anticlinal structure that parallels the Las Animas Arch and is separated from it by a shallow syncline. Mehl (1959, p. 36) said of the structure, ". . . the Goodland Anticline, herein named, is a large subsidiary structure of the Las Animas Arch that parallels the Las Animas structure on post-Mississippian structural datums, but converges with it on pre-Pennsylvanian structural datums." This same feature also has been called the Sherman Arch.

Greenwich Anticline--The Greenwich Anticline is located in the northeast part of T. 26 S., R. 2 E., in Sedgwick County. Cole (1960) showed the structure as a northeast-trending anticline which approximately parallels the Nemaha Anticline. It plunges to the southwest, and closure at the horizon of the top of the "Hunton" is approximately 50 feet.

Jennings Anticline--The Jennings Anticline is defined as a north-trending, southerly plunging structure located in T. 3, 4, 5, and 6 S., R. 26 and 27 W., in eastern Decatur County and northeastern Sheridan County, Kansas. Merriam and Atkinson (1955) named the structure for the town of Jennings, which is located along the crest of the anticline in southeastern Decatur County.

Jetmore Syncline--This prominent syncline is located on the eastern flank of the Hugoton Embayment in western Kansas. Hays (1961, p. 11) said the following concerning the syncline: "Centered in Ness and Hodgeman counties is the Jetmore Syncline, bounded on the east by the southwest flank of the Central Kansas Uplift. Since this high in the eastern part of the [thesis] area is believed to be in part pre-Mississippian (possibly even contemporaneous with the deposition of the Arbuckle Group), it might best be referred to as part of the Ellis Arch. West of the Jetmore Syncline there is only a suggestion of a bounding structural high."

John Creek Anticline--The John Creek Anticline is located in sec. 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 34, and 35, T. 15 S., R. 9 E., and sec. 2, T. 16 S., R. 9 E., in extreme northeastern Morris County. Merriam (1960a) showed this local structure to be one of several along the larger Alma Anticline cast of the Brownville Syncline in the Forest City Basin. The anticline trends north-northeast, is 4 to 5 miles long, and has a maximum width of about 2 miles. Closure on top of the Viola Limestone is approximately 70 feet. The east flank is faulted, giving the structure a decidedly asymmetrical aspect (Kansas Geological Society, 1960).

Kaneb Basin--Kaneb Basin is an informal term proposed by F. J. Gardner (personal communication) for a petroliferous province in northwestern Kansas and southwestern Nebraska, which has been called the Southwest Nebraska-Northwest Kansas Basin. It includes part of the northern end of the Hugoton Embayment.

Kanopolis Structure--The Kanopolis Structure is located southeast of Kanopolis along the north side of Thompson Creek (SW sec. 21, T. 16 S., R. 7 W.) in Ellsworth County. The structure, as reported by Ver Wiebe (1937), may have been formed by solution of rocks beneath the structure, allowing the overlying beds to collapse. Beds exposed in the road cut are contorted and faulted. Because of the scarcity of outcrops in the vicinity of the structure, it is not possible to determine its extent; however, it is probably local.

Kismet High--The Kismet High is located in eastern Seward County in southwestern Kansas. The structure was first named in print by King (1956) for a minor but sharp domal feature within the Hugoton Embayment. The Kismet oil field is located on this structure.

Las Animas Arch--The Las Animas Arch is a broad anticline, which trends and plunges northeast. It extends from northern Las Animas County through Bent, Kiowa, Cheyenne, and Kit Carson counties, and into southeastern Yuma County, Colorado. Only the eastern flank of this arch is present in western Kansas. Dip on the east flank is northeasterly about 20 feet per mile into a well-developed syncline that follows the margin of the arch and hence is referred to as the marginal syncline. The structural development of the arch was shown by Maher (1945).

Linda Anticline--The term Linda is used for a prominent northeast-trending anticlinal feature in northwestern Kansas. The anticline was named by Walton (1960) for the town of Linda, located in Rawlins County. This anticline lies southeast of the Goodland Anticline, which in turn is southeast of the Las Animas Arch. It extends from southeastern Sherman County north-northeast across Rawlins County, Kansas, and dies out in extreme southern Hitchcock County, Nebraska. The name appears in print on a map prepared by Walton for an article by Goebel and Merriam (1960).

Lindsborg Anticline--A prominent anticlinal feature in central Saline County and north-central McPherson County is here named the Lindsborg Anticline. The structure trends approximately north and on the horizon of the top of the Mississippian it plunges southward. The structure is the first anticlinal fold east of the Salina-Sedgwick Basin axis, and on it is located the Lindsborg oil field.

Long Island Syncline--The Long Island Syncline is a broad, northeasterly plunging syncline in eastern Norton County and northwestern Phillips County. The structure was named by Merriam and Atkinson (1955) for the town of Long Island in Phillips County, which is near the axis of the syncline. This feature marks the eastern edge of the Cambridge Arch and separates it from the prominent Stuttgart-Huffstutter Anticline.

Marginal Syncline--The northeasterly slope on top of the Dakota on the eastern flank of the Las Animas Arch is terminated by a well-developed unnamed syncline that follows the margin of the arch and is referred to informally as the marginal syncline. Lee and Merriam (1954a) defined the nature of this feature. The narrow syncline trends north from central Finney County to Thomas County, but its extension northwest into Cheyenne County is without adequate control. The marginal syncline conforms in part to a similar syncline at the horizon of the Stone Corral. It was formed about in the position of the older Oakley Anticline, almost completely destroying it.

Mill Creek Anticline--The Mill Creek Anticline is a local feature in western Wabaunsee County, Kansas, in sec. 2, T. 13 S., R. 10 E., on the Alma Anticline (Merriam, 1960a). The anticline has only about 30 feet of closure. It trends slightly east of north and the east flank is faulted (Lewis, 1960a).

Newbury Anticline--The Newbury Anticline, in northeastern Wabaunsee County, is located along the Alma Anticline. This structure is the northernmost oil-producing feature along the Alma trend. The anticline is elongate in a northeast direction and has about 20 feet of closure on top of the Viola; apparently the cast flank of the structure is not faulted (Lewis, 1960b).

Norton Anticline--The Norton Anticline, on which the Norton oil field is located, is in Norton County. Merriam and Goebel (1954) applied this name to an anticline of low relief having a steeper southeast than northwest flank and trending northeast. At the horizon of the top of the Arbuckle, the structure is irregular and has four small areas of closure, the maximum being about 10 feet. The minor irregularities of the structure seem to be the result of erosion. Arbuckle is absent on the extreme northwest flank of the structure.

Oakley Anticline--The Oakley is a pre-Dakota, long, narrow, north-trending southerly plunging anticline extending from Thomas County to Finney County. This anticline had a structural relief on the Stone Corral of more than 200 feet in Dakota time. This large feature essentially divides the Hugoton Embayment. The fact that salt beds extend to the flank of the Oakley Anticline but do not cross it implies that it was active before deposition of the Stone Corral. The pre-Dakota expression of the Oakley Anticline at the horizon of the Stone Corral was canceled by post-Dakota development of the marginal syncline; in the areas where the two structural features were in conflict, the structural relief of the Oakley was obliterated.

Phillipsburg Syncline--The Phillipsburg Syncline was named by Parkhurst (1959a) for the town of Phillipsburg, Phillips County, located near the southern end of the structure. It is an elongate shallow syncline trending north-northeast and extending into Nebraska. The structure separates the Agra Anticline on the east from the Stuttgart-Huffstutter Anticline on the west.

Pratt Anticline--The Pratt Anticline was first shown as a major pre-Desmoinesian post-Mississippian structural province in Kansas by Merriam (1955e). The structure is a southern extension of the Central Kansas Uplift in Stafford, Pratt, and Barber counties, Kansas. It is a large, broad, southerly plunging anticlinal feature which separates the Hugoton Embayment from the Sedgwick Basin. The structure is named for Pratt County.

Reese Anticline--The Reese Anticline is a long, narrow, northeast-trending anticline located in Greenwood County. Merriam and Goebel (1959c) named the structure for the town of Reese. The structure is fairly well outlined and is mappable on the surface. At the horizon of the top of the Mississippian, the doubly plunging anticline has a closure of 100 to 120 feet. The anticline is slightly asymmetrical, being steeper to the northwest.

Selden Syncline--The northwesterly plunging Selden Syncline is located in southeastern Decatur County and northeastern Sheridan County, and is named for the town of Selden in Sheridan County. This large synclinal feature, which flanks the Jennings Anticline on the west, is, according to Merriam and Atkinson (1955), a northern extension of the axis of the Hugoton Embayment. There is some indication that the northeast flank of the structure is faulted.

Sherman Arch--The term Sherman Arch was first used by Gardner (1959) in the same sense that Goodland Anticline is used; the latter has gained wider acceptance.

Southwest Nebraska-Northwest Kansas Basin--This term was proposed by Monahan and Rutledge (1959) for the northern part of the Hugoton Embayment between the Las Animas Arch and the Cambridge Arch. Other names have gained wider acceptance, and thus this term has not been generally used.

Strahm Anticline--The Strahm Anticline in Nemaha County in northeastern Kansas was shown by Jewett and Merriam (1959). At the horizon of the top of the "Hunton" the anticline trends northeast and includes two prominent areas of closure. On this structure are located the Strahm, Strahm East, and Sabetha oil fields. The structure, located in T. 2 S., R. 14 E., is just cast of the Nemaha Anticline but west of the Brownville Syncline.

Stuttgart-Huffstutter Anticline--The Stuttgart-Huffstutter Anticline is located in Phillips County in northwestern Kansas. This prominent north-northeast-trend ing anticline was named by Lee and Merriam (1954a). It is separated from the Cambridge Arch proper by the north-northeast-plunging Long Island Syncline. Along the crest are located numerous oil fields, including Stuttgart, Stuttgart South, Dayton, Huffstutter Southwest, and Huffstutter.

Sunny Slope Anticline--The Sunny Slope Anticline is located in T. 14 S., R. 21 W., in southeastern Trego County in western Kansas. The Sunny Slope oil field is located on this anticline. Lee and Merriam (1954a) mentioned that this feature probably had some structural movement in late Paleozoic time.

Syracuse Fault--Primarily on the basis of physiographic evidence, Smith (1940) recognized the possibility of a fault on the south side of the Syracuse Anticline, previously named and delineated by Darton. The fault was later found by a test drilling (McLaughlin, 1943). Jewett and Merriam (1959) showed the position of this structure in western Kansas. It is essentially an east-trending fault, located in southern Hamilton and Kearny counties.

Syracuse Syncline--The Syracuse Syncline is located in Wichita and Kearny counties just west of the Oakley Anticline. Lee and Merriam (1954a) named this basinal feature, which corresponds to the Cimarron Syncline to the east of the Oakley Anticline.

Transcontinental Arch--Only a small part of the Transcontinental Arch is located in Kansas and that is an extension from the main arch. Eardley (1949, 1951) and Reed (1948) showed the location of this major feature--the backbone of the continent--and discussed its history. The arch and its subsldiary features exerted a considerable influence on the geologic history of the area adjacent to it.

Wakeeney Anticline--The Wakeeney Anticline is a northeast-trending structure near the center of T. 11 S., R. 23 W., in Trego County. Lee and Merriam (1954a) mentioned this prominent anticline, on which the Wakeeney oil field is located.

Willowdale Anticline--The Willowdale Anticline is located in sec. 10, 11, 14, and 15, T. 29 S., R. 9 W., in Kingman County. Cruce (1956) showed this to be a steep anticlinal structure elongated northeast and plunging southwest. At the horizon of the top of the Viola the structure has about 30 feet of closure.

Woodston Anticline--The Woodston Anticline is a narrow, elongate, northerly plunging structure extending from east-central Rooks County to south-central Phillips County. The anticline was named by Parkhurst (1959a) for the town of Woodston in eastern Rooks County. It is separated from the Stuttgart-Huffstutter Anticline on the north by a low saddle, and it is probably closely associated with the Central Kansas Uplift. Oil is produced from Lansing and Kansas City rocks in a part of the structure in the Faubion, Low Creek, Stockton, Medicine Creek, Clayton, and Lone Star fields.

Worden Fault--The Worden Fault, named by O'Connor (1960), is located in southern Douglas County. The fault extends approximately east-west from Baldwin to just northwest of Worden, where it curves southward and apparently continues into Franklin County. The north and west side is upthrown. Several minor faults are associated with the feature. According to O'Connor (1960) the fault is post-Toronto pre-Leavenworth (Virgillan) in age, and does not affect the underlying Stanton rocks. He concluded that the fault is nontectonic.


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Kansas Geological Survey, Geologic History of Kansas
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Web version April 2006. Original publication date Dec. 1963.
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