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Pleistocene Stratigraphy of Missouri River Valley Along the Kansas-Missouri Border

20th Annual Meeting of the Midwest Friends of the Pleistocene

C. K. Bayne H. G. O'Connor, S. N. Davis and W. B. Howe, Field Trip Leaders

small image of the cover of the book; tan background with map of Kansas and Missouri in background; black text.

[Originally published in 1971 as Kansas Geological Survey Special Distribution Publication 53. This is, in general, the original text as published. The information has not been updated. This publication is also available as an Acrobat PDF file (5 MB).]

Contents

Introduction
Regional Pleistocene Stratigraphy
C. K. Bayne, S. N. Davis, W. B. Howe, and H. G. O'Connor
Detailed Discussion of Selected Pleistocene Exposures in Northeastern Kansas and Northwestern Missouri
C. K. Bayne, S. N. Davis, W. B. Howe, and H. G. O'Connor
Buried Valleys in the Lower Part of the Missouri River Basin
Vincent H. Dreeszen and Raymond R. Burchett
Paleontological Considerations of the Loess Deposits of Western Missouri
Robert J. Pauken

Pleistocene Stratigraphy of Missouri River Valley Along the Kansas-Missouri Border

Introduction

This publication has been prepared for the 20th Annual Meeting of the Midwest Friends of the Pleistocene, an informal organization of scientific and professional workers who have active interests in Pleistocene geology in the midwestern part of the United States. Planning and preparation of the guidebook and the 20th Annual Meeting have been under the joint sponsorship of the State Geological Survey of Kansas and the Missouri Geological Survey and Water Resources. A listing of earlier Midwest Friends of the Pleistocene meetings appears on the inside front cover.

Until the mid-1960's, little work was done in northeastern Kansas to modify the stratigraphic concepts of John C. Frye and A. Byron Leonard in their classic publication, "Pleistocene Geology of Kansas" (1952). During the decade of the 1960's, much new information concerning Pleistocene deposits in northeastern Kansas was obtained through studies of Brown and Doniphan counties by C. K. Bayne, Atchison County by J. R. Ward, and through studies of pits and quarry exposures along the Missouri River valley by Wakefield Dort, Jr. In 1966, James Thorp, C. K. Bayne, and H. G. O'Connor spent six weeks studying and describing Pleistocene deposits in northeastern Kansas. Of particular importance has been the recognition of the more complex nature of the early Pleistocene deposits. Evidence is presented in this report which supports the interpretation of two Kansan tills separated by an interstadial paleosol and framed by the Afton Soil below and the Sangamon Soil above. Additionally, evidence is presented for division of the Nebraskan Stage into two substages or stades on the basis of a widespread and distinctive Afton Soil and an older interstadial paleosol.

In Missouri, work by S. N. Davis on the Pleistocene geology of Platte County and a program of test drilling in northwestern Missouri by the Missouri Geological Survey and Water Resources in the 1950's marked the beginning of expanded studies of Pleistocene deposits in this area. The results of Missouri's drilling program have been published in a series of preliminary reports on the ground-water resources for counties in northwestern Missouri. Much new information on Pleistocene drainage patterns and bedrock topography was obtained and described by G. E. Heim and W. B. Howe (1963a, 1963b).

Many new exposures of Pleistocene deposits, particularly late Pleistocene deposits, have resulted from construction activities in northwestern Missouri since the mid-1960's and have been studied by S. N. Davis and W. B. Howe. The classification and description of these late Pleistocene deposits have been emphasized in Missouri sections described in this report.

In order that current concepts of Pleistocene stratigraphy of the Missouri River valley along the Kansas-Missouri boundary might be shared with a larger audience than could attend the 20th Annual Meeting of the Midwest Friends of the Pleistocene, the Kansas Geological Survey has published this guidebook as a part of its Special Distribution Series. The publication is available from both the State Geological Survey of Kansas and the Missouri Geological Survey and Water Resources.

Acknowledgments

Appreciation is expressed to E. C. Reed, V. H. Dreeszen, S. J. Tuthill, James Thorp, C. W. Hibbard, F. C. Greene, Gomer Jenkins, F. C. Foley, and William Herndon for their helpful discussions of stratigraphic and correlation problems in the field, and assistance in the planning of this Friends of the Pleistocene meeting and guidebook.

Special thanks are expressed to V. H. Dreeszen, R. R. Burchett, and R. J. Pauken for their papers prepared especially for this guidebook.


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Kansas Geological Survey
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Web version Feb. 19, 2013. Original publication date 1971.
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