New Maps Show Producing Horizons in Oil and Gas Fields
A series of new maps produced by the Kansas Geological Survey display the subsurface rock strata that produce oil and gas in each field in Kansas. Producing horizons, the different strata that yield oil and gas, are mapped in 31 colors. In addition to showing the productive units, the maps identify by name the nearly 6,000 fields that produce, or have produced, oil and gas in Kansas.

At a map scale of 1:250,000 (one inch equals four miles), the state is divided in 12 nearly equal quadrangles. This is the same scale as the Oil and Gas Fields in Kansas (M–34 Series) maps that have been available at the Survey for several years. The M–34 Series maps show the field names and the type of production (oil, gas, and oil/gas) using three colors.

Producing Horizons of Oil and Gas Fields in Kansas (M–35 Series) may be purchased from the KGS for $15.00 for each quadrangle plus tax and shipping.

Riley County Geologic Map
A new, detailed, full-color map of the geology of Riley County is now available from the Kansas Geological Survey. The Riley County map is one in a series of new county geologic maps being produced by the KGS.

In addition to providing basic information about the geology of the county, the map shows the location of a dozen kimberlites, pipes of igneous rock that pushed to the surface in western Riley County during the Cretaceous Period, approximately 100 million years ago. Igneous rocks at the surface are rare in Kansas.

The Riley County map was compiled by Brian Smith and Allen Archer of the Kansas State University geology department. Archer and KGS Director Lee Gerhard presented copies of the new map to the Riley County commissioners at a meeting in Manhattan on January 26.

The map is drawn at a scale of 1:50,000 (one inch equals about 0.8 of a mile). Copies of the new map are available for $15.00 plus tax and shipping from the KGS. Contact Publications Sales at the KGS.

Dakota Aquifer Well-Spacing Requirements
As water levels in the Ogallala aquifer continue to decline, more attention is being paid to the underlying Dakota aquifer. New well-spacing requirements for the Dakota aquifer were recently adopted by the Division of Water Resources, Kansas Department of Agriculture, to protect this important source of water for present and future needs.

A User’s Guide to Well-spacing Requirements for the Dakota Aquifer in Kansas was published in April by the Kansas Geological Survey. This four-page circular summarizes well-spacing requirements and may be useful to anyone interested in the Dakota aquifer and how it is affected by pumping. The first in a series of circulars produced by the KGS Geology Extension program, A User’s Guide to Well-spacing Requirements for the Dakota Aquifer in Kansas can be obtained by contacting the KGS.

New

Publications

Segment of Producing Horizons of Oil and Gas Fields in Kansas.

Randy Rose, earth science teacher at Blue Valley North High School in Overland Park, has received the 1994–95 Excellence in Kansas Earth Science Education Award from the Kansas Geological Foundation and the Kansas Earth Science Teachers Association. This award of $1000, funded by the Kansas Geological Foundation, is given to an outstanding earth science teacher in grades K–12. Other finalists for the award were Jim Clark (Wichita North High School) and Tony Blackwell (Fredonia Middle School), who received gift certificates from the Kansas Geological Survey.

Rose is the second recipient of the Excellence in Kansas Earth Science Education Award. The 1993–94 winner was Jack Walker, Goodland High School earth science teacher, who was recently named the Outstanding Geology Teacher in the Midcontinent Region by the National Association of Geology Teachers.