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Franklin County Geology

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Stratigraphic Sections

Each stratigraphic unit shown on Plate 2 is represented here by at least one measured section description. All descriptions pertain to Franklin County exposures with the exception of A9 and A10, which were measured and described in Anderson County.

A sections || B sections || C sections || D sections

D1--Composite section of road cut exposures at the SE cor. sec. 13, T. 19 S., R. 17 E. (Plattsmouth Limestone to Snyderville Shale), and near the cen. S line sec. 18, T. 19 S., R. 18 E. (Toronto Limestone). Thickness
(feet)
Oread Limestone
Plattsmouth Limestone Member
Limestone, gray on fresh surfaces, weathers buff, thin and irregularly bedded, microcrystalline; crinoid columnals, Composita, Enteletes, Hustedia, Neospirifer; thickness exposed5.0
Heebner Shale Member
Shale, tan, weathers flaky, calcareous; brachiopods3.0
Shale, black, platy; conodonts1.2
Total thickness of Heebner Shale4.2
Leavenworth Limestone Member
Limestone, gray blue, a single bed devoid of partings, extremely dense, fractures conchoidally; brachiopods, tiny spired gastropods, Aviculopecten, fusulinids1.3
Snyderville Shale Member
Covered interval12.0
Toronto Limestone Member
Limestone, brown, ferruginous, thin to thick and relatively even bedded, fine grained, compact; brachiopods, crinoids, abundant fusulinids11.0

D2--Section measured in road ditch along cen. part E line sec. 31, T. 18 S., R. 18 E. Thickness
(feet)
Oread Limestone
Plattsmouth Limestone Member
Limestone, brown to gray upward on fresh surfaces, weathers tan, thin and wavy bedded, compact; Chonetes, Derbyia, Lophophyllidium, Neospirifer, massive bryozoans; exposed thickness about6.0
Heebner Shale Member
Shale, dark gray to black, platy, clayey to slightly silty; about4.0
Leavenworth Limestone Member
Limestone, blue gray, single thick bed, extremely dense; brachiopods, clams, crinoids, fusulinids1.5
Limestone, gray, bedding indistinct, weathers shaly; Osagia-coated shell fragments, sparse ooliths, and limestone granules in a slightly silty limestone matrix; about0.5
Total thickness of Leavenworth Limestone2.0
Snyderville Shale Member
Shale, olive to gray, bedding indistinct, weathers to irregular blocks in lower pant and to flakes in upper part, calcareous nodules in lowermost 2 to 3 feet; no megafossils observed9.0
Toronto Limestone Member
Limestone, gray blue to brown on fresh surfaces, weathers brown, thin to thick relatively even beds weather to a rubble in uppermost and lowermost parts of member, microcrystalline, earthy in uppermost foot; Chonetes, Composita, Derbyia, Neospirifer, Punctospirifer, Syringopora, corals, dictyoclostids, abundant fusulinids, ramose bryozoans11.0
Lawrence Shale
Shale, gray green, bedding poor, very clayey and plastic, low silt content; seemingly barren of megafossils2.0
Shale and siltstone, tan, cross stratified; about15.0
Coal smut0.2
Shale, green to tan, weathers into irregular blocks, clayey to silty; no megafossils observed; thickness exposed about35.0

D3--Section of road cut exposures along the W line NW 1/4 sec. 30, T. 18 S., R. 18 E. Thickness
(feet)
Oread Limestone
Plattsmouth Limestone Member
Limestone, gray on both fresh and weathered surfaces, thin and wavy bedded, microcrystalline matrix contains randomly oriented coarsely crystalline calcite veinlets; Composita, Hustedia, Neospirifer, lophophyllid corals; thickness exposed5.0
Heebner Shale Member
Covered interval5.0
Leavenworth Limestone Member
Limestone, blue gray, single thick vertically jointed bed, extremely dense, fractures conchoidally; brachiopods, clams, crinoids, fusulinids1.0
Snyderville Shale Member
Covered interval; about21.0
Toronto Limestone Member
Limestone, brown on both fresh and weathered surfaces, thin to thick and relatively even bedded, fine grained, compact; brachiopods, crinoids, fusulinids; about12.0

D4--Section of road cut exposures in the SW 1/4 NW 1/4sec. 18, T. 18 S., R. 18 E. Thickness
(feet)
Oread Limestone
Plattsmouth Limestone Member
Limestone, gray on both fresh and weathered surfaces, thin and wavy bedded, microcrystalline matrix contains abundant coarsely crystalline calcite; Composita, Derbyia, Hustedia, Neospirifer, Rhipidomella, marginiferids, crinoid stems, lophophyllid corals; thickness exposed22.0
Heebner Shale Member
Claystone, tan, structureless1.5
Claystone, drab, weathers into irregular blocks2.0
Shale, black, platy bedding; conodonts8.0
Total thickness of Heebner Shale11.5
Leavenworth Limestone Member
Limestone, blue gray, single thick vertically jointed bed, extremely dense, fractures conchoidally; brachiopods, crinoids, echinoid spines, sparse fusulinids1.0
Snyderville Shale Member
Covered interval6.5
Limestone, white, nodular, impure; no megafossils observed0.5
Shale, gray, paper-thin strata weather to irregular flakes3.0
Claystone, ochre, structureless0.4
Claystone, drab, weathers into irregular blocks1.5
Claystone, ochre; contains minute calcareous nodules2.5
Shale, light gray, weathers into flakes; about4.5
Total thickness of Snyderville Shale18.9
Toronto Limestone Member
Limestone, brown; brachiopods, crinoids; only the top exposed. 

D5--Section of a road cut exposure near the cen. W line sec. 4, T. 18 S., R. 18 E. Thickness
(feet)
Oread Limestone
Plattsmouth Limestone Member
Limestone, gray to white on both fresh and weathered surfaces, thin and irregularly bedded, abundant coarsely crystalline calcite in a fine-grained matrix; Composita, Ottonosia, crinoid remains; exposed thickness8.0
Heebner Shale Member
Covered interval4.0
Leavenworth Limestone Member
Limestone, blue gray on fresh surfaces, weathers buff, single vertically jointed thick bed, extremely dense; brachiopods, clams, fusulinids2.0
Snyderville Shale Member
Shale, drab, clayey; nodular "boxwork" limestone float whose position within the member was not determined exactly; mostly covered; about23.0
Toronto Limestone Member
Limestone, upper 2 feet gray, remainder brown on both fresh and weathered surfaces, microcrystalline; Chonetes, dictyoclostids, abundant crinoid stems, abundant fusulinids; about11.0

D6--Section of a road cut exposure at the SW cor. sec. 25, T. 17 S., R. 17 E. Thickness
(feet)
Oread Limestone
Plattsmouth Limestone Member
Limestone, gray to white on fresh surfaces, weathers buff, thin and wavy bedded, microcrystalline matrix contains abundant coarsely crystalline calcite; brachiopods, crinoids, corals; exposed thickness6.0
Heebner Shale Member
Covered interval5.0
Leavenworth Limestone Member
Limestone, blue gray on fresh surfaces, weathers buff, single thick vertically jointed bed, extremely dense, fractures conchoidally; brachiopods, small spired gastropods, sparse fusulinids1.2
Snyderville Shale Member
Covered interval2.0
Siltstone, gray to tan, platy, calcareous; seemingly barren of megafossils1.0
Claystone, gray green to yellow tan upward, bedding poor, highly weathered, earthy, silty; contains irregular minute calcareous nodules17.0
Total thickness of Snyderville Shale20.0
Toronto Limestone Member
Limestone, yellow to tan on both fresh and weathered surfaces, platy, silty; abundant small clams such as Pleurophorus and Nucula2.0
Limestone, gray, dense, silty; Lingula, ostracodes, clams1.0
Siltstone, gray on fresh surfaces, weathers tan, finely laminated, calcareous; seemingly barren of megafossils1.0
Limestone, gray on both fresh and weathered surfaces, thin to thick and relatively even bedded, fine grained, compact, slightly silty; sparse chert nodules in upper part; abundantly fossiliferous, Aviculopinna, Chonetes, Composita, Derbyia, Hustedia, Lophophyllidium, Meekella, Myalina, Neospirifer, Punctospirifer, Ottonosia, dictyoclostids, marginiferids, pectenoid clams, fenestrate and ramose bryozoans, crinoid fragments, echinoid spines, tiny spired gastropods; about11.0
Total thickness of Toronto Limestone15.0
Lawrence Shale

D7--Section of road cut exposure near the cen. SW 1/4 sec. 23, T. 17 S., R. 17 E. Thickness
(feet)
Oread Limestone
Plattsmouth Limestone Member
Limestone, white on both fresh and weathered surfaces, thin and wavy bedded, microcrystalline matrix contains abundant coarsely crystalline calcite; sparse chert nodules; brachiopods, bryozoans, crinoids, corals, fusulinids; thickness exposed9.0
Heebner Shale Member
Covered interval1.3
Shale, black, fissile; conodonts2.5
Total thickness of Heebner Shale3.8
Leavenworth Limestone Member
Limestone, medium gray, single vertically jointed bed, extremely dense; brachiopods, fusulinids1.5
Snyderville Shale Member
Shale, tan to gray, clayey; poorly exposed5.0
Claystone, gray to yellow tan, massive in upper part, silty and shaly in lower part; contains small calcareous nodules; about8.5
Shale, gray, paper-thin bedding1.0
Limestone, yellow, earthy, gray blebs of dense limestone in upper part0.5
Shale, light gray, papery bedding, calcareous5.0
Limestone, light to medium gray, laminated as though it might be algal, dense0.5
Siltstone, yellow to light gray, weathers to a "boxwork" surface, calcareous2.5
Limestone, light gray to tan, a single dense bed; sparse snails and pectenoid clams0.5
Shale, yellow to tan, thin hand siltstone beds in upper 3 feet; mostly covered4.0
Total thickness of Snyderville Shale27.5
Toronto Limestone Member
Siltstone, medium gray, platy, calcareous, dense; sparse clams, abundant ostracodes; about2.0
Limestone, medium gray, thick and even bedded, fine grained, compact, brittle; sparse brachiopods and ostracodes2.0
Covered interval, mostly limestone7.0
Limestone, gray to brown on fresh surfaces, weathers gray, thick and relatively even bedded, dense, basal surface very uneven; Enteletes, crinoid fragments2.0
Total thickness of Toronto Limestone13.0
Lawrence Shale
Shale, gray to tan, weathers into flakes, clayey0.5
Coal2.0
Shale, gray to tan, weathers to irregular blocks2.0
Limestone, gray to gray brown, sublaminated as in some algal beds; veinlets of green clayey material in the upper part1.0
Shale, tan to gray; poorly exposed1.0

D8--Section of a road cut exposure near the cen. E line sec. 18, T. 17 S., R. 18 E. Thickness
(feet)
Oread Limestone
Plattsmouth Limestone Member
Limestone, gray to white on both fresh and weathered surfaces, thin and irregularly bedded, microcrystalline matrix contains abundant coarsely crystalline calcite; brachiopods, crinoids; thickness exposed5.0
Heebner Shale Member
Covered interval4.0
Leavenworth Limestone Member
Limestone, gray blue on fresh surfaces, weathers buff, single thick vertically jointed bed, extremely dense; brachiopods, clams, sparse fusulinids1.3
Snyderville Shale Member
Covered interval; about13.0
Toronto Limestone Member
Limestone, yellow, thin and even bedded, silty, surface weathers to irregular large nondescript forms which may be fucoids; Aviculopecten, ostracodes, fenestrate bryozoans1.5
Shale parting, silty0.2
Limestone, light gray on fresh surfaces, weathers tan, granular; Juresania1.0
Limestone, tan to brown, thin bedded; sparse fossil fragments3.5
Limestone, gray to tan on fresh surfaces, weathers brown, thin to thick and relatively even bedded, microcrystalline; dictyoclostids, crinoid fragments7.0
Total thickness of Toronto Limestone13.2
Lawrence Shale
Shale, gray green, papery bedding, clayey1.0
Coal smut, poorly developed0.1
Shale, gray to tan, silty to sandy; contains sandstone stringers9.0
Coal0.3
Claystone, tan0.4
Shale, tan, silty to sandy, interbedded with thin sandstone beds; about17.0
Ireland Sandstone Member
Sandstone and sandy to silty shale, tan, sandstone thin to thick bedded and massive, shale bedding poor; thickness exposed35.0

D9--Section of a road cut exposure at the SW cor. sec. 35, 1. 16 S., R. 17 E. Thickness
(feet)
Oread Limestone
Leavenworth Limestone Member
Limestone, blue gray on fresh surfaces, weathers tan, single thick bed, extremely dense; brachiopods, crinoid fragments; thickness exposed1.0
Snyderville Shale Member
Shale, gray green, finely laminated, clayey to silty7.0
Toronto Limestone Member
Limestone, brown on both fresh and weathered surfaces, thin to thick and even bedded, fine grained, compact; sparse chert nodules in upper part; brachiopods, crinoids; about11.0

D10--Composite section of road cut exposures near the cen. S line sec. 19, T. 16 S., R. 18 E. (Leavenworth Limestone to Plattsmouth Limestone) and near the SW cor. SE 1/4 sec. 19, T. 16 S., R. 18 E. (Lawrence Shale to Toronto Limestone). (Fault exists between the two parts of this section.) Thickness
(feet)
Oread Limestone
Plattsmouth Limestone Member
Limestone, gray on fresh surfaces, weathers tan, thin to thick and irregularly bedded, microcrystalline matrix contains abundant crystalline calcite; brachiopods, crinoids; thickness exposed8.0
Heebner Shale Member
Covered interval; about10.0
Leavenworth Limestone Member
Limestone, blue gray on fresh surfaces, weathers tan, single vertically jointed bed, extremely dense; brachiopods, crinoids, clams, corals, echinoids, sparse fusulinids1.2
(Snyderville Shale Member is not exposed in either section; average thickness of the Snyderville in nearby exposures is about 11 feet.)
Toronto Limestone Member
Limestone, brown on both fresh and weathered surfaces, thin to thick and relatively even bedded; Chonetes, Derbyia, Meekella, crinoid columnals and calyx plates, abundant fusulinids8.0
Lawrence Shale
Shale, siltstone, and sandstone interbedded, gray green to tan, silty to clayey upward13.0
Shale, gray green to tan, platy, silty; no megafossils observed; thickness exposed20.0

D11--Composite section of road cut exposures along the E line SE 1/4 SE 1/4 sec. 7, T. 16 S., R. 18 E. (upper part of the Plattsmouth Limestone to the Kereford Limestone) and near the cen. E line sec. 7, T. 16 S., R. 18 E. (lower part of the Plattsmouth Limestone to the Snyderville Shale). Thickness
(feet)
Oread Limestone
Kereford Limestone Member
Limestone, mottled in shades of gray and tan on both fresh and weathered surfaces, weathers into irregular plates, slightly silty; Beecheria, Composita, bryozoans, crinoids, abundant fusulinids; exposed3.0
Shale, tan, calcareous; brachiopods, bryozoans, crinoids3.0
Heumader Shale Member
Shale, light gray, silty to clayey; limonite concretions; lower part covered; about26.0
Plattsmouth Limestone Member
Limestone, light gray to tan on both fresh and weathered surfaces, thin and irregularly bedded, microcrystalline matrix contains abundant coarsely crystalline calcite; Composita, bryozoans, crinoids; about20.0
Heebner Shale Member
Shale tan to gray, paper-thin strata weather into irregular flakes, silty to clayey; brachiopods; about3.0
Shale, dark gray to black, platy to nearly fissile; conodonts; about6.0
Total thickness of Heebner Shale9.0
Leavenworth Limestone Member
Limestone, blue gray on both fresh and weathered surfaces, a single vertically jointed dense bed; Chonetes, Marginifera, Punctospirifer, sparse fusulinids1.5
Snyderville Shale Member
Shale, gray, silty, calcareous1.3
Limestone, gray, fine grained, compact, lensing and nodular; fossiliferous0.5
Shale, gray to tan, silty; thickness exposed5.0

D12--Section of a road cut exposure at the SE cor. sec. 6, T. 16 S., R. 18 E. Thickness
(feet)
Oread Limestone
Plattsmouth Limestone Member
Limestone, gray to white on both fresh and weathered surfaces, thin and irregularly bedded, weathers to a rubble, fine grained. compact; abundant crystalline calcite; sparse fossiliferous chert nodules; Chonetes, Derbyia, Hustedia, massive bryozoans, abundant crinoid fragments, corals; thickness exposed10.0
Heebner Shale Member
Shale, tan, weathers into irregular flakes, clayey4.0
Shale, black, platy; conodonts7.0
Total thickness of Heebner Shale11.0
Leavenworth Limestone Member
Limestone, blue gray on fresh surfaces, weathers tan, single vertically jointed bed; Ottonosia, marginiferids, crinoids, minute clams, fusulinids, tiny spired gastropods1.4
Lawrence-Snyderville Shale
Shale, gray to green to yellow brown upward, weathers flaky, clayey to silty1.0
Limestone, brown mottled with blue on fresh surfaces, weathers brown, nodular; abundant Chonetes, Juresania, Ottonosia, crinoids, sparse fusulinids0.6
Shale, tan, silty to clayey0.1
Limestone, gray on fresh surfaces, weathers tan, nodular, silty; productids, crinoids0.3
Shale, tan to gray green, silty, zone of septarian concretions about 7 feet below top, zone of ironstone nodules about 15 feet below top; no megafossils observed; thickness exposed about35.0

D13--Section of a road cut exposure in the SW 1/4 SE 1/4 sec. 31, T. 15 S., R. 18 E. Thickness
(feet)
Oread Limestone
Plattsmouth Limestone Member
Limestone, gray to white on fresh surfaces, weathers tan, thin and irregularly bedded, microcrystalline; brachiopods, crinoids, corals; thickness exposed10.0
Shale, tan, paper-thin strata weather into irregular flakes, clayey2.0
Shale, black, fissile, weathers into flakes and plates4.5
Total thickness of Heebner Shale6.5
Leavenworth Limestone Member
Limestone, blue gray on fresh surfaces, weathers tan, extremely dense, fractures conchoidally, a single thick bed, vertically jointed; brachiopods, crinoids, sparse fusulinids1.7
Lawrence-Snyderville Shale
Limestone, brown, silty; crinoids, ramose bryozoans; contacts gradational; thickens to cast in road cut0.5-0.7
Limestone, gray, nodular, silty; Myalina0.7
Coal0.2
Shale, gray, clayey to silty1.5
Shale, gray green to brown, flaky, silty; thickness exposed31.0

D14--Section of a road cut exposure near the cen. W line sec. 32, T. 15 S., R. 18 E. Thickness
(feet)
Oread Limestone
Plattsmouth Limestone Member
Limestone, gray to white on both fresh and weathered surfaces, thin and wavy bedded, microcrystalline; brachiopods, crinoids, corals, sparse fusulinids; thickness exposed10.0
Heebner Shale Member
Shale, gray to brown, flaky, clayey to silty3.0
Shale, gray, brown, and black shale interbedded; phosphatic nodules; about15.0
Total thickness of Heebner Shale18.0
Leavenworth Limestone Member
Limestone, blue gray on fresh surfaces, weathers tan, single thick vertically jointed bed; brachiopods, clams; poorly exposed, only on east side of road1.0
Snyderville Shale Member
Shale, gray to tan, bedding indistinct, irregular clay blobs dot surface; about15.0
Toronto Limestone Member
Limestone, gray to brown upward on both fresh and weathered surfaces, thin to thick and relatively even bedded, microcrystalline; brachiopods, crinoids, fusulinids; dipping north, thickness exposed in ditch west of the road about3.0
Lawrence Shale
Shale, siltstone, and sandstone; thickness exposed7.0

D15--Section of a road cut exposure near the SW cor. sec. 29, T. 15 S., R. 18 E. (Leavenworth Limestone and Snyderville Shale are not present in this exposure, but crop out within ~4 mile in all directions.) Thickness
(feet)
Oread Limestone
Plattsmouth Limestone Member
Limestone, gray to white on both fresh and weathered surfaces, thin and wavy bedded, microcrystalline; brachiopods, corals, crinoids; thickness exposed5.0
Heebner Shale Member
Shale, gray brown, flaky, clayey to silty2.0
Shale, black, weathers into irregular blocks2.0
Total thickness of Heebner Shale4.0
Toronto Limestone Member
Limestone, yellow brown on both fresh and weathered surfaces, thin to thick and relatively even bedded; dictyoclostids, marginiferids, abundant crinoid fragments, ramose bryozoans, echinoid spines and plates, abundant slender fusulinids9.0
Limestone, gray to white on fresh surfaces, weathers tan, bedding indistinct, floe grained, compact; brachiopods, crinoids, sparse fusulinids4.0
Total thickness of Toronto Limestone13.0
Lawrence Shale
Shale, gray green to brown upward, flaky, clayey to silty13.0
Shale, red, weathers into irregular blocks, silty2.0
Shale, gray green, weathers into flakes and irregular blocks; poorly exposed; about10.0

D16--Section of a road cut exposure near the cen. E line sec. 30, T. 15 S., R. 18 E. Thickness
(feet)
Oread Limestone
Plattsmouth Limestone Member
Limestone, tan to gray on both fresh and weathered surfaces, thin and irregularly bedded; abundant brachiopods, crinoid fragments; thickness exposed6.0
Heebner Shale Member
Shale, tan and silty in upper part, remainder covered6.0
Leavenworth Limestone Member
Limestone, blue gray on both fresh and weathered surfaces, single vertically jointed extremely dense bed; brachiopods, tiny spired gastropods1.5
Snyderville Shale Member
Covered interval3.0
Toronto Limestone Member
Limestone, brown on both fresh and weathered surfaces, thick bedded, microcrystalline; brachiopods, crinoids, bryozoans, fusulinids; thickness exposed2.0

D17--Section of a road cut exposure near the cen. N line sec. 30, T. 15 S., R. 18 E. Thickness
(feet)
Oread Limestone
Plattsmouth Limestone Member
Limestone, tan to gray, thin and wavy bedded, microcrystalline matrix contains abundant coarsely crystalline calcite; productids, Enteletes, crinoid fragments; thickness exposed5.0
Heebner Shale Member
Shale, tan, weathers into irregular flakes, clayey to silty 2.0
Shale, black, fissile to platy3.0
Total thickness of Heebner Shale5.0
Leavenworth Limestone Member
Limestone, blue gray on both fresh and weathered surfaces, single vertically jointed extremely dense bed; brachiopods, crinoids, tiny spired gastropods, sparse fusulinids1.5
Snyderville Shale Member
Covered interval8.5
Toronto Limestone Member
Limestone, brown on both fresh and weathered surfaces, thin to thick and relatively even bedded; brachiopods, crinoids; thickness exposed5.0

D18--Section in abandoned quarry near the cen. NE 1/4 sec. 24, T. 15 S., R. 17 E. Thickness
(feet)
Oread Limestone
Kereford Limestone Member
Limestone, tan, weathered to rubble; Dielasma, Composita, Neospirifer; thickness exposed1.0
Heumader Shale Member
Shale, tan, calcareous, flaky; brachiopod and crinoid fragments1.0
Shale, blue gray, clayey, weathers into irregular blocks11.5
Total thickness of Heumader Shale12.5
Plattsmouth Limestone Member
Limestone, light gray, thin and wavy bedded, microcrystalline matrix; abundant coarsely crystalline calcite; productids, crinoids, sparse fusulinids18.0
Heebner Shale Member
Covered interval7.0
Leavenworth Limestone Member
Limestone, blue gray, extremely dense; brachiopods, sparse fusulinids1.2
Snyderville Shale Member
Shale, gray, clayey to silty, flaky; thickness exposed1.0

A sections || B sections || C sections || D sections


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Kansas Geological Survey, Geology of Franklin County
Web version July 2002. Original publication date Jun. 1963.
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