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Stratigraphic Divisions of the Pennsylvanian Rocks of Kansas
The following pages are devoted to a delineation of the major and minor stratigraphic divisions of the Pennsylvanian rocks of Kansas as these are now recognized by the State Geological Survey. Treatment is arranged according to the order of succession, from lowest or oldest to highest or youngest. References to previously published usages are given in the manner that is commonly employed in the synonymies accompanying descriptions of fossils, because this shows most completely and concisely the history of nomenclature. There are many cases in which the use of terms by older writers is mistaken or misleading, and the relation of these varying stratigraphic definitions to present classification cannot be understood without these annotations. The references are arranged in chronologic order under the head of each different stratigraphic term or usage.
The name of the author of each stratigraphic term and the date when it was proposed are indicated following the stratigraphic term. In case of revised definition of terms, the name of the original author and the date of proposal are enclosed in parentheses, and the following unenclosed name and date refer to the revised definition of the term that is currently accepted. Thus, the term "Des Moines" was first applied to certain Pennsylvanian strata in the northern Mid-Continent region by Keyes in 1893, but the stratigraphic application of this term was modified by Moore in 1932.
The oldest valid use of a stratigraphic term--that is, the oldest use that coincides with present definition--is designated in the synonymies by an asterisk (*). Stratigraphic terms that are abandoned or not recognized are indicated by a dagger (†).
The discussion of each stratigraphic unit is generally limited to a brief statement of definition and a short description of chief lithologic and other characters. The object of the report is to consider classification and nomenclature of the rocks rather than to portray their stratigraphic development in any detail.
Des Moines Series
DES MOINES SERIES (Keyes, 1893), Moore, 1932
1893, Des Moines formation, KEYES, C. R., Iowa Geol. Survey, vol. 1, p. 100. "Represents the lower Coal Measures." The original use of this term is not accompanied by precise stratigraphic definition.
1896, Des Moines series, KEYES, C. R., Iowa Acad. Sci., Proe., vol. 4, p. 22. Indicates that the term Des Moines applies to beds between the top of the Mississippian and the base of the †Bethany [Bronson] limestone. Des Moines series 1927, CONDRA, G. E., Neb. Geol. Survey, (2), Bull. 1, p. 18. Includes beds from base of Cherokee shale to base of Hertha limestone.
1915, Des Moines group, HINDS, H., AND GREENE, F. C., Mo. Bur. Geol. and Mines, (2), vol. 13, pp. 16, 36. Includes beds from the base of the Cherokee to the base of the Hertha limestone. Des Moines group 1917, MOORE, R. C., AND HAYNES, W. P., Kan. Geol. Survey, Bull. 3, p. 89. Same. Des Moines group 1920, MOORE, R. C., Kan. Geol. Survey, Bull. 6, pt. 2, p. 20. Same.
1932, *Des Moines series, MOORE, R. C., Kan. Geol. Soc., Guidebook, Sixth Ann. Field Conf., p. 89. Restricts definition to include beds from the base of the Cherokee shale to the widespread unconformity reported as occurring in or at the base of the Pleasanton shale as previously generally defined. *Des Moines series (1935) 1936, OCKERMAN, J. W., Kan. Geol. Survey, Bull. 20, p. 20. Same.
Type locality, along Des Moines river, in central Iowa.
The Des Moines series in Kansas, Missouri, Iowa and Nebraska includes the lower part of the Pennsylvanian system, from the unconformity at its base to an unconformity that occurs at the base or within what has generally been called the Pleasanton shale.
The lower boundary of the Des Moines series is sharply defined. North of the Kansas-Oklahoma line strata of Morrow age, which represent a part of Pennsylvanian time that is older than Des Moines, are absent. Except locally, beds of Late Mississippian (Chester) age are lacking also, and therefore the basal Des Moines rests on Middle Mississippian limestones or it overlaps the Mississippian and is found on older Paleozoic rocks of the Ozark uplift. There are many places in Missouri where the Des Moines beds lie on various formations of Ordovician age. Subsurface studies in Kansas reveal the importance of the break at the base of the Des Moines series, for the rocks below the Cherokee are in places folded and faulted and they were beveled by erosion before deposition of the Des Moines beds. Along parts of the axis of the Nemaha uplift and elsewhere, the Des Moines series unconformably overlies pre-Cambrian granite. It is also found resting unconformably on Cambrian, Ordovician, Silurian, Devonian and Mississippian rocks. Locally there are thick deposits of conglomerate at the base of the Des Moines series, and there is overlap of younger Des Moines beds on pre-Pennsylvanian rocks.
Previous definitions have placed the upper boundary of the Des Moines beds at the base of the widespread, topographically prominent Bronson limestones (termed †Bethany by Keyes). This nearly coincides with the line of division between Des Moines and Missouri that is drawn here, but it is clear that the Bronson rests conformably on the next underlying strata and that the change in type of sediments from dominant shale and sandstone in the †Pleasanton to dominant limestone in the Bronson group is not a satisfactory basis for designation of a series boundary. The important change in faunas which distinguishes the Missouri from the Des Moines beds is one of the most strongly defined of any in the Late Paleozoic succession, but it does not coincide with the boundary at the base of the Bronson strata. Although the upper part of the †Pleasanton--that is, the beds between the unconformity at the base of the Warrensburg or equivalent sandstones and the base of the Bronson, which in this paper are termed the Bourbon formation is not very fossiliferous, no fossils indicative of the Des Moines series have been found in any part of it. The known faunas of the Bourbon formation contain common Missouri series species.
The grounds in geologic theory for establishment of major stratigraphic boundaries at widespread unconformities have already been discussed. It may be deemed sufficient, therefore, to call attention to the existence of such an unconformity near the top of the Des Moines series as previously defined and to revise the upper boundary of this series to coincide with the unconformity. There are many places along the outcrop where the exact location of the break cannot be ascertained, but this is due to lack of good exposures or to lithologic similarity of beds locally occurring below and above the unconformity and to lack of abundant fossils. There are many other places in Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, and Oklahoma where the position of the unconformity, and accordingly of the Des Moines-Missouri boundary, can be accurately placed.
The Des Moines series appears at the surface in a wide belt extending across south-central Iowa, north-central, western and southwestern Missouri and southeastern Kansas into eastern Oklahoma. Strata belonging to this series are recognized in innumerable deep wells located in areas west of the Des Moines outcrop, and it appears that under cover of younger formations the Des Moines extends throughout most of the plains region east of the Rockies, reaching northward to South Dakota and southward to Texas. Beds of this age, which, however, are not physically continuous with the Des Moines deposits of the northern Mid-Continent region, have wide distribution in the eastern and western parts of the continent.
The thickness of the Des Moines series in the neighborhood of the outcrop in Kansas ranges from about 400 to 600 feet. In the Forest City Basin, which includes parts of northeastern Kansas, northwestern Missouri and southeastern Nebraska, the total thickness of the Des Moines beds reaches 900 feet. Well records in central and western Kansas indicate that the Des Moines series gradually decreases in thickness westward and that in some places it disappears.
Shale and sandstone are the most important kinds of rocks in the Des Moines series, but in the upper part there are several persistent limestones and a number of coal beds are present.
Correlation--The Des Moines series is represented in Oklahoma and Arkansas by a great thickness of shale and sandstone beds and locally by some limestone. The base of the Atoka appears to mark the lower limit of the Des Moines and the base of the Seminole conglomerate the top of the series. Evidence derived from plants and invertebrates obtained at many horizons in this part of the Pennsylvanian section clearly indicate this correlation and it is possible to trace some beds of the Des Moines in Kansas and northeastern Oklahoma to the north flank of the Arbuckle and Ouachita mountains. Sandstone and locally conglomerate occur at the base of the Des Moines and also at the base of the Missouri series, and the basal beds of both series show overlap relations to older strata. The. exact position of the boundary between Morrow and Des Moines beds is not certainly determined along the north flank of the Arbuckles, but it appears to lie above the base of rocks called Atoka in parts of this region.
Fossils of Des Moines age occur in the rocks of the Ardmore basin south of the Arbuckles, beginning a short distance above the Lester limestone of Tomlinson's Dornick Hills formation. The Deese beds, several thousands of feet thick, are of Des Moines age.
The Strawn group of north-central Texas, excepting possibly a small part of the topmost beds as now classified, may be correlated with the Des Moines series. These beds are lithologically and faunally similar to the Des Moines strata in Oklahoma and Arkansas. In west Texas the Des Moines is regarded as equivalent to an upper part of the Haymond formation and the lower part of the Gaptank beds.
Subdivisions of the Cherokee shale and of the Marmaton group have been traced eastward across northern Missouri and have been identified in the Pennsylvanian outlier at St. Louis. All of the rocks of the latter, excepting possibly a few feet of sandstone at the top, belong to the Des Moines series. From here it is a very short distance to the west edge of the Illinois Pennsylvanian area. Detailed studies by Knight, Weller and Wanless furnish the basis for correlation of numerous stratigraphic units in the Missouri and Illinois Des Moines section. In the latter state the Des Moines includes beds from near the base of the Carbondale to a short distance above the base of the McLeansboro formation, as classified in earlier studies. The recent work of Weller and Wanless has led to definition of numerous "cyclical formations" or cyclothems in the Illinois Pennsylvanian. The top of the Des Moines is tentatively drawn at the base of the Trivoli cyclothem.
According to evidence of fossil plants, the Des Moines series may be identified in the Appalachian region as correlative to the upper Pottsville (probably all of the Kanawha group), all of the Allegheny and the lowermost part of the Conemaugh beds, but the precise lower and upper limits are not definitely determined.
Beds of Des Moines age are widespread in the western United States. The lower part of the Minnelusa formation in the Black Hills, the McCoy formation, most of the Weber and lower Hermosa beds of Colorado, the Magdalena limestone of New Mexico and others are included here.
Subdivisions--The Des Moines series is divided in Kansas into the Cherokee shale below, and the Marmaton group above. The boundary between these has long been placed at the base of the Fort Scott limestone, but there is much to recommend a revision of classification so as to restrict application of Cherokee to beds below the Ardmore limestone and to expand the Marmaton (or introduce a new term) to include the beds between the base of the Ardmore and the top of the series. This suggested change is not now made because studies of the Des Moines beds in Kansas are not yet sufficiently detailed. F. C. Greene, who has done very extensive work on the Des Moines and other Pennsylvanian rocks of Missouri, believes that the classification of the Des Moines beds should be revised approximately as indicated here.
CHEROKEE SHALE, Haworth and Kirk, 1894
1894, *Cherokee shale, HAWORTH, E., AND KIRK, M. Z., Kan. Univ. Quart., vol. 2, p. 105. Name applied to beds, reported to be about 500 feet thick, lying between the Mississippian †Galena [Boone] limestone and the †Oswego [Fort Scott] limestones. *Cherokee shale 1895, HAWORTH, E., Am. Jour. Sci., (3), vol. 50, p. 455. Same. *Cherokee shale 1896, ADAMS, G. I., Kan. Univ. Geol. Survey, vol. 1, p. 18. Same. *Cherokee shale 1896, HAWORTH, E., Kan. Univ. Geol. Survey, vol. 1, pp. 37, 150. Same. *Cherokee shale 1896, KIRK, M. Z., Kan. Univ. Geol. Survey, vol. 1, p. 72. Same. *Cherokee shale 1897, KEYES, C. R., Iowa Acad. Sci., Proc., vol. 4, p. 22. Same. *Cherokee shale 1903, ADAMS, G. I., U. S. Geol. Survey, Bull. 211, p. 27. Same. *Cherokee shale 1904, ADAMS, G. I., U. S. Geol. Survey, Bull. 238, p. 16. Same. *Cherokee shale 1908, HAWORTH, E., AND BENNETT, J., Kan. Univ. Geol. Survey, vol. 9, pp. 74, 77. Same. *Cherokee shale 1915, HINDS, H., AND GREENE, F. C., Mo. Bur. Geol. and Mines, (2), vol. 13, pp. 16, 38. Same. *Cherokee shale 1917, MOORE, R. C., AND HAYNES, W. P., Kan. Geol. Survey, Bull. 3, p. 90. Same. *Cherokee shale 1920, MOORE, R. C., Kan. Geol. Survey, Bull. 6, pt. 2, p. 20. Same. *Cherokee shale 1933, GREENE, F. C., Mo. Bur. Geol. and Mines, 57th Bien. Rept., App, 2, p. 15. Same. Notes horizons of chief coals, limestone (Ardmore, Rich Hill or Verdigris) and sandstones ("Squirrel," "Clear Creek" or Bartlesville, Burgess). *Cherokee shale 1933, BARTLE, G. G., Mo. Bur. Geol. and Mines, 57th Bien. Rept., App, 3, p. 11. Same. *Cherokee shale (1935) 1936, OCKERMAN, J. W., Kan. Geol. Survey, Bull. 20, pp. 21-25. Same.
Type locality, named from Cherokee County, Kansas.
As currently defined, the Cherokee shale includes the strata from the base of the Pennsylvanian, north of the Kansas-Oklahoma line, upward to the base of the Fort Scott limestone. It is possible that ultimately the Cherokee will be defined as a group, for there are within it a number of persistent stratigraphic units and there appear to be cyclic successions of sandstone, shale, coal and in some cases thin limestone beds that correspond to the cyclic formations, or cyclothems, as defined in Illinois.
Shale is the strongly predominant kind of rock in this formation, and accordingly the outcrop area is a lowland plain in which there are few exposures. Gray or bluish-gray clayey and silty micaceous shale is most common, but there is also much sandy shale. Very dark or black carbonaceous shale occurs at several horizons. Fossils are rare or lacking in parts of the Cherokee shale deposits. Some beds, however, especially certain calcareous horizons, contain numerous marine invertebrates. Other beds, which in most cases are associated with a coal bed, yield remains of land plants. Sandstone occurs in different parts of the Cherokee, but most of the beds appear to lack persistence. Some of the sandstones are highly lenticular bodies. In this group the so-called "shoestring sands" belong. They are elongate channel-fillings or in some cases probably sand bar deposits. Many of them are important reservoirs of oil and gas. Some of the sandstones are thick and massive, others thin and platy or shaly. They are all quartzose and most of them contain fairly abundant mica. In parts of Missouri there is a prominent basal sandstone and conglomerate at the bottom of the Cherokee shale. Limestone beds are not prominent, but there are a number of thin, rather dense, generally rather dark-blue beds. Some of these are local in distribution, whereas others are persistent for scores of miles. The most important limestone occurs in the upper middle part of the Cherokee. The name Ardmore limestone [Gordon, C. H., Mo. Geol. Survey, vol, 9, p. 20, 1893] appears to have priority, as applied to this bed, but the Oklahoma term Verdigris limestone has been more used. The Cherokee is the chief coal-bearing formation in the Pennsylvanian of the northern Mid-Continent region. There are several beds which in different places are of workable thickness.
The Cherokee shale attains maximum thickness, insofar as the area north of Oklahoma is concerned, in the Forest City Basin of northwestern Missouri and northeastern Kansas. The core of a well at Forest City, Mo., shows 712 feet of Cherokee. The overlap of the formation on the Ozarks gives rise to much smaller thicknesses of Cherokee in various counties of Missouri where the lower Cherokee beds are lacking. The average thickness in southeastern Kansas is about 400 feet.
The outcrop of the Cherokee extends in a broad belt from south-central Iowa across Missouri and southeastern Kansas into Oklahoma. In Oklahoma and Arkansas equivalents of the Cherokee occur at the surface over a very large territory.
A number of subdivisions of the Cherokee shale have been named. Because the stratigraphy of this part of the Pennsylvanian is as yet insufficiently studied, no description or discussion of these smaller units will be undertaken In this paper.
MARMATON GROUP (Haworth, 1898), Moore, 1932
1897, Not Marmaton formation, KEYES, C. R., Iowa Acad. Sci., Proc., vol. 4, p. 24. Name applied to shale between the Fort Scott and Pawnee limestones. Although Marmaton as here used has priority over Labette shale, introduced by Haworth in 1898, the latter term has come to be recognized for the shale next above the Fort Scott limestone. Keyes' use of Marmaton also is older than that proposed by Haworth, but Haworth's definition has become established by usage.
1898, Marmaton formation; HAWORTH, E., Kan. Univ. Geol. Survey, vol. 3, p. 92. Includes beds from base of †Oswego [Fort Scott] limestone to top of †Pleasanton. shale, which is equivalent to the top of the Bourbon formation of present classification. Marmaton formation 1908, HAWORTH, E., AND BENNETT, J., Kan. Univ. Geol. Survey, vol. 9, p. 74. Same as preceding, but term it "Marmaton stage." Marmaton formation 1917, MOORE, R. C.; AND HAYNES, W. P., Kan. Geol. Survey, Bull. 3, p. 91. Same as Haworth, 1898. Marmaton formation 1920, MOORE, R. C., Kan. Geol. Survey, Bull. 6, pt. 2, p. 23. Same.
1932, *Marmaton group, MOORE, R. C., Kan. Geol. Soc., Guidebook, Sixth Ann. Field Conf., p. 89. Restricts application of term to beds below the unconformity that separates the Des Moines and Missouri series as redefined in this paper. Includes Henrietta formation and part of Pleasanton formation as classified in Missouri. *Marmaton group (1935) 1936, OCKERMAN, J. W., Kan. Geol. Survey, Bull. 20, p. 20. Same.
Type locality, along Marmaton river in Bourbon County, Kansas.
The Marmaton group, as previously defined in reports of the Kansas Geological Survey, included the beds from the base of the Fort Scott limestone to the base of the Hertha limestone. The upper boundary has been revised by me to coincide with the upper limit of the Des Moines series, which is at the unconformity below the Warrensburg channel sandstone or within the †Pleasanton shale of earlier terminology. The group consists chiefly of alternating layers of shale and limestone. There are some persistent thin coal beds and some sandstone. Definite indications of cyclic sequence of beds are observed in the Marmaton group, but this part of the section has been insufficiently studied as yet to determine satisfactorily the number and character of cyclothems.
The Marmaton group includes strata that in Missouri have been called the Henrietta formation and lower Pleasanton shale. Recent work by F. C. Greene shows the widespread occurrence in Missouri of two limestones (called Worland limestone) in the lower part of the so-called Pleasanton, and at present there seems to be little good reason to continue use of the term Henrietta. [Mo. Bur. Geol. and Mines, 57th Bien. Rept., App, 2, p, 18, 1933.] Greene is in accord with restriction of Des Moines and of Marmaton to beds below the unconformity that has been mentioned.
The thickness of the Marmaton group in Kansas ranges from a little over 100 feet to about 200 feet. The outcrop of these beds extends across southeastern Kansas from Linn County to Labette and Montgomery counties.
Subdivisions of the Marmaton group, named in upward order, are Fort Scott limestone, Labette shale, Pawnee limestone, Bandera shale, Altamont limestone, Nowata shale, Lenapah limestone, and Memorial shale. The upper units have not been traced definitely northward from exposures in southern Kansas. The limestone beds in western Missouri that Greene has called lower and upper Worland may prove to be equivalent to already named beds in Kansas, including the Altamont, but this is not certain. Greene believes that the Worland is definitely below the horizon of the Altamont limestone, and reconnaissance study by N. D. Newell indicates that the so-called Worland limestone belongs to the Pawnee limestone.
FORT SCOTT LIMESTONE (Swallow, 1866), Bennett, 1896
1866, Fort Scott limestone, SWALLOW, G. C., Kan. Geol. Survey, Prelim. Rept., p. 25. Applies name to an irregularly bedded limestone, equivalent to the upper Fort Scott of later writers, exposed at Fort Scott, Kan.
1866, Not Fort Scott coal series, SWALLOW, G. C., Kan. Geol. Survey, Prelim. Rept., p. 25. Includes about 100 feet of beds with the Fort Scott limestone at the top.
1866, Not Fort Scott marble, SWALLOW, G. C., Kan. Geol. Survey, Prelim. Rept., p. 25. Name applied to a thin dark veined limestone in what is now called Cherokee shale.
1866, Not Fort Scott marble series, SWALLOW, G. C., Kan. Geol. Survey, Prelim. Rept., p. 25. A group of beds that includes the "Fort Scott marble."
1874, Fort Scott group, BROADHEAD, G. C., Mo. Geol. Survey, Rept. 1873-1874, pp. 101, 126, 158.
1894, †Oswego limestone, HAWORTH, E., AND KIRK, M. Z., Kan. Univ. Quart., vol. 2, pp. 105, 107, 116. Apply this name to two limestone beds separated by black shale. Equivalent to the Fort Scott limestone of later general usage. The name Oswego is preoccupied by a Silurian formation in New York. †Oswego limestone 1895, HAWORTH, E., Am. Jour. Sci., (3), vol. 50, p. 456. Same. †Oswego limestone 1896, ADAMS, G. I., HAWORTH, E., KIRK, M. Z., AND BENNETT, J., Kan. Univ. Geol. Survey, vol. 1, pp. 21, 40, 73, 88. Same. †Oswego limestone 1898, HAWORTH, E., Kan. Univ. Geol. Survey, vol. 3, p. 30. Same. Designates the lower limestone bed as the "Fort Scott cement rock" (p. 31).
1896, Not Fort Scott limestone, HAWORTH, E., Kan. Univ. Geol. Survey, vol. 1, p. 42. Suggests that the name Fort Scott is suitable as an alternative designation for Oswego limestone, but "one should be careful not to include the upper limestone, a heavy system which is well developed around Fort Scott." It is difficult to understand this, because it was the upper limestone that was specifically designated by Swallow as the Fort Scott limestone. Haworth's usage, as here reported, would restrict the name to the lower limestone or "cement rock."
1896, *Fort Scott limestone, BENNETT, J., Kan. Univ. Geol. Survey, vol. 1, p. 91. Includes the "cement rock" and overlying limestone [Swallow's Fort Scott limestone] as the "Oswego, or Fort Scott limestone." *Fort Scott limestone 1903, ADAMS, G. I., U. S. Geol. Survey, Bull. 211, p. 29. Notes that the term Oswego is preoccupied and applies Fort Scott to the two limestones and included black shale at Fort Scott. *Fort Scott limestone 1904, ADAMS, G. I., U. S. Geol. Survey, Bull. 238, p. 16. Same. *Fort Scott limestone 1908, HAWORTH, E., AND BENNETT, J., Kan. Univ. Geol. Survey, vol. 9, p. 81. Same. *Fort Scott limestone 1915, HINDS, H., AND GREENE, F. C., Mo. Bur. Geol. and Mines (2), vol. 13, p. 20. Same. Classes as member of the Henrietta formation. *Fort Scott limestone 1917, MOORE, R. C., AND HAYNEs, W. P., Kan. Geol. Survey, Bull. 3, p. 92. Same as Haworth and Bennett. *Fort Scott limestone 1920, MOORE, R. C., Kan. Geol. Survey, Bull. 6, pt. 2, p. 25. Same as Haworth and Bennett. *Fort Scott limestone 1933, GREENE, F. C., Mo. Bur. Geol. and Mines, 57th Bien. Rept., App. 2, p. 16. Same. *Fort Scott limestone (1935) 1936, OCKERMAN, J. W., Kan. Geol. Survey, Bull. 20, pp. 20, 21. Same.
1897, †Henrietta formation (part), KEYES, C. R., Iowa Acad. Sci., Proc., vol. 4, p. 22. Includes Fort Scott limestone, Marmaton [Labette] shale, and Pawnee limestone. †Henrietta formation 1900, KEYES, C. R., Iowa Acad. Sci., Proc., vol. 7, p. 84. Same. †Henrietta formation 1915, HINDS, H., AND GREENE, F. C., Mo. Bur. Geol. and Mines, (2), vol. 13, pp. 19,61. Same. †Henrietta formation 1933, GREENE, F. C., Mo. Bur. Geol. and Mines, 57th Bien. Rept., App. 2, p. 16. Same. †Henrietta formation 1933, BARTLE, G. G., Mo. Bur. Geol. and Mines, 57th Bien. Rept., App. 3, p. 13. Same.
Type locality, Fort Scott, Kan.
The name Fort Scott has been used in such varied ways by Swallow, who introduced it as a stratigraphic term, and by later writers, that there is reason to question its value. There is no confusion, however, in tracing the various usages or in understanding just what beds different writers have designated as Fort Scott limestone. For a long time the geological surveys of Kansas and Missouri have accepted the definition of the Fort Scott at its type locality as including a lower massive somewhat siliceous and magnesian limestone member, the "cement rock" at Fort Scott, black fissile shale and locally coal above this bed, and a thick, irregularly bedded limestone (Swallow's original Fort Scott limestone) that overlies the black shale. The lower limestone is about 6 feet thick, the shale 6 feet, and the upper limestone 18 feet, making a total of 30 feet. These members are fairly persistent southward along the outcrop but there appears to be an additional bed or beds below the lower limestone. Study of sections in western Missouri by F. C. Greene shows that a number of changes in the character and sequence of beds belonging at this horizon may be recognized. These bear importantly on recognition of cyclothem phases and on proper understanding of the different sections. It is possible that revision of stratigraphic definitions will be required.
The Fort Scott limestone is traceable across Missouri to Iowa, although the character and thickness of various subdivisions changes a good deal, and it is recognized in the Pennsylvanian outlier at St. Louis, Mo. Southwestward the Fort Scott can be followed without difficulty to the valley of the Arkansas river southeast of Tulsa, Okla., but it has not been identified definitely south of this river. The horizon belongs in the Wetumka shale of southern Oklahoma.
LABETTE SHALE, Haworth, 1898
1866, Pawnee limestone series (part), SWALLOW, G. C., Kan. Geol. Survey, Prelim. Rept., p. 24. Includes beds from top of Fort Scott limestone to top of Pawnee limestone.
1894, †Laneville shale (part), HAWORTH, E., AND KIRK, M. Z., Kan. Univ. Quart., vol, 2, p. 108. The name Laneville was applied to beds between the †Oswego [Fort Scott] limestone and †Erie [Bronson] limestone.
1896, †Pleasanton shale (part), ADAMS, G. I., Kan. Univ. Geol. Survey, vol. 1, p. 22. Applies this name to beds between the †Oswego [Fort Scott.] and Altamont limestones.
1897, †Henrietta formation (part), KEYES, C. R. (See under Fort Scott limestone.)
1897, Marmaton formation, KEYES, C. R., Iowa Acad. Sci., Proc., vol. 4, p. 24. Name proposed for beds between Fort Scott and Pawnee limestones. It has priority over Labette, but usage has established the latter term, and Marmaton is used in a different sense as subsequently proposed by Haworth.
1898, *Labette shale, HAWORTH, E., Kan. Univ. Geol. Survey, vol. 3, p. 36. Includes strata between the †Oswego. [Fort Scott] and Pawnee limestones. *Labette shale 1903, ADAMS, G. I., U. S. Geol. Survey, Bull. 211, p. 31. Same. *Labette shale 1904, ADAMS, G. I., U. S. Geol. Survey, Bull. 238, p. 17. Same. *Labette shale 1908, HAWORTH, E., AND BENNETT, J., Kan. Univ. Geol. Survey, vol. 9, p. 82. Same. *Labette shale 1915, HINDS, H., AND GREENE, F. C., Mo. Bur. Geol. and Mines, (2), vol. 13, p. 21. Same. Classed as member of the Henrietta formation. *Labette shale 1917, MOORE, R. C., AND HAYNES, W. P., Kan. Geol. Survey, Bull. 3, p. 92. Same. Classed as a member of the Marmaton formation. *Labette shale 1920, MOORE, R. C., Kan. Geol. Survey, Bull. 6, pt. 2, p. 26. Same as Moore and Haynes. *Labette shale 1933, GREENE, F. C., Mo. Bur. Geol. and Mines, 57th Bien. Rept., App. 2, p. 16. Same. *Labette shale (1935) 1936, OCKERMAN, J. W., Kan. Geol. Survey, Bull. 20, pp. 20, 21. Same.
Type locality, village of Labette, Labette County, Kansas.
The Labette shale includes the beds between the Fort Scott and Pawnee limestones. The formation consists mainly of clayey and sandy shale. In the middle upper part there is a rather persistent zone of platy to shaly sandstone. Near the base is the Lexington coal which recent work in Missouri shows is equivalent to the Mystic coal of Iowa. This coal is overlain by a thin limestone, the so-called Lexington cap-rock, in Missouri and Iowa, but the bed is not definitely recognized in Kansas. Another coal bed occurs in the upper part of the Labette shale in parts of southeastern Kansas. The thickness of the Labette shale ranges from about 20 feet to 60 feet in Kansas, and it thickens southward in Oklahoma.
LABETTE SHALE,
ENGLEVALE SANDSTONE MEMBER, Pierce and Courtier, 1935
1935, *Englevale channel sandstone, PIERCE, W. G., AND COURTIER, W. H., Am. Assoc. Petroleum Geologists, Bull., vol. 19, pp. 1061-1064. Designates channel sandstone in lower part of the Labette shale.
Type locality, vicinity of Englevale, sec. 24, T. 28 S., R. 24 E., Crawford County, Kansas.
A channel sandstone, with maximum observed thickness of about 50 feet, occurs in the lower Labette shale in northeastern Crawford County, Kansas. The sandstone body has an average width of 0.4 mile and has been traced for a distance of 9 miles in a direction trending north-northwest from the town of Arma. The sandstone rests disconformably on Fort Scott limestone or Cherokee shale, filling an erosion channel that was cut partly or entirely through the Fort Scott limestone. The sandstone appears to grade upward into shale of the lower part of the Labette shale.
PAWNEE LIMESTONE, Swallow, 1866
1866, Pawnee limestone series (part), SWALLOW, G. C. (See under Labette shale.)
1866, *Pawnee limestone, SWALLOW, G. C., Kan. Geol. Survey, Prelim. Rept., p. 24. Name applied to "heavy-bedded, porous and compact, coarse and fine, drab, brown and bluish gray, cherty, concretionary and mottled [limestone], 20 to 25 feet thick" occurring next above the Fort Scott limestone. *Pawnee limestone 1895, HAWORTH, E., Am. Jour. Sci., (3), vol. 50, p. 457. Same. *Pawnee limestone 1896, HAWORTH, E., KIRK, M. Z., AND BENNETT, J., Kan. Univ. Geol. Survey, vol. 1, pp. 43, 74, 92, 153. Same. *Pawnee limestone 1898, HAWORTH, E., Kan. Univ. Geol. Survey, vol. 3, pp. 37, 85, 92, 94. Same. *Pawnee limestone 1903, ADAMS, G. I., U. S. Geol. Survey, Bull. 211, p. 32. Same. *Pawnee limestone 1904, ADAMS, G. I., U. S. Geol. Survey, Bull. 238, p. 17. Same. *Pawnee limestone 1908, HAWORTH, E., AND BENNETT, J., Kan. Univ. Geol. Survey, vol. 9, p. 83. Same. *Pawnee limestone 1915, HINDS, H., AND GREENE, F. C., Mo. Bur. Geol. and Mines, (2), vol. 13, p. 21. Same. Class as member of the Henrietta formation. *Pawnee limestone 1917, MOORE, R. C., AND HAYNES, W. P., Kan. Geol. Survey, Bull. 3, p. 93. Same. Class as member of the Marmaton formation. *Pawnee limestone 1920, MOORE, R. C., Kan. Geol. Survey, Bull. 6, pt. 2, p. 26. Same as Moore and Haynes. *Pawnee limestone 1933, GREENE, F. C., Mo. Bur. Geol. and Mines, 57th Bien. Rept., App. 2, p. 17. *Pawnee limestone (1935) 1936, OCKERMAN, J. W., Kan. Geol. Survey, Bull. 20, pp. 20, 21. Same as Moore.
1894, †Laneville shale (part), HAWORTH, E., AND KIRK, M. Z. (See under Labette shale.)
1896, Pleasanton shale (part), ADAMS, G. I. (See under Labette shale.)
1897, †Henrietta formation (part), KEYES, C. R. (See under Fort Scott limestone.)
1897, Not †Pawnee limestone, DRAKE, N. F., Am. Philos. Soc., Proc., vol. 36, p. 386. Refers to limestone at Pawnee, Okla., that probably corresponds to Foraker of present classification. The name Pawnee is not applicable to this higher limestone because of Swallow's prior usage.
Type locality, on Pawnee Creek near village of Pawnee, southwest of Fort Scott, Kan.
The Pawnee limestone lies between the Labette and Bandera shales. The main part of the formation consists of massive, light-gray, rather fine-grained limestone that in places attains a thickness of nearly 50 feet. In some places there is a thin bed of blue dense limestone with vertical joints at the base of the Pawnee, separated from the upper limestone beds by two feet or more of black slaty shale. This blue bed has the characteristics of the "middle" limestone member of various higher Pennsylvanian formations in Kansas, and like them is overlain by black shale. The Pawnee limestone is somewhat less fossiliferous than the Fort Scott limestone, in general. The formation extends across much of north-central Missouri and is present in the St. Louis area. It persists southward for some distance into Oklahoma but is not differentiated south of the latitude of Tulsa.
BANDERA SHALE, Adams, 1903
1866, †Marais des Cygnes coal series (part), SWALLOW, G. C., Kan. Geol. Survey, Prelim. Rept., p. 22. Includes beds between top of Pawnee limestone and base of †"Well rock series" [Bronson?].
1894, †Laneville shale (part), HAWORTH, E., AND KIRK, M. Z. (See under Labette shale.)
1895, †Pleasanton shale (part), HAWORTH, E., Kan. Univ. Quart., vol. 3, p. 274. Includes beds between top of the Pawnee limestone and base of the †Erie [Bronson] limestone. †Pleasanton shale 1895, HAWORTH, E., Am. Jour. Sci., (3), vol. 50, p. 457. Same. †Pleasanton shale 1896, ADAMS, G. I. (See under Labette shale.) †Pleasanton shale 1896, HAWORTH, E., KIRK, M. Z., AND BENNETT, J., Kan. Univ. Geol. Survey, vol. 1, pp, 44, 74, 93, 153. Same as Haworth, 1895. †Pleasanton shale 1898, HAWORTH, E., Kan. Univ. Geol. Survey, vol. 3, p. 39. Same. Designates the beds between the Pawnee and Altamont limestones as "Lower Pleasanton shale." †Pleasanton shale 1915, HINDS, H., AND GREENE, F. C., Mo. Bur. Geol. and Mines, (2), vol. 13, pp. 21, 75. Same as Haworth, 1895. †Pleasanton shale 1933, GREENE, F. C., Mo. Bur. Geol. and Mines, 57th Bien. Rept., App. 2, p. 17. Same. †Pleasanton shale 1933, BARTLE, G. G., Mo. Bur. Geol. and Mines, 57th Bien. Rept., App. 3, p. 14. Same.
1900, †Marais des Cygnes shale (part), KEYES, C. R., Iowa Acad. Sci., Proc., vol. 7, p. 84. Includes beds between top of Pawnee limestone and base of †Bethany [Bronson] limestone. †Marais des Cygnes shale 1928, KEYES, C. R., Pan-Am. Geologist, vol. 50, p. 67.
1903, *Bandera shale, ADAMS, G. I., U. S. Geol. Survey, Bull. 211, p. 32. Name applied to strata between the Pawnee and Altamont limestones. *Bandera shale 1904, ADAMS, G. I., U. S. Geol. Survey, Bull. 238, p. 17. Same. *Bandera shale 1908, HAWORTH, E., AND BENNETT, J., Kan. Univ. Geol. Survey, vol. 9, p. 84. Same. *Bandera shale 1917, MOORE, R. C., AND HAYNES, W. P., Kan. Geol. Survey, Bull. 3, p. 93. Same. Class as member of the Marmaton formation. *Bandera shale 1920, MOORE, R. C., Kan. Geol. Survey, Bull. 6, pt. 2, p. 26. Same. *Bandera shale (1935) 1936, OCKERMAN, J. W., Kan. Geol. Survey, Bull. 20, pp. 20, 21. Same.
Type locality, Bandera, Bourbon County, Kansas.
The Bandera shale includes clayey and sandy strata lying between the Pawnee limestone and Altamont limestone. Most of the shale is dark-colored. Shaly sandstone, sandstone flags and massive sandstone occur in places in the Bandera shale. One or more beds of coal also belong in this formation.
The thickness of the Bandera shale is reported to be 60 to 120 feet in Kansas, but thinner in Oklahoma. The outcrop belt of the shale can be followed across Kansas from Missouri to Oklahoma, but its extent as a distinct unit is not definitely determined. F. C. Greene recognizes in western Missouri two fairly prominent and persistent limestone beds that he terms the lower and upper Worland limestones, and places them in the Bandera shale [Mo. Bur. Geol. and Mines, 57th Bien. Rept., App. 2, p. 18, 1933].
ALTAMONT LIMESTONE, Adams, 1896
1866, †Marais des Cygnes coal series (part), SWALLOW, G. C. (See under Bandera shale.)
1894, †Laneville shale (part), HAWORTH, E., AND KIRK, M. Z. (See under Labette shale.)
1895, †Pleasanton shale (part), HAWORTH, E. (See under Bandera shale.)
1896, *Altamont limestone, ADAMS, G. I., Kan. Univ. Geol. Survey, vol. 1, p. 22. Name applied to limestone "at summit of the ridge at Altamont," Labette County, Kansas. *Altamont limestone 1898, HAWORTH, E., Kan. Univ. Geol. Survey, vol. 3, pp. 39, 92, 94, 100. Same. Classed as a subdivision of the †Pleasanton shale and recognized as the first persistent limestone above the Pawnee. *Altamont limestone 1908, HAWORTH, E., AND BENNETT, J., Kan. Univ. Geol. Survey, vol. 9, p. 85. Same. *Altamont limestone 1917, MOORE, R. C., AND HAYNES, W. P., Kan. Geol. Survey, Bull. 3, p. 93. Same. Class as member of the Marmaton formation. *Altamont limestone 1920, MOORE, R. C., Kan. Geol. Survey, Bull. 6, pt. 2, p. Z7. Same. *Altamont limestone (1935) 1936, OCKERMAN, J. W., Kan. Geol. Survey, Bull. 20, pp. 20, 21. Same.
1900, †Marais des Cygnes shale (part), KEYES, C. R. (See under Bandera shale.)
1903, †Parsons limestone (part), ADAMS, G. I., U. S. Geol. Survey, Bull. 211, p. 33; Notes that the Altamont limestone occurs next above the Bandera shale. The †Parsons formation includes the Altamont, overlying shale and a higher limestone [Lenapah]. †Parsons limestone 1904, ADAMS, G. I., U. S. Geol. Survey, Bull. 238, p. 17. Same. †Parsons limestone 1906, SCHRADER, F. C., AND HAWORTH, E., U. S. Geol. Survey, Bull. 296, p. 16. Same. †Parsons limestone 1908, SCHRADER, F. C., U. S. Geol. Survey, Geol. Atlas, Folio 159, Independence quadrangle, p. 1. Same.
Type locality, Altamont, Labette County, Kansas.
The Altamont limestone occurs between the Bandera and Nowata shales. It has been classed with the next higher limestone and shale under the name †Parsons limestone, but the thickness of the Nowata shale in most places and the clear evidence that the Altamont and Lenapah limestones represent different cyclothems are reasons for regarding them as independent units.
The Altamont is a massive, light-colored limestone, about 4 to 10 feet thick, that in parts of southeastern Kansas makes an easily traceable escarpment. Fossils are mostly rather uncommon.
Because of southward thinning of the Bandera shale, the Altamont limestone occurs only a little above the Pawnee limestone in part of northern Oklahoma, and northeast of Tulsa these two limestones are combined under the name Oologah limestone.
NOWATA SHALE, Ohern, 1910
1866, †Marais des Cygnes coal series (part), SWALLOW, G. C. (See under Bandera shale.)
1894, †Laneville shale (part), HAWORTH, E., AND KIRK, M. Z. (See under Labette shale.)
1895, †Pleasanton shale (part), HAWORTH, E. (See under Bandera shale.)
1900, †Marais des Cygnes shale (part), KEYES, C. R. (See under Bandera shale.)
1903, †Parsons limestone (part), ADAMS, G. I. (See under Altamont limestone.)
1908, †Walnut shale, HAWORTH, E., AND BENNETT, J., Kan. Univ. Geol. Survey, vol. 9, p. 86. Includes beds between Altamont and Coffeyville [Lenapah] limestones. The name Walnut is preoccupied by a Cretaceous formation in Texas and therefore is not available for this shale in Kansas. †Walnut shale 1917, MOORE, R. C., AND HAYNES, W. P., Kan. Geol. Survey, Bull. 3, p. 93. Same.
1910, *Nowata shale, OHERN, D. W., Okla. Univ., Bull. 4, p. 23. Name applied to beds between the Altamont and Lenapah limestones. *Nowata shale 1920, MOORE, R. C., Kan. Geol. Survey, Bull. 6, pt. 2, p. 27. Same. Classed as member of the Marmaton formation.
Type locality, Nowata, Nowata County, Oklahoma.
The Nowata shale comprises 30 to 50 feet or more of bluish-gray or yellowish clayey and sandy shale that occurs between the Altamont and Lenapah limestones. This shale unit is clearly differentiated in southeastern Kansas east of Coffeyville and in northeastern Oklahoma, but because the Lenapah disappears a few miles northeast of Tulsa and is not now known far north of the Kansas-Oklahoma line, the stratigraphic definition and relations of the Nowata to the south and north of the area where the Lenapah occurs are in doubt. There are few fossils in most outcrops of the Nowata shale.
LENAPAH LIMESTONE, Ohern, 1910
1866, †Marais des Cygnes coal series (part), SWALLOW, G. C. (See under Bandera shale.)
1894, †Laneville shale (part), HAWORTH, E., AND KIRK, M. Z. (See under Labette shale.)
1895, †Pleasanton shale (part), HAWORTH, E. (See under Bandera shale.)
1900, †Marais des Cygnes shale (part), KEYES, C. R. (See under Bandera shale.)
1903, †Parsons limestone (part), ADAMS, G. I. (See under Altamont limestone.)
1908, †Coffeyville limestone, HAWORTH, E., AND BENNETT, J., Kan. Univ. Geol. Survey, vol. 9, p. 87. Name applied to thin but persistent limestone that is prominently exposed along banks of the Verdigris river at Coffeyville, Kan. †Coffeyville limestone 1917, MOORE, R. C., AND HAYNES, W. P., Kan. Geol. Survey, Bull. 3, p. 94. Same.
1910, *Lenapah limestone, OHERN, D. W., Okla. Univ., Bull. 4, p. 23. Refers to limestone typically exposed at Lenapah, Okla., next above the Nowata shale. *Lenapah limestone 1920, MOORE, R. C., Kan. Geol. Survey, Bull. 6, pt. 2, p. 27. Same. Classed as member of the Marmaton formation.
Type locality, Lenapah, Nowata County, Oklahoma.
The Lenapah limestone conformably overlies the Nowata shale and in a number of exposures appears to be overlain conformably by shale. The limestone is about 20 feet thick at the type locality in northeastern Oklahoma but thins to 7 feet or less near Coffeyville, Kan., and becomes discontinuous southward or grades into thin limestone and shale beds. As typically developed, the limestone is light bluish-gray, fairly pure, hard and massive. The main body of the formation near Lenapah is very fine-grained and can be identified as corresponding to the "upper" limestone (the main part of Cyclothem C of the Shawnee type of megacyclothem) of other Pennsylvanian limestone formations. This part of the Lenapah becomes nodular and shaly in southern Kansas. The top part of the formation is a fairly persistent, single massive ledge 2 to 7 feet thick that appears strongly mottled or brecciated and contains rather common algal remains. Fossils of Des Moines type, including Mesolobus and Prismopora, have been collected from the Lenapah.
MEMORIAL SHALE, Dott, 1936
1866, †Marais des Cygnes coal series (part), SWALLOW, G. C. (See under Bandera shale.)
i894, †Laneville shale (part), HAWORTH, E., AND KIRK, M. Z. (See under Labette shale.)
1895, †Pleasanton shale (part), HAWORTH, E. (See under Bandera shale. †Pleasanton shale (part) 1908, HAWORTH, E., AND BENNETT, J., Kan. Univ. Geol. Survey, vol. 9, p. 88. Include beds between top of †Coffeyville [Lenapah] limestone and base of "Bethany Falls" [Hertha] limestone. †Pleasanton shale (part) 1917, MOORE, R. C., AND HAYNES, W. P., Kan. Geol. Survey, Bull. 3, p. 94. Same as Haworth and Bennett.
1900, †Marais des Cygnes shale (part), KEYES, C. R. (See under Bandera shale.)
1903, †Dudley shale (part), ADAMS, G. I., U. S. Geol. Survey, Bull. 211, p. 34. Name applied to beds between the top of the †Parsons [Altamont-Lenapah] and Hertha limestones. †Dudley shale 1904, ADAMS, G. I., U. S. Geol. Survey, Bull. 238, p. 17. Same. †Dudley shale 1906, SCHRADER, F. C., AND HAWORTH, E., U. S. Geol. Survey, Bull. 296, p. 14. Describe the "Ladore-Dudley shale" as the lowest member of the Coffeyville formation, the Hertha limestone being absent. †Dudley shale 1908, SCHRADER, F. C., U. S. Geol. Survey, Geol. Atlas, Folio 159, Independence quadrangle, p. 2. Same.
1906, Coffeyville formation (part), SCHRADER, F. C., AND HAWORTH, E., U. S. Geol. Survey, Bull. 296, p. 14. Include beds between top of †Parsons [Altamont-Lenapah] limestone and base of Drum [miscorrelated with Winterset at Coffeyville] limestone. Coffeyville formation 1908, SCHRADER, F. C., U. S. Geol. Survey, Geol. Atlas, Folio 159, p. 2. Same.
1920, †La Cygne shale, MOORE, R. C., Kan. Geol. Survey, Bull. 6, pt. 2, p. 28. Includes beds between Lenapah and Hertha limestones. Classed as a member of the Marmaton formation.
1936, Memorial shale, DOTT, R. S., Mss. Name applied to beds between top of "Eleventh Street" limestone [Lenapah] and unconformity at top of Des Moines series.
An undetermined thickness of shale that overlies the Lenapah limestone appears to belong to the top part of the Des Moines series, and it should be differentiated from basal beds of the Missouri series even though in mapping some areas it is impracticable to trace the series boundary. The term Dudley shale, as proposed, presumably includes upper Des Moines beds and also lower Missouri shale and sandstone equivalent to the Bourbon formation. The Coffeyville formation is still more inclusive. Shale between the Lenapah limestone, below, and the unconformity at the top of the Des Moines series has recently been named the Memorial shale.
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Kansas Geological Survey, Geology
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