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The Smock and Sluss Pools
Location and Extent
Located to the southeast and across the Walnut river from the main developed field lies a narrow strip of producing oil territory which constitutes the Smock and Sluss pools. This strip of developed territory extends from sec. 11, T. 27 S., R. 5 E., on the south, through sec. 2, T. 27 S., R. 5 E., secs. 35, 26, 25 and 24 of T. 26 S., R. 5 E., and into sec. 19, T. 26 S., R. 6 E. It is not only geographically but also structurally distinct from the main field, although probably genetically related. The development in this area started from two principal centers—one on the Smock farm, in sec. 2, T. 27 S., R. 5 E., where the discovery well was completed in March, 1917, with an initial daily production of about 500 barrels; and the other, one and three-fourths miles to the north, on the Sluss farm, in sec. 26, T. 26 S., R. 5 E., where the first well was brought in in August, 1917, with a production of 100 barrels daily.
Continued drilling in 1918 and 1919 has greatly diminished the distance separating these pools, until they have nearly coalesced. Since much of the drilling in the intervening area took place after the completion of the field work on which this report is based, accurate information concerning this development feature could not be obtained, and hence it is not shown on plates I and XIV. However, as the two pools are theoretically, if not practically, a unit, they will be treated together.
Stratigraphy
The general stratigraphy of the Smock-Sluss district is in practically every respect identical with that given in the main portion of this report, and hence there is no need for further general discussion.
Of interest, however, are the character and stratigraphic position of the single pay zone of this district. No drill cuttings of the pay rock were collected, and hence no information other than the drillers' interpretation, as given in well logs, can here be presented. Drillers report the pay rock as "sand," but so also is reported the Stapleton pay of the main field; hence it is possible, and to the writer it seems probable, that the Sluss and Smock "sands" may be similar in character to the Stapleton oil zone, which ranges from limestone to sandstone. And it seems further possible that the Sluss and Smock "sands" occupy the same stratigraphic position as the Stapleton; that is, the upper part of the eroded Mississippian rock series. While this cannot be readily demonstrated, the position of this pool to the east of the major anticline, together with the greater depth of the oil sand below the Fort Riley limestone, approximately 2,700 feet in comparison to the 2,460 feet of the Stapleton pay zone in Stapleton well No. 1, conforming closely to the thickness interpretation of the Cherokee and Marmaton formations in this locality as outlined on page 41, constitute evidence for such a correlation.
Structure
Surface Rocks
In mapping the surface rocks of the Smock-Sluss district more than usual care was exercised to find the presence of any flexing that might be present, but none could be detected. The pools lie on the regular westward dipping monocline characteristic of the region. It is possible, but not probable, that the dip here is slightly below normal, about twenty feet, to the mile, but inasmuch as the region to the cast has been mapped for only about a mile, the possibility cannot be well determined. The surface structure is not indicative of the presence of oil, and the discovery of this pool is due entirely to the efforts of the wildcat operator. In this respect these pools are quite different from the main Eldorado field. The smallness of these pools may be indicative of the size of pools which wildcat operations may be expected to discover in this general region.
Oil Pay
Sufficient evidence for the drawing of contours on the oil pay of the Sluss-Smock district was obtained only for the Smock end or southern part of this linear area. Here an underground anticline is well indicated, with its axis trending east of north and paralleling the trend of producing territory. (See plate XIV.) The distribution of the oil with respect to this arching shows it to be limited to the upper part of this underground anticline, and within the area where the sand is contoured it appears to be confined to an area which is within forty feet (vertically) of the crest of the fold. A similar structural situation appears to obtain in the Sluss neighborhood one and one-half miles to the north, and although the evidence at hand is insufficient for contouring, there seems reason for thinking that the probable fold is here simply the continuation of the Smock fold, and that this line of folding may extend both to the north and south; in other words, that this linear fold or zone of folding represents a tectonic line along which minor folding took place in pre-Permian time, and which has been concealed by the later-deposited Permian rocks now exposed at the surface. It probably is a fold initiated by a vertical movement along a fault plane, or shear zone, in the pre-Cambrian basement, as proposed on pages 155-164, and the outstanding difference between it and the larger Eldorado anticline is that no post-Permian deformation has taken place here to fold the rocks now exposed at the surface. This may indicate that the fold in the pay rock is of much smaller magnitude-a fact which is further evinced by the greater depth of the folded oil-bearing zone.
Logs of a Smock farm well and of a Sluss farm well are given below:
| Log of J. S. Cosden's Smock Farm Well No. 1. | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Location: Southeast corner NW, sec. 2, T. 27 S., R. 5 E. Drilled March 22 to June 13, 1917. Elevation of well mouth, 1,320 feet, which is about same elevation as top of Fort Riley limestone. Initial production, 232 barrels. Log furnished by Cosden Oil and Gas Company. | |||
| Drillers' record | Thickness in feet |
Depth in feet |
Geological correlation |
| Hard, gray lime | 90 | 90 | Fort Riley limestone and Florence flint. |
| Soft, red rock | 15 | 105 | |
| Hard, white rock | 5 | 110 | |
| Soft, blue slate | 15 | 125 | |
| Soft, red rock | 10 | 135 | |
| White, hard lime | 55 | 190 | |
| Soft, blue slate | 40 | 230 | |
| Hard, black shale | 10 | 240 | |
| Soft, blue slate | 15 | 255 | |
| Hard, blue lime | 10 | 265 | |
| Soft, blue shale | 50 | 315 | |
| Soft, white sand | 15 | 330 | |
| Hard, white lime | 30 | 360 | |
| Soft, blue shale | 10 | 370 | |
| Hard, white lime | 5 | 375 | |
| Soft, blue slate | 5 | 380 | |
| Hard, white lime | 10 | 390 | |
| Soft, blue shale | 5 | 395 | |
| Hard, white lime | 15 | 410 | |
| Soft, blue shale | 15 | 425 | |
| Hard, white lime | 15 | 440 | |
| Soft, blue slate | 30 | 470 | |
| Hard, white lime | 25 | 495 | |
| Soft, blue slate | 10 | 505 | |
| Hard, white lime | 5 | 510 | |
| Hard, white slate | 20 | 530 | |
| Hard, brown shale | 20 | 550 | |
| Soft, brown slate | 40 | 590 | |
| Hard, blue lime | 10 | 600 | |
| Soft, red rock | 10 | 610 | |
| Hard, white lime | 5 | 615 | |
| Soft, blue shale | 35 | 650 | |
| Soft, white slate | 50 | 700 | |
| Hard, brown shale | 25 | 725 | |
| Soft, white sand; hole full of water | 15 | 740 | |
| Soft, white shale | 60 | 800 | |
| Soft, white slate | 16 | 815 | |
| Hard, white lime | 35 | 850 | |
| Soft, blue slate; water | 10 | 860 | |
| Hard, white lime | 60 | 920 | |
| Soft, white shale | 90 | 1,010 | |
| Hard, white sand | 10 | 1,020 | |
| Hard, white lime | 55 | 1,075 | |
| Soft, blue shale | 35 | 1,110 | |
| Hard, white lime | 70 | 1,180 | |
| Soft, blue shale | 5 | 1,185 | |
| Hard, white lime | 75 | 1,260 | |
| Soft, blue slate | 10 | 1,270 | |
| Hard, white lime | 75 | 1,345 | |
| Soft, blue slate | 10 | 1,355 | |
| Hard, white lime | 20 | 1,375 | |
| Soft, blue slate | 3 | 1,378 | |
| Hard, white lime | 10 | 1,388 | |
| Soft, blue slate | 5 | 1,393 | |
| Hard, white lime | 42 | 1,435 | |
| Soft, blue slate | 35 | 1,470 | |
| Hard, white lime | 70 | 1,540 | |
| Soft, blue slate | 58 | 1,598 | |
| Hard, blue lime | 4 | 1,602 | |
| Hard, white, sandy shale | 40 | 1,642 | |
| Hard, white lime | 10 | 1,652 | |
| Soft, blue slate | 28 | 1,680 | |
| Hard, white lime | 25 | 1,705 | |
| Soft, blue slate | 90 | 1,795 | |
| Hard, white lime | 55 | 1,850 | Lansing formation. |
| Hard, white sand | 20 | 1,870 | |
| Hard, white lime | 120 | 1,990 | |
| Soft, white slate | 130 | 2,120 | |
| Hard, blue lime; water | 15 | 2,135 | Kansas City formation. |
| Soft, blue slate | 5 | 2,140 | |
| Hard, blue lime | 64 | 2,204 | |
| Soft, blue slate | 20 | 2,224 | |
| Hard, white lime | 46 | 2,270 | |
| Soft, blue slate | 20 | 2,290 | |
| Hard, blue lime | 10 | 2,300 | |
| Soft, blue slate | 5 | 2,305 | |
| Hard, white lime | 15 | 2,320 | |
| Hard, blue shale | 40 | 2,360 | |
| Soft, white sand | 20 | 2,380 | |
| Soft, white slate | 70 | 2,450 | |
| Hard, white lime | 20 | 2,470 | |
| Soft, dark shale | 120 | 2,590 | |
| Hard, white lime | 20 | 2,610 | |
| Soft, brown shale | 47 | 2,657 | |
| Oil "sand," hard, green | 24 | 2,681 | |
| Oil "sand," soft, brown | 20 | 2,701 | |
| Soft, brown slate | 3 | 2,704 | Total depth. |
| Log of Houston-Dingee-Davis, Sluss Farm Well No. 1. | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Location, southwest corner of NW SW, sec. 25, T. 26 S., R. 5 E. Elevation of well mouth, 1,345 feet which is a few feet below top of Fort Riley limestone. Casing record: 12 1/2-inch, 892 feet; 10-inch, 1,045 feet; 8 1/4-inch, 1,091 feet; 6 5/8-inch, 2,432 feet. Log furnished by Cassaday Oil and Gas Company. | |||
| Drillers' record | Thickness in feet |
Depth in feet |
Geological correlation |
| Clay | 4 | 4 | |
| Lime | 91 | 95 | Fort Riley limestone and Florence flint. |
| Slate | 15 | 110 | |
| Red rock | 5 | 115 | |
| Lime | 20 | 135 | |
| Red rock | 10 | 145 | |
| Lime | 60 | 205 | |
| Slate | 45 | 250 | |
| Lime | 8 | 258 | |
| Slate | 77 | 335 | |
| Water sand | 7 | 342 | |
| Lime | 8 | 350 | |
| Slate | 40 | 390 | |
| Red rock | 6 | 396 | |
| Lime | 4 | 400 | |
| Slate | 40 | 440 | |
| Lime | 8 | 448 | |
| Slate | 78 | 526 | |
| Lime | 8 | 534 | |
| Shale | 18 | 552 | |
| Slate | 18 | 570 | |
| Lime | 4 | 574 | |
| Slate | 52 | 626 | |
| Red rock | 8 | 634 | |
| Slate | 44 | 678 | |
| Light sand | 14 | 692 | |
| Slate | 25 | 717 | |
| Lime | 10 | 727 | |
| Slate | 40 | 767 | |
| Light sand | 10 | 777 | |
| Black slate | 13 | 790 | |
| Gray slate | 40 | 830 | |
| Hard lime | 45 | 875 | |
| Lime | 35 | 910 | |
| Hard lime | 12 | 922 | |
| Black slate | 12 | 934 | |
| Gray slate | 26 | 960 | |
| Water sand | 10 | 970 | |
| Lime | 26 | 996 | |
| Slate | 14 | 1,010 | |
| Water sand | 20 | 1,030 | |
| Slate | 10 | 1,040 | |
| Lime | 5 | 1,045 | |
| Lime | 2 | 1,047 | |
| Slate | 5 | 1,052 | |
| Lime | 26 | 1,078 | |
| Slate | 8 | 1,086 | |
| Lime | 4 | 1,090 | |
| Slate | 65 | 1,155 | |
| White lime | 50 | 1,205 | |
| Hard lime | 25 | 1,230 | |
| Gray, soft slate | 30 | 1,260 | |
| Lime | 22 | 1,282 | |
| Water sand | 12 | 1,294 | |
| Lime | 10 | 1,304 | |
| Slate | 5 | 1,309 | |
| Lime | 51 | 1,360 | |
| Light shale | 6 | 1,366 | |
| White lime | 12 | 1,378 | |
| Black slate | 4 | 1,382 | |
| White lime | 20 | 1,402 | |
| White lime | 33 | 1,435 | |
| Dark shale | 10 | 1,445 | |
| White lime | 15 | 1,460 | |
| Dark shale | 15 | 1,475 | |
| White lime | 67 | 1,542 | |
| Gray shale | 18 | 1,560 | |
| White lime | 15 | 1,575 | |
| Dark shale | 15 | 1,590 | |
| White lime | 5 | 1,595 | |
| Dark shale | 35 | 1,630 | |
| Gray shale | 70 | 1,700 | |
| Lime | 66 | 1,766 | |
| Slate | 69 | 1,835 | |
| Lime | 66 | 1,901 | Lansing formation. |
| Hard lime | 17 | 1.918 | |
| Lime | 82 | 2,000 | |
| Slate | 97 | 2,097 | |
| Shale | 44 | 2,141 | |
| Lime | 159 | 2,300 | Kansas City formation. |
| Slate | 12 | 2,312 | |
| Lime | 9 | 2,321 | |
| Slate | 5 | 2,326 | |
| Slate | 74 | 2,400 | |
| Water sand | 16 | 2,416 | |
| Sand | 4 | 2,420 | |
| Water sand | 5 | 2,425 | |
| Lime | 7 | 2,432 | |
| White, hard lime | 3 | 2,435 | |
| Soft shale | 5 | 2,440 | |
| Hard lime | 10 | 2,450 | |
| Lime | 20 | 2,470 | |
| Slate | 24 | 2,494 | |
| Lime | 22 | 2,516 | |
| Slate | 6 | 2,522 | |
| Lime | 8 | 2,530 | |
| Slate | 10 | 2,540 | |
| Lime | 7 | 2,547 | |
| Slate | 45 | 2,592 | |
| Lime | 5 | 2,597 | |
| Slate | 18 | 2,615 | |
| Unrecorded | 5 | 2,620 | |
| Oil "sand" | 26 | 2,746 | Total depth. |
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Kansas Geological Survey, Geology
Placed on web July 28, 2017; originally published 1921.
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