UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Harold L. Ickes, Secretary

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 

W. C. Mendenhall, Director

Bulletin 874 C

GEOLOGY AND FUEL RESOURCES

OF THE

SOUTHERN PART OF THE OKLAHOMA 

COAL FIELD

PART 3. THE QUINTON-SCIPIO DISTRICT 

PITTSBURG, HASKELL, AND LATIMER COUNTIES

BY

C. H. DANE, H. E. ROTHROCK, AND 

JAMES STEELE WILLIAMS

UNITED STATES

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 

WASHINGTON : 1938

For Sale by the Superintendent of Documents, Washington, D. C. ------ Price 65 cents
NOTE

The Geological Survey, in 1930, 1931, 1933, and 1934, conducted an investigation of the geology and coal resources of the portion of the southeastern Oklahoma coal field extending northeastward from Coalgate to McAlester and 

thence eastward through Wilburton and Howe to the Oklahoma-Arkansas State 

line. The geologists have prepared separate reports on the areas for which 

they were responsible. However, as these areas are adjacent and form a real 

unit both geographically and geologically, the four reports are issued as parts 

of a single bulletin covering this portion of the southeastern Oklahoma coal 

field. No edition of the consolidated volume will be published, but the four 

parts can be bound together if desired.

ii
CONTENTS

Pag«

Abstract___ _._____-__._______-----_-___-___-__________----___-._ 151

Introduction._-__-______--_-_____---_-_---___--___________________ 152

Field work__..____________-_____-_-___---_._-_-_____-___-______ 153

Acknowledgments.. __________--_--__-_______-_-_-__-____._-________ 154

Geography__ __--_____-_-_-_-_-_---_-_-_____-_-._-__-___---..____ 155

Topography and drainage __________________________________ 155

Climate and vegetation___-___-__-_-_-___-_-_____-__-_____.___ 156

Culture____.-.-__._.-.-_._-.____.____.._...__.. 156

Stratigraphy-._----_-_--__------_--------_____-________--__-_-_.__ 157

General features.___-__..--.-------_---_----___.-.-_-_.__.___.. 157

Carboniferous system_______-_-_-_-_-_-_____-___-_-_-___.-____- 15&

Pennsylvanian series---_-_-_---_-_-___-_-_____-___-________ 158

McAlester shale__-_-------_-_-_---_-__--_-_-_-_-.-____ 15&

Savanna sandstone___________________________________ 158-

Boggy shale______-_-_____-_-_--_-____-_-_--____-____ 1601

Thurman sandstone_ ......................L.......... 16ft

Stuart shale_______---_-___-__--___-.__--__-_-_.___- 167

Seriora formation..-.------_-_-_____-_-_-_-----_-______ 167

Quaternary (?) system__-____-----__._-__.__-__.__-_-___-_-____ 168

Gerty sand and terrace sands.______________________________ J68

Quaternary system.___________________________________________ 1691

Recent alluvium______-___--__-_---___-_____-___-________ 169>

Invertebrate paleontology of the Carboniferous formations, by James Steele

Williams..-------------------------------------_---_----_--_.-- 160

General features_____________________________________________ 169

Collections from the Savanna sandstone._________________________ ' 171

Collections from the Boggy shale________._______________________ 173

Collections from the Thurman sandstone.________________________ 178

Collections from the Stuart shale.______-_____-.__._____.___-._.. 180

Comparisons of faunas.__--------__------------_----------_---- 182

Stratigraphic range of significant species -.-____.__________..___ 184

Age assignment and correlations ______________________________ 187

Register of localities.__________________________________________ 189

Structure___-._-_____-__________-_____-________-___-__..-________ 192

Coal..-..--.-----------------.------..------.----.---.-.-.-.---.- 196

General features.._____________________________________________ 196

Township descriptions_________-_______-._-_______-___.-.-.__. 196

T. 8 N., R. 18 E._.______________________________________ 196

T. 8 N., R. 17 E..___._._..._.._-.-_...--.. -..--.__- 197

Part of T. 7 N., R. 18 E..._________________________________ 199

T. 7 N., R. 17 £._...---....__......_._.... .._.._.._.... 199

Part of T. 6 N., R. 17 E___.__............_..._........_..._ 199

T. 7 N., R. 16 E._._.._...________________________________ 199-

Part of T. 6 N., R. 16 E......_..........__._._........._.. 200

T. 7 N., R. 15 E..._..-..._.______________________________ 200

Part of T. 6 N., R. 15 E... ................................ 200

Physical and chemical characteristics___________________-_____.-_ 201

in
1V CONTENTS

Page

Oil and gas possibilities and stratigraphy and structure of rocks not exposed, by H. E. Rothrock._______________________________________ 205

History of drilling.____________________________________________ 205

Stratigraphy of rocks not exposed_____-____:.-__---_-____.__-__ 208

General feature8-___-__-_-___----_-_---______-_____________ 208

McAlester shale.__---__-___-.__-_.__-_-______--_-___...____ 210

Hartshorne 8andstone-____-___-__________-___--____________ 211

Atoka formation..________________________________________ 212

Formations older than the Atoka.______-_-_______________^__ 213

Structure of rocks not exposed.______--__--___-___--_-__________ 214

General features_________________________________________ 214

Effect of convergence..____________________________________ 214

Gas fields on the Kinta anticline______________________________ 215

Location, discovery, and development....____________________ 215

Producing sands-__--__----_-----------_--_-_.,___--_---_-__ 218

Gas production____-__-_______-.__--__-__.-_______._..__. 219

Gas pressure..--..-......----------------------- ------- 221

Structure of rocks not exposed.___________..__.._-._________ 221

Drilling practice__________________________________________ 222

Quinton gas field._________________________________________ 223

Carney gas field...________________________________________ 232

Blocker-Featherston gas field______________________________ 238

Additional oil and gas possibilities on the Kinta anticline______ 242

Burning Springs anticline_______________________________________ 243

Flowery Mound anticline...____________________________________ 245

Lake McAlester anticline______________________________________. 246

Lilypad Creek anticline._______________________________________ 246

Terrace northeast of the town of Canadian________-___--__-____._ 247

Summary of structural relations.________________________________ 249

Index__________________________________________ 251

ILLUSTRATIONS

PLATE 12. Geologic map of the Quinton-Scipio district, Pittsburg, Haskell,

and Latimer Counties, Okla__ ___________________ In pocket

13. Map showing geologic structure of the Quinton-Scipio

district, Pittsburg, Haskell, and Latimer Counties, Okla__ In pocket

14. Columnar sections of rocks exposed from T. 6 N., R. 12 E., to

T. 7 N., R. 18E________-_-_____-___-___-_-_-----__---_ 160

15. Columnar sections of rocks exposed from T. 7 N., R. 13 E., to

T. 7 N., R. 18E_________________________.. _._____.._ 160

16. Columnar sections of rocks exposed from T. 7 N., R. 13 E., to

T. 8N., R. 18E___________________--__-----_---------- 160

17. A, Rolled mass of sandstone in the Boggy shale; B, Contorted

bede of sandstone in the Boggy shale_____ ._.-_-_----- 168

18. A, Ridge capped by Thurman sandstone; B, Sandstone beds Of

abnormal thickness and dip in the Boggy shale____________ 168

19. A, Secor coal bed; B, Sandy shale and sandstone in the Boggy

shale overlying the Secor coal bed._______________________ 168
CONTENTS V

Page 

PLATE 20. Correlation of drillers' logs of wells in the southern part of the

Quinton-Scipio district__--____.-_____________---_.____ 212

21. Map of the Quinton gas field._______________________ 228

22. North-south cross sections of drillers' logs of wells in the Quinton gas field showing a pre-McAlester post-Hartshorne fault. 228

23. Map of the Carney gas field.______________________________ 234

24. Cross sections of drillers' logs of wells in the Carney gas field

showing a pre-Savanna post-Hartshorne fault_____________ 234

25. A, Meter and regulator station in the Carney gas field; B,

Typical gas well in the Carney field.____________________. 234

26. Map of the Blocker-Featherston gas field__________________ 240

FIGURE 8. Outline map of Oklahoma showing location of Quinton-Scipio

and other districts ________________________ ; __. 153

9. Measured sections of the Secor coal __________________ 198

10. Graph showing the relation between cumulative gas yield and

reservoir and well-head pressures in the Quinton gas field. _ 229

11. Graph showing the relation between cumulative gas yield and 

numerical-average well-head pressures in the Carney gas 

field____.-..___.__.._._-__-___.________-_______._- 236

GEOLOGY AND FUEL RESOUKCES OF THE SOUTHEBN 

PART OF THE OKLAHOMA COAL FIELD

PART 3. THE QUINTON-SCIPIO DISTRICT, PITTSBURG, 

HASKELL, AND LATIMER COUNTIES

By C. H. DANE, H. E. ROTHROCK, and JAMES STEELE WILLIAMS

ABSTRACT

The Quinton-Scipio district includes about 450 square miles, mostly in Pittsburg 

County but partly in Haskell a'nd Latimer Counties, Okla. The stratified rocks 

exposed at the surface in the district are the McAlester, Savanna, Boggy, Thurman, Stuart, and Senora formations, of Pennsylvanian age, and consist of alternating beds of shale and sandstone with some coal beds and a few beds of limestone 

less than 1 foot thick. The total thickness of these formations exposed in the 

district is between 3,000 and 3,300 feet. There are probably unconformities at 

the base of the Savanna sandstone and at the base of the Thurman sandstone. 

Overlying the Pennsylvanian formations in parts of the district are unconsolidated 

sand, gravel, and clay, which in part belong to the Gerty sand, a deposit in an 

abandoned Quaternary (?) river channel. Other unconsolidated deposits include 

sand on stream terraces and Recent alluvium.

The southeastern part of the district is crossed by the Enterprise, Kinta, 

Burning Springs, Flowery Mound, and Lake McAlester anticlines, which trend 

east-northeastward, roughly parallel to the northern front of the Ouachita Mountains, which lie to the south. Broad shallow synclines lie between these anticlines. 

The Lilypad Creek anticline trends slightly east of north across the western part 

of the district.

Coal has been mined intermittently in the district since 1902, but only a small 

amount for local use is now produced. There are several coal beds in the lower 

part of the Boggy shale, but only the Secor coal, which lies 450 to 500 feet above 

the base of that formation, has been mined on a commercial scale. This bed is 

from 2 to 3 feet thick and is a bituminous coal of good quality.

Nearly 200 wells have been drilled in the district in the search for oil and gas, 

and gas has been produced from fields on the Kinta anticline since 1915. Many 

of the wells have penetrated the McAlester shale, which is 800 feet thick in the 

northern part of the district and more than 2,000 feet thick at one locality in the 

southern part. Many of the wells also have penetrated the underlying Hartshorne 

sandstone and the upper part of the Atoka formation. The Hartshorne sandstone 

is thin in the northern part of the district but averages more than 250 feet thick 

on parts of the Kinta anticline. The Atoka formation and the underlying Morrow 

formation, also of Pennsylvanian age, have been penetrated by only two wells, 

both in the northern part of the district, one of which has been drilled through 

the older Paleozoic rocks to limestone of Ordovician age. The Pennsylvanian

151
152 SOUTHERN PART OF OKLAHOMA COAL FIELD

formations thin over the anticlines, suggesting recurrent movement on them 

during the deposition of the rocks. The interval between the base of the 

McAlester shale and the top of the Morrow formation is estimated to thin at a 

rate of 130 feet to the mile in a direction N. 50° W. across the district.

Structure contours on the Upper Hartshorne coal, near the base of the McAlester 

shale, show that it has been folded into anticlines and synclines, the axes of which 

coincide approximately with those in the surface rocks, although the dips of the 

anticlinal flanks are steeper than in the surface rocks. The northwestward 

thinning of the lower Pennsylvanian rocks may result in the upward disappearance 

or reduction in size of these anticlines in the basal Pennsylvanian or pre-Pennsylvanian rocks and a westward shift of their crests.

The Quinton, Carney, and Blocker-Featherston fields, on the Kinta anticline, 

together yielded from the Hartshorne sandstone more than 60 billion cubic feet 

of dry high-methane gas to January 1934, and contain more than 60 billion feet in 

reserve. Marketable quantities of gas have also been developed in sees. 26 and 

32, T. 9 N., R. 16 E., and in sec. 5, T. 8 N., R. 16 E., from beds in the Boggy, 

McAlester, and Hartshorne formations. The oil or gas possibilities of the underlying rocks have not been adequately tested.

INTRODUCTION

As one of the projects made possible by an allotment of funds from 

the Public Works Administration and carried out under the supervision of the Geological Survey, the Quinton-Scipio district, in southeastern Oklahoma (see fig. 8), was mapped geologically in the spring 

and early summer of 1934. The area is of economic importance 

because of existing gas fields, reserves of coal, and the presence of 

structure in the surface rocks which suggests the possibility that 

additional supplies of gas or oil may be developed. Geologically the 

project was of additional value because of the need of determining 

by detailed mapping the relations of the rocks of Carboniferous age 

exposed at the surface. These rocks dip generally northwestward, 

and farther north and west large amounts of oil and gas have been 

obtained from them.

The rocks in much of this region consist almost exclusively of alternating sandstones and shales of rather uniform lithologic aspect. 

The sandstones are lenticular. Although the rocks are chiefly of 

types which suggest deposition in a shallow-water environment, it has 

long been known that the sediments were laid down in a geosynclinal 

trough, the long-continuing subsidence of which permitted the accumulation of many thousands of feet of sediments along the axial portion. 

The thickness of these sedimentary rocks diminishes toward the northwest, and the rocks include lesser proportions of sandstone and relatively 2T6ater proportions of the finer-grained rocks, such as shale and 

limestone. For various reasons the patatologic knowledge of the 

beds has not yet reached the stage of development at which the fossils 

contained in them are completely reliable guides to correlation. There 

has long been need of systematic, detailed areal mapping of large areas 

in Oklahoma underlain by Carboniferous rocks and extending from
QUINTON-SCIPIO DISTRICT 153

the region of the Ouachita Mountains into the oil-producing areas 

farther north in eastern Oklahoma. Mapping of this type has previously been done in the McAlester district,1 the Muskogee-Porum 

district,2 and the Howe-Wilburton district.3 This report represents 

an additional area of such mapping, extending northward from latitude 35°, the north boundary of the McAlester district, to the Canadian River, and eastward from R. 13 E. to R. 18 E. The area 

includes about 450 square miles lying very largely in northern Pittsburg County but including, in the northeast corner, 18 square miles of 

Haskell County, and, in the southeastern part, 6 square miles in 

Latimer County. (See fig. 8.)

FIGURE 8. Outline map of Oklahoma showing location of Quinton-Scipio and other districts. 1, Lehigh 

district; 2, McAlester district; 3, Howe-Wilburton district; 4, Quinton-Scipio district.

FIELD WORK

Mapping was begun in the later part of March 1934 and continued 

until the end of July by a party under the supervision of C. H. Dane. 

Carl Anderson, H. E. Rothrock, and James Steele Williams served as 

geologists, and Walton Christian, Raymond Hart, and L. M. Wilshire 

as instrument men. Robert Roth was also with the party for a few 

days as instrument man. During most of August 1934 H. E. Rothrock

' Hendricks, T. A., Geology and Tuel resources of the southern part of the Oklahoma coal field, Part 1, 

The McAlester district: Geol. Survey Bull. 874-A, 1937.

1 Wilson, C. W., Jr., Geology ol the Muskogee-Porum district, Muskogee and Mclntosh Counties, Okla.: 

Oklahoma Geol. Survey Bull. 57, 1937.

s Hendricks, T. A., Geology and fuel resources of the southern part of the Oklahoma coal field, Part 4, 

The Howe-Wilburton district: Geol. Survey Bull. 874-D (in preparation).
154 SOUTHERN PART OF OKLAHOMA COAL FIELD

obtained many of the subsurface data included in this report, and 

during part of February 1935 he obtained additional subsurface data 

and checked some of the previous surface mapping.

Mapping was done by stadia traverse on a scale of 2 inches to 

1 mile. The area lies in the southern part of the Canadian quadrangle 

and the southwestern part of the Sans Bois quadrangle, mapped on a 

scale of 1:125,000 by the Geological Survey. The region has been 

surveyed by the General Land Office, and the topographic maps give 

altitudes to the nearest foot at all township corners. Some of the 

benchmarks are still in place, and the location of some now missing 

can be closely determined, so that a very good control is afforded for 

checking altitudes. Some check altitudes were also obtained through 

the courtesy of the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad and the Fort 

Smith & Western Railway. The township plats of the General Land 

Office are accurate and were plotted directly on the plane-table sheets, 

thus affording a good horizontal control for the stadia traverse. Because of the nature of the terrane and the locally thick woodland, it 

was necessary, in some places, to take long shots with the rod held in 

tree tops, in order to obtain altitudes on key beds that could not have 

been otherwise obtained except at prohibitive cost of time. The 

mapped locations of such points may be considerably in error, but, 

because of the generally low angles on such shots, the altitudes obtained are sufficiently accurate for the purpose for which they were 

needed.

The compilation of the field data and the preparation of the report 

represent office work of all three authors. For the subsurface data 

presented Mr. Rothrock is almost wholly responsible. Mr. Williams 

has contributed the section on the invertebrate paleontology of the 

Carboniferous formations.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

T. A. Hendricks, of the Geological Survey, spent a few days with 

the party at the beginning of the field season, acquainting them with 

the nature and distribution of the Carboniferous and Quaternary (?)

formations of the adjoining McAlester district. W. W. Fleming, of 

the McAlester office of the conservation branch of the Geological 

Survey, placed the facilities of his office at the disposal of the writers. 

Information concerning the mining of coal in the district was contributed by many residents of the district, but special thanks are due 

to Mr. Charles Glenn, of Quinton, and Mr. Robert Lee, of Blocker. 

The collection of drilling records was aided by the cordial cooperation of the oil and gas operators of the district, and the collection of

data on the production of gas was greatly aided by the cooperation of 

the Corporation Commission of the State of Oklahoma. Special 

thanks are due to the management and personnel of the Utilities
QUINTON-SCIPIO DISTRICT 155

Production Corporation and the Oklahoma Natural Gas Co. for 

information concerning the gas fields in the vicinity of Quinton. The 

Laughlin-Simmons Co., of Tulsa, and the McAlester Engineering Co., 

of McAlester, generously furnished a considerable number of altitudes 

of wells which otherwise could not have been obtained. The authors 

are grateful to Messrs. L. P. Coblentz and E. I. Streich, of Quinton, 

for personal observations and historical information regarding the 

Quinton fields. Helpful data were furnished by Messrs. James O. 

Lewis and Harry F. Wright, of Tulsa, and constructive criticism of 

the methods of computing gas reserves of the fields of the district was 

given by Mr. Eugene A. Stephenson, of Holla, Mo.

GEOGRAPHY

TOPOGRAPHY AND DRAINAGE

Most of the Quinton-Scipio area is hilly. The land forms have been 

produced by the action of erosion on alternating beds of more resistant 

sandstone and less resistant shale, although the major streams pursue 

courses that are indifferent to the attitude and distribution of the 

beds. The hills represent residual masses consisting of or capped by 

more resistant rock that has not yielded readily to erosion. Some of 

them are broadly flat-topped and isolated; but more typically, where 

their capping bed of resistant sandstone dips gently, they have a 

steep frontal escarpment and a top that slopes gently downward 

toward the base of the escarpment produced by the next overlying 

sandstone bed.

The maximum relief in the area is more than 900 feet. The easternmost point on the Canadian River along the north margin of the area 

lies at an altitude of less than 550 feet above sea level. The highest 

point is the top of Panther Mountain, hi sec. 24, T. 7 N., R. 18 E., 

which is slightly higher than 1,470 feet. Two points along the east 

line of T. 8 N., R. 18 E., have altitudes of 1,250 feet, and in the 

southwestern part of that township the hills reach an altitude of 

nearly 1,100 feet. In the western two-thirds of the area mapped the 

relief does not much exceed 400 feet.

The Quinton-Scipio district is drained by numerous streams. The 

Canadian River, which forms the northern boundary of the district, 

heads far to the west, in the southern Rocky Mountains in New 

Mexico, and about 30 miles to the northeast of the eastern end shown 

on the map it empties into the Arkansas River. In the northwestern 

part of the area the Canadian receives the tributary flow of Choctaw 

and Scipio Creeks, but only one other stream of importance enters it 

from the south. This is Gaines Creek, which flows from south to 

north across the central part of the area, receiving as tributaries from 

the west Coal Creek and Rock Creek and from the east Ash Creek 

and Mathuldy Creek. T. 8 N., Rs. 17 and 18 E., is drained by Long*
156 SOUTHERN PART OF OKLAHOMA COAL FIELD

town Creek and its tributaries. Longtown Creek flows from east to 

west in its upper course but turns northward and thence eastward 

and northeastward in the northwestern part of T. 8 N., R. 17 E., and 

eventually empties into the Canadian River. The southeastern part 

of the area is drained eastward by Sans Bois Creek, which joins the 

Arkansas River. Lake McAlester, in the southern part of T. 7 N., 

R. 14 E., and northern part of T. 6 N., R. 14 E., is a large and attractive body of water, with a deeply indented shore line, formed by the 

damming of Bull Creek, a tributary of Coal Creek.

The larger streams of the area flow in all seasons, although the flow 

is only slight in the dry summer months. During wet seasons these 

streams frequently overflow their banks and spread widely over their 

alluvial plains. The alluvial plain of Gaines Creek at places is more 

than 2 miles wide, although it enters the Canadian River through a 

narrow defile. The Canadian River itself flows in a wide alluvial 

plain, but the lateral swinging of the meandering stream has locally 

cut away most or all of the alluvium on the south side of the river. 

At 25 to 80 feet above the level of the alluvium of the Canadian 

River there are extensive gently sloping terrace surfaces, notably west 

and south of Indianola and west of Canadian. The extent and distribution of these terrace surfaces are not directly related to the present 

drainage in fact, much of their area is now drained southward away 

from the river. Similar nearly level terrace surfaces of smaller extent 

occur in the valleys of Scipio, Gaines, and Longtown Creeks.

The larger streams of the district follow courses that are not directly 

related to the shape, distribution, and inclination of the bedrock; they 

flow in winding or meandering channels that cross the present ridges. 

The smaller streams follow courses developed on the gentle back slopes 

away from the ridge escarpments or run along the foot of the escarpments or between parallel ridges. These smaller streams generally 

flow only in wet seasons or after storms.

CLIMATE AND VEGETATION

The district has hot, dry summers and short, mild winters. The 

average annual rainfall is somewhat more than 40 inches. Rain is 

general and abundant during spring and early summer, but local during July and August, when there is drought in occasional years. The 

uplands of the district are timbered, chiefly with red and white oaks, 

blackjack, elms, hickories, and hackberries. Many of the valley and 

lowland areas have been cleared but originally were timbered with 

water and willow oaks, hickories, willows, and cottonwoods. There

are some areas of natural prairie.

CULTURE

The rural farming population of the district is rather evenly distributed over the entire area, although locally concentrated in such
QUINTON-SCIPIO DISTRICT 157

places as afford the best farm land. The largest town is Quinton, 

which had a population of 1,804 according to the 1930 census. A 

smelter in Quinton, which used gas from the nearby Quinton gas field, 

has not been operating of late years, and coal mining has been of little 

importance, but the town remains the center of operations of the gas 

field and the trading center of a considerable area. Indianola, 

Crowder, and Canadian are the next largest towns in the district, 

but no one of these has a population of more than 400. The city of 

McAlester, a few miles south of the district, has a population of about 

12,000, and Eufaula, a few miles north of the Canadian River, has a 

population of somewhat more than 2,000. The district is served by 

two railroads. The main line of the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad, 

from Texas to St. Louis and Kansas City, runs somewhat east of 

north across the central part of the district, connecting McAlester 

and Eufaula and passing through Crowder and Canadian. The Fort 

Smith & Western Railway, which connects Fort Smith, Ark., and 

Guthrie, Okla., runs southwestward from Quinton through Featherston 

and Blocker and thence northwestward through Crowder and westward through Indianola, crossing the Canadian River a short distance 

to the west. Oklahoma-United States Highway 69 follows the 

Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad northward across the central part 

of the district, and Oklahoma State highways connect Crowder with 

Quinton and places to the east, McAlester with Quinton, Quinton 

with places to the north, and Quinton.with Wilburton, to the south. 

There are many other graded roads, most of which follow section lines, 

but many of the upland areas are accessible only by poor roads or 

trails.

STRATIGRAPHY

GENERAL FEATURES

The rocks exposed at the surface in the Quinton-Scipio district are 

chiefly of Pennsylvanian age, but there are large areas of Recent, 

alluvium, and some terrace deposits may also be of Quaternary age. 

The Pennsylvanian rocks have been subdivided into the following formations, listed in order of age, the oldest first: McAlester shale, 

Savanna sandstone, Boggy shale, Thurman sandstone, Stuart shale, and 

Senora formation. Each of these formations consists of alternating 

beds of sandstone and shale. Within this district only the Boggy shale 

includes beds of coal of commercial value. Some of the shales and 

sandstones are of continental origin, and others are marine. Thin 

marine limestones occur at several horizons in the Boggy shale and 

Savanna sandstone. No marked unconformity in the Pennsylvanian 

rocks can be recognized, but there may be slight unconformities at, 

the base of the Savanna sandstone and at the base of the Thurman 

sandstone. Erosional irregularities are present at the base of many 

of the sandstone beds within the formations, but the individual sand-
158 SOUTHERN PART OF OKLAHOMA COAL FIELD

stone beds are notably lenticular, and the irregularities at their bases 

are of little time significance.

CARBONIFEROUS SYSTEM

PENNSYLVANIA!* SERIES

McALESTER SHALE

The topmost part of the McAlester shale crops out in narrow strips 

bordering the alluvial bottom of Sans Bois Creek in sees. 1, 2, 11, and 

12, T. 7 N., R. 18 E. The McAlester shale was named by Taff 4 from 

the city of McAlester, hi the north-central part of the McAlester 

district. The formation at its type locality has recently been studied, 

mapped, and described in greater detail.5 The McAlester shale has 

not been traced into this district, but there is little doubt that it is 

correctly identified. The shale lies below the base of the overlying 

series of sandstone beds which forms the Savanna sandstone. The 

subsurface data available from the wells drilled in the Quinton gas 

field also show that the base of the Savanna sandstone lies above the 

surface in the area of shale outcrop. Small exposures show that the 

shale is dark, firm, and platy and interbedded with thin fine-grained 

micaceous sandstones.

SAVANNA SANDSTONE

The Savanna sandstone, which was named by Taff 6 from the town 

of Savanna, in the McAlester district, crops out in the southeastern 

part of the Quinton-Scipio district on the crest of the Flowery Mound 

anticline south of Coal Creek and west of Games Creek, on the crest 

of the Burning Springs anticline south of Elm Creek, and along the 

crest of the Kinta anticline south of Sans Bois Creek. It is 550 feet 

thick south of Quinton, the only locality within the oiistrict where the 

underlying McAlester shale is exposed. The nature of the Contact IS 

not determinable at that locality, but hi the McAlester district, to 

the south', the Savanna sandstone rests upon the McAlester shale with 

an irregular contact that is believed to represent an unconformity.7

The Savanna sandstone is extremely variable hi character from place 

to place, owing to the lenticularity and lack of continuity of many of 

the sandstone beds which it contains. On the whole the percentage 

of sandstone hi the formation is greater than that contained in either 

the underlying or the overlying unit, but probably in most places 

within the district less than half of the total bulk of the formation is 

sandstone, most of the remainder consisting Of blocky greenish-yellow, 

drab, or gray clay with small ellipsoidal concretions of siderite, and

' Taff, J. A., Geology of the McAlester-Lehigh coal field, Indian Territory: U. S. Oeol. Survey 19th 

Ann. Kept., pt. 3, p. 441,1899.

1 Hendricks, T. A., Geology and fuel resources of the southern part of the Oklahoma coal field, Part 1, 

The McAlester district: Geol. Survey Bull. 874-A, pp. 13-16,1936. 

 Taff, J. A., op. cit., p. 438.

* Hendricks, T. A., op. cit., pp. 16-17.
QUINTON-SCIPIO DISTRICT 159

of sandy micaceous clay, gray or black bedded shale, and carbonaceous 

shale. There are several coal beds in the Savanna sandstone in the 

McAlester district,8 but no minable coal was observed in the formation 

hi the Quinton-Scipio district. A sandstone bed as much as 50 feet 

thick was seen at one place, but elsewhere the sandstones do not much 

exceed 20 feet in thickness, and most of them are much thinner. The 

thicker and more lenticular beds occur chiefly in the upper part of the 

formation. The thick sandstone beds of the Savanna are massive or 

strongly cross-bedded, gray, yellow, or white, fine- to coarse-grained or 

even gritty. The coarser-grained sandstones in places carry numerous 

grains of white chert, but normally quartz is the chief constituent. 

The thick sandstones may have erosional irregularities at the base, 

and on the whole their characteristics are those of stream-channel 

fillings.

Many of the sandstone beds of the Savanna are only a foot or so 

in thickness, and these may be massive, platy, or thin-bedded, and 

several such sandstones may be interbedded with approximately equal 

thicknesses of bedded micaceous shales. Some of the sandstone beds 

of this type contain numerous casts of marine or brackish-water 

fossils, but others contain broken fragments of plant material.

In the shales and sandy shales of the Savanna formation there are 

at many places irregularly ellipsoidal masses of sandstone, ranging in 

diameter from a few inches to several feet. These masses in the simplest forms are made up of concentric sheets which are the bedding 

layers of the sandstone. The bedding is shown by gradual variation 

in gram- size, alternation of fine and coarse layers, and most convincingly by mica flakes and plant fragments that follow the now curving 

surfaces between concentric sheets. In more complex forms the original bedding is minutely contorted or even destroyed, and the shapes 

of the masses are irregular. In a few places sandstone beds in the 

formation consist chiefly of a succession of large masses of this kind. 

Most of these sandstone lumps and masses probably represent the 

results of movement during an early stage of compaction of the 

sediments, when the sandy portion of the sediments had attained a 

strength and coherence greater than that of the interbedded highly 

plastic muds and yet was soft enough to deform without extensive 

fracturing. The ellipsoidal shape of the masses of sandstone may 

have developed during the rolling of small lenses of more coherent 

sandstone in a matrix of plastic mud because of some lateral movement 

in the unconsolidated material.

At several localities in the eastern part of T. 7 N., R. 17 E., the 

northern part of T. 7 N., R. 18 E., and the southeast corner of T. 8 

N., R. 18 E., there are outcrops of thin fossiliferous limestone beds 

at horizons from 150 to 1.80 feet below the top of the Savanna sand-

.' Hendricks, T. A., op. cit., p. 19j>
1(50 SOUTHERN PART OF OKLAHOMA COAL FIELD

stone. Although tracing of these beds was not accomplished, there is 

a strong suggestion that the outcrops represent a definite zone of 

marine limestone beds, although individual beds may not be continuous. Near the center of the south line of sec. 36, T. 8 N., R. 18 E., 

the following section, which contains the thickest limestone bed 

observed in the Savanna, is exposed:

Section near south quarter corner of sec. 86, T. 8 N., R. 18 E.

Ft. in. 

Shale, with light yellow-brown concretions.__________ _____ 2+

Limestone, shaly, exceedingly f ossiliferous________________ 10

Coal_________________________________________________ 2

Clay,light gray___.___________________________________ 1 6

Shale, dark gray, bedded,______________________________ 3

Limestone, very fossiliferous.___________________________ 1 6

Sandstone, light tan, medium-grained.___________________ 7

Shale, gray, bedded.

A limestone bed 8 inches thick, sandy in the lower part, overlain 

by drab shale, and resting on a sandstone bed, was observed at several localities in sees. 9 and 10, T. 6 N., R. 17 E., at a horizon about 

300 feet below the top of the Savanna, and thin limestone beds are 

probably present at other horizons within the formation.

BOGGY SHALE

The Boggy shale crops out over a larger area than any other formation in the Quinton-Scipio district, extending northeastward in a 

belt ranging from 8 to 15 miles in width. The outcrop is continuous 

with that of the McAlester district on the south, and that in turn is 

continuous with the outcrop at the type locality, from which the formation was named by Taff,9 the branches of Boggy Creek immediately 

southwest of the McAlester district.

The aggregate thickness of the Boggy shale in the Quinton-Scipio

district, as determined by the summation of numerous partial sections, 

ranges from 1,700 to 1,900 feet. Because the partial sections are

widely spaced and because the formation from other evidence is.

known to change in thickness laterally, the thickness obtained by the 

method used is only of general value. The partial sections indicate 

the probability that the formation is thickest in the northern part of 

T. 6 N., Rs. 15 and 16 E..

The formation is predominantly shale but contains a variable number of sandstone beds or zones in which sandstone is equal to or predominant over shale in thickness. These zones of sandstone are as. 

much as 100 feet thick. Where the dips are relatively steep, as in. 

the southern part of the area of exposure, the thicker sandstone beds, 

and such sandstones as are separated by thick shale intervals make

 Taff, J. A., Geology of the McAlester-Lehigb coal field, Indian Territory: Oeol. Survey 19th Ann. Kept.* 

pt. 3, p. 438. 1899.
GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

WEST

Northwestern part of

T 6 N , R 13 E

and 

Northeastern part of

T 6 N , R 12 E

SENORA FORMATION

BULLETIN 871 PLATE 14 

EAST

STUART SHALt

EXPLANATION

f 1

Red shale Limestone

THURMAN SANDSTONE

Northeastern part of Northwestern part of 

T 6 N . R 13 E T 6 N , R 14 E

Northeastern part of 

T 6 N , R 14 E

Northwestern part of

T 6N,R 15 E,arid

southwest flank of

Flowery Mound anticline

BOGGr" SHALE

,4B

.40 

,4E

4C

4B

Northeastern part of 

T 6N,R 15 E,and

north flank of 

Flowery Mound anticline

4A Sec 12 

T 6 N , R 15 E

Southern part of

T 7N,R 16 c,and

northern part of

T 6 N , R 16 E

Seoor coal

BOGGY SHALE

3D

T 6N,R 17 E T, 7 N, R 18 E

SAVANNA SANDSTONE

Secor cgai

BOGGY SHALE

SAVANNA SANDSTONE

100 500 Feet

5 Mites

MCALESTER SHALE

COLUMNAR SECT[ONS OF ROCKS EXPOSED FROM T 6 N , R 12 E., TO T. 7 N., R. 18 E.
GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

WEST

T 7N,R 13 E

SENORA FORMATION

Western third ot 

T 7N,R 14 E

STUART SHALE

THURMAN SANDblONE

BOGGY 

SHALE

-4E,

Eastern two-thirds of 

T /N.R HE

EXPLANATION

100 o 100

T 7N,R 15 E

Northern part of 

T 7N,R 16 E

liOLLETIN 871 PLATE 15 

EAST

T 7N,R 17 E

oecor coal

i_____i_____u 5 Miles

T 7 N, R 18 E.

3A

SAVANNA SANDSTONE

MCALESTER SHALE

COLUMNAR SECTIONS OF ROCKS EXPOSED FROM T 7 N., It 13 E , TO T.J7 N., R 18 E.
GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

WEST

T. 7 N., R. 13 E.

SENORA FORMATION

STUART SHALE

THURMAN SANDSTONE

BOGGY SHALE

T. 8 N., R. 14 E.

100 0 100

1 0 1

T.8N..R. 15 E. T. 8 N.. R. 16 E.

500 Feet

5 Miles

COLUMNAR SECTIONS OF ROCKS EXPOSED FROM T. 7 N., R. 13 E., TO T. 8 N., R. 18 E.

BULLETIN 874 PLATE 16 

EAST

EXPLANATION

Sandstone Shale Red shale Limestone Coal

T.8N..R. 17 L.

Western part of 

T. 8 N., R. 18 E.

3A

Secor coal

Eastern part of 

T. 8 N.. R. 18 E.

*>:*! 3A

BOGGY SHALE

SAVANNA SANDSTONE
QUINTON-SCIPIO DISTRICT

topographic ridges that are traceable with some degree of assurance 

over most of the district. Where the dips are gentle the degree of 

exposure is not sufficiently good to permit the tracing of individual 

beds for more than short distances. Accordingly an attempt has 

been made to show on the areal map (pi. 12) the extent and persistence of zones within the Boggy in which sandstone makes up the predominant or conspicuous part of the section. The base of these 

zones has been shown on the map by a solid line; the top by a dashed 

line. No attempt has been made to differentiate the precisely located 

contacts from those which are inferred. On the diagrams showing 

the correlation of the generalized sections of exposed rocks (pis. 14, 

15, and 16), the solid correlation lines represent the bases of sandstone 

zones as they are shown on the areal map and the dashed correlation 

lines represent the tops of the sandstone zones. The continuity of 

the sandstone zones thus shown on the areal map and sections is 

based on the compilation and comparison of a great number of partial 

sections measured and computed from altitudes on traceable sandstone beds. The columnar sections are much generalized from numerous partial sections. The lines shown on both the areal map and 

the cross-section diagrams are in many places known to be not the 

bases or tops of continuous beds of sandstone, but represent merely 

the approximate position of the bottom or top of indefinite zones in 

which sandstone makes the conspicuous part of the section. In most 

places, however, the basal line of a zone represents the approximate 

location of the basal contact of a traceable bed of sandstone. In 

addition, it must be remembered that the columnar sections shown on 

the diagrams are much generalized from a much greater number of 

local sections and show only to a small degree the true variability of 

the sandstones. The lenticularity of the individual beds is well established by field observation, and individual lenses may reach 20 feet 

or more in thickness but do not have great lateral extent. Examples 

of the fusion of two or more beds to form a single thicker bed are also 

common. Lateral changes in lithology of the individual beds from 

thin-bedded and even shaly sandstones to massive and cross-bedded 

sandstones or to sandstones that exhibit contorted or deformed bedd,ing are the rule rather than the exception.

The Boggy shale is believed to overlie the Savanna sandstone 

conformably, although no exposures of the contact were observed. 

Hendricks 10 has reported that a coal bed occurs about 20 feet above 

the base of the Boggy in the McAlester district. Coal at about this 

horizon is reported to crop out in the bed of Jones Creek in the NW^ 

sec. 7, T. 6 N., R. 17 E., and to have been encountered in a well 

drilled scfuth of the creek. In the NEtf sec. 35, T. 9 N., R. 18 E., a 

short distance northeast of the mapped area, are outcrops of velvety

10 Hendricks, T. A., op. cit., p. 23. 

149779-^-88 2
IQ2 SOUTHERN PART OF OKLAHOMA COAL FIELD

black pyritic shale with several beds of coal, none of which exceed 

6 inches in thickness. These outcrops are believed to represent the 

coal zone near the base of the Boggy shale, as the top of the Savanna 

sandstone crops out a short distance below and to the east of them.

The lower 200 to 300 feet of the Boggy shale is predominantly 

dark-gray to black, evenly bedded shale with only local thin-bedded 

sandstones. Above this lies a zone of sandstone and shale 100 to 150 

feet thick, which contains a workable coal bed at places in the southern 

part of T. 7 N., R. 16 E., in sees. 1 and 2, T. 6 N., R. 16 E., and in 

sec. 6, T. 6 N., R. 17 E. This sandstone zone is extensively exposed 

in the east-central part of T. 8 N., R. 17 E.; and the northwestern 

part of T. 8 N., R. 18 E.

From 50 to 125 feet above this lowest sandstone zone of the Boggy 

and 450 to 500 feet above the top of the Savanna sandstone is a 

minable coal bed, the Secor coal (pi. 19, A), which crops out extensively in the southeastern third of the Quinton-Scipio district and 

has been worked on a small scale at a great number of localities, both 

by stripping and by tunneling operations. At most places the coal, 

which is normally about 2 feet thick, is underlain by gray clay and 

overlain by black shale, locally limy, which contains invertebrate 

fossils. This dark shale grades upward through sandy shales into a 

bedded sandstone 5 to 10 feet thick (pi. 19, B}. The base of the sandstone is vague but generally lies 15 to 25 feet above the coal. Resting 

directly upon the top of the sandstone or at most a few feet above it 

a thin coal bed has been found at a considerable number of localities. 

A coal bed 200 feet higher than the Secor coal crops out at several 

localities in T. 8 N., R. 17 E. In the NW% sec. 27 of that township 

it is reported to be 22 inches thick and to have been dug for local use. 

Overlying the coal or a few inches above it is a bed of yellow limestone 

4 to 6 inches thick, which is very fossiliferous. Coal at this horizon 

has also been dug in the NW% sec. 6, T. 8 N., R. 18 E. At one 

locality a little farther east in that section and probably 170 feet 

above the Secor coal, a poorly bedded to massive gray limestone 6 

to 8 inches thick, weathering yellow, crops out. This is also very 

fossiliferous. It is overlain and underlain by black thin-bedded shale. 

In the NE}£ sec. 36, T. 7 N., R. 15 E., in the bluff on the east bank 

of Coal Creek, a coal bed is exposed which is about 240 feet higher 

than the Secor coal. This coal bed is from 9 to 12 inches thick and 

is capped by a sandstone bed 6 to 12 inches thick, which in turn is 

overlain by a limestone bed from 3 to 12 inches thick. At 25 feet 

higher stratigraphically is another coal bed, 9 inches thick, which is

both underlain and overlain by black fissile shale, A thin coal bed

overlain by limestone is reported to be present at about this horizon 

in sec. 7, T. 6 N., R. 16 E.

A more detailed description of the nature, distribution, and mining 

of the Secor coal is given on pages 196-204.
QUINTON-SCIPIO DISTRICT 163

In Tps. 6 and 7 N., R. 13 E., and in the western part of T. 7 N., 

R. 14 E., blocky red clays and greenish sandy clays occur at several 

horizons in the upper part of the Boggy shale, where they are associated with white cross-bedded and irregularly bedded sandstone. 

 Clays of this type are also found in the overlying Thurman sandstone, 

to the west, and have been described as occurring in the Boggy shale 

and underlying Savanna sandstone in the western part of the McAlester district. 11

At certain localities within the outcrop area of the Boggy shale the 

rocks display abnormally steep and eccentric dips and include unusually 

great thicknesses of sandstone that are not duplicated along the strike 

of the beds. For the origin of these features no wholly satisfactory 

hypothesis has yet been advanced, but in spite of the fact that they 

may affect areas of as much as 80 acres and present an apparent 

stratigraphic section of hundreds of feet, they have been ignored in 

compiling the structure-contour map of the district, because it is 

believed that they do not represent the results of diastrophic movements but are rather depositional features of some sort or more 

probably deformational features formed prior to the consolidation 

of the beds. To give some idea of the nature of these peculiar features, the area in the vicinity of the Rainbow Girls' Camp, south of 

Lake McAlester, including portions of sees. 3, 4, 9, and 10, T. 6 N., 

R. 15 E., will be briefly described.

The regional dip in the vicinity is about 3° SE., as shown on the 

structure-contour map, and probably normally does not exceed 5° or 

6° at individual outcrops. On the road up the hill to the Rainbow 

Girls' Camp, nearly on the line between sees. 3 and 4, the road ditches 

expose a thickness of perhaps 25 feet of gray bedded shale and sandy 

shale, without abnormally steep bedding. In the overlying 10 feet of 

shale exposed, the dip increases gradually but somewhat erratically 

from 10° SW. to 25° or 30° S. Exposures immediately above are 

obscure, but at a level 5 feet higher are encountered shattered masses 

of sandstone that extend upward into sandstone with contorted bedding of the type previously described as due to movement in the partly 

consolidated sediments. Above this lie the massive sandstone ledges 

which form the escarpment rim below the camp. These ledges, 5, 10, 

15, or more feet in thickness, dip southward in succession (pi. 18, J5). 

Along the steep front of the escarpment the ledges slant diagonally 

down the slope but appear to terminate abruptly. Beneath the 

sandstone ledges lie shales that have a gentle southward dip.

On the more gentle southward slope south of the camp many more 

sandstone ledges crop out along a small creek for a distance of about 

1,500 feet southward from the run. Variable in lithologic details 

and from 2 to 10 feet thick, these ledges all dip 15°-25° S. The most

11 Hendricks, T. A., op. clt., pp. 18-19, 23.
SOUTHERN PART OF OKLAHOMA COAL FIELD

southerly sandstone is a very massive one, which does not show enough 

bedding to determine the dip but appears to have a somewhat wavy 

under surface. The south face of this sandstone ledge abuts sharply 

against shale, and there is a suggestion of slickensiding on the sandstone. The shale has a dip of 20° N. at the nearest point to the sandstone at which the dip can be measured. The northward dip diminishes abruptly away from the sandstone, and 50 feet to the south the 

shale appears to dip southward beneath an overlying thin sandstone 

bed which also dips southward at about the normal regional angle.

Among numerous other localities at which there are much-disturbed 

sandstone beds are the NW# sec. 12, T. 6 N., R. 14 E.; the SW# 

sec. 19, T. 7 N., R. 15 E., where the sandstones lie within one of the 

shale intervals; the NEM sec. 11, T. 7 N., R. 16 E.; and the SE& 

sec. 34, T. 9 N., R. 16 E.

Peculiar bedding features of another type are well exposed on the 

dugway of the Crowder-Blocker road in the NEK sec. 1, T. 7 N., R. 

15 E. These consist of ellipsoidal sandstone masses 10 to 15 feet or 

more in diameter. Most of them were evidently beds or lenses of 

sandstone, perhaps as much as 5 feet thick. The beds or lenses are 

now bowed down at the center and rolled up at the edges, so that on 

the outside of each individual mass the base of the bed is exposed 

(pi. 17, A}. The beds on the sides of the masses stand vertical or 

are overturned, and at the tops of .the masses the beds may be completely inverted. In several masses the central portions are composed of shale. The external surfaces of the sandstone are smoothed, 

and slickensided where they are in contact with the body of shale in 

which they are embedded, and some of these external surfaces are 

clearly fault contacts that cut off the bedding of the adjoining shale. 

The bottoms of the masses of sandstone are close to the underlying 

sandstone bed, but the bases are not exposed. On the whole it seemsmost probable that these features are the result of movement in the 

partly consolidated materials, in which a sandstone bed or lens was 

able to fold down into the more plastic shale. The under surfaces of 

some of these folded or rolled sandstones exhibit the small bedding 

faults that are found on the bottom surfaces of numerous slabs of the 

Pennsylvanian sandstones where the rocks are essentially horizontal. 

These faults have probably been correctly regarded as depositional1 

or compactional features, and accordingly the folded masses here 

described are younger than the faults.

Even if it is admitted that the formation of these folded masses and 

tKe peculiar arGRS Of enatiG dips previously described is due to movement in materials that had at the time been recently uepOSltfifl, it WJ 

nevertheless be true that the initiating cause of the movement camefrom deeper-lying structural displacements which were taking place 

as the general basin of deposition warped intermittently downward 

to accommodate the influx of sediments. No systematic arrangement.
QUINTON-SCIPIO DISTRICT

or alinement of the features has been discerned, however, and it may 

be that the cause is to be sought wholly in differential compaction, 

local depositional overloading, and subsequent sliding of material to 

less heavily sedimented areas.

THUBMAW SANDSTONE

The Thurman sandstone crops out in a strip a few miles wide extending from the southwest corner of the district through the northwestern part of T. 6 N., R. 13 E. (pi. 18, A), the central part of T. 7 N., 

R. 13 E., and the southeastern part of T. 8 N., R. 13 E., thence extending eastward into the southwestern part of T. 8 N., R. 14 E., and 

covering also a few square miles in the north-central part of T. 7 N., 

R. 14 E. The capping sandstone of the hills in the extreme southern 

part of sec. 12, T. 6 N., R. 14 E., and the southwest corner of sec. 31, 

T. 6 N.,R. 15 E., is also regarded as the basal part of the Thurman 

sandstone. The formation was named by Taff. 12 Although no type 

locality was given, the former village of Thurman, north of the limits 

of mapping in the McAlester-Lehigh coal field, in the NE% sec. 30, 

T. 8. N., R. 14 E., probably provided the name of the formation. As 

the Thurman-Boggy contact is now mapped in the Quinton-Scipio 

district, the village of Thurman may actually have stood upon the 

uppermost beds of the Boggy shale. This is of little consequence, 

for the lithology and limits of the formation as described and mapped 

by Taff can be readily recognized.

The Thurman sandstone in the Quinton-Scipio district is from 290 

to 335 feet thick and consists of alternating beds of sandstone, sandy 

shale, and shale. A basal bed of chert-pebble conglomerate is rather 

widespread. This bed or an equivalent coarse-grained sandstone, as 

mapped in this district, runs into the basal contact as mapped by 

Taff 13 in the adjoining area to the south. Locally in the QuintonScipio district the conglomerate attains a thickness of 10 feet and contains pebbles of white or light-gray weathered chert as much as half 

an inch thick. Elsewhere it may contain only scattered pebbles or 

grit-sized grains of chert, and in some places no pebbles are found. In 

Tps. 6 and 7 N., R. 13 E., although only a minor fraction of the formation as shown in the columnar sections (pis. 14, 15) consists of outcropping sandstone beds that can be traced for distances of half a 

mile or more, much of the concealed intervals undoubtedly consists of 

soft or thin-bedded sandstones and sandy shales, and on the whole the 

sandstone in the formation is believed to equal the shale, if not to predominate over it. The sandstones, like those in the other formations 

of the district, are variable in texture, type of bedding, and thickness, 

and lateral changes in lithology are common. Some contain carbonis Taff, J. A., Geology of the McAlester-Lehigh coal field, Indian Territory: Geol. Survey 19th Ann. Rept., 

pt. 3, p. 439, 1899. 

" Taff, J. A., op. cit., pi. 64.
SOUTHERN PART OF OKLAHOMA COAL FIELD

ized plant fragments in abundance; in others marine invertebrate 

fossils are found. At different horizons throughout the formation 

greenish sandy clays, reddish clays, and cross-bedded sandstones 

occur, but bedded dark shales with calcareous concretions, containing 

an invertebrate fauna, are much more abundant.

The top of the Thurman in the SE# sec. 12, T. 6 N., R. 12 E., just 

west of the area shown on the map (pi. 12), appears to lie at the top 

of a ledge of sandstone. The top of this sandstone seems quite probably to be the horizon also selected by Taff 14 as the top of the Thurman 

in the closely adjacent portion of the Coalgate quadrangle. The top 

of the sandstone is computed to be 290 feet above the base of the 

Thurman, as compared with the thickness of 250 feet assigned by 

Taff to the Thurman in the northeastern part of the Coalgate quadrangle, but this difference is doubtless explainable as due to difference 

hi determination of the dip of the beds.

Above this sandstone in the SW% sec. 1, T. 6 N., R. 12 E., lie gray 

shales, but above what is believed to be the same bed in the NWK 

sec. 6, T. 6 N., R. 13 E., the exposures are chiefly of soft sandstone, 

including some sandy shales. Above these in the southern part of 

sec. 36, T. 7 N., R. 12 E., lies a cross-bedded buff sandstone believed 

to be about 15 feet thick. At this locality these soft sandstones and 

the overlying harder cross-bedded sandstone are included in the Thurman (making the total thickness of the formation 335 feet), but they 

are not believed to extend southward into the area of the Coalgate 

quadrangle, where they are represented by shales there included in 

the lower part of the overlying Stuart shale. The relations between 

the formations are for this reason believed to be transitional, the lower 

part of the Stuart shale grading northward into sandstones inseparable 

from the Thurman sandstone.

Chert-pebble conglomerate at the base of the Thurman has been 

observed as far east as the SW^ sec. 10, T. 7 N., R. 14 E. East and 

north of that point the basal Thurman is not recognizable and the 

contact as drawn is largely conjectural and based on the observed 

regional dip of the beds. In the southern part of sec. 3, T. 7 N., R. 

14 E., the beds thus included in the Thurman consist largely of bedded 

gray and dark shale with two thin sandstones 110 and 190 feet above 

the base of the formation. There is therefore a great diminution 

northeastward in the amount of sandstone in the Thurman in the 

Quinton-Scipio district, whereas in the Coalgate quadrangle the sandstone beds in the upper part of the Thurman become finer-grained

westward, more siiale is included in tlae formation, tlxin beds of impure

limestone appear, and the basal conglomeratic ledge may be absent.

These changes are accompanied by a decrease in thickness of the 

formation from 250 feet to 80 feet.15

» Taff, J. A., Qeol. Survey Qeol. Atlas, Coalgate folio (no. 74), 1901. 

t« Idem, p. 1.
QUINTON-SCIPIO DISTRICT

On the south edge of sec. 12, T. 6 N., R. 14 E., several coarsegrained sandstones cap an outlying high hill, which extends southward 

into the McAlester district. 16 Although no chert pebbles were observed in these sandstones, they have a rather typical coarse-grained 

texture, and their high position in the stratigraphic section makes it 

probable that they represent the basal portion of the Thurman sandstone.

The basal conglomeratic bed of the Thurman sandstone in the 

Quinton-Scipio district rests with a sharp contact and local erosional 

irregularity on the underlying Boggy shale. Angular discordance 

has not been detected with assurance, because of the nature of the exposures and the absence of reliable traceable key beds in the uppermost 

part of the Boggy and because of internal changes in thickness of that 

formation. Because of the distinctive character of the basal Thurman, which may imply a new source of supply of sediment, and because of the local erosional irregularity at the base, it is believed that 

the Thurman may rest unconformably on the Boggy shale.

STUART SHALE

The Stuart shale, named by Taff 17 presumably from the town of 

Stuart, in T. 5 N., R. 11 E., Hughes County, crops out in the QuintonScipio district in the northwestern part ofT. 7N., R. 13 E., and the 

southwestern part of T. 8 N., R. 13 E., where it has a thickness of 315 

feet. The outcrops occur in the steep slopes of the hilly escarpment 

that is surmounted by the succeeding Senora formation. The Stuart 

consists chiefly of dark laminated shales, which at places carry ferruginous or calcareous nodules and concretionary beds. Some of these 

beds contain invertebrate fossils. There are some interbedded sandstones throughout the formation, but sandstone beds are thickest and 

most numerous in the middle portion, in a zone from 80 to 210 feet 

above the base, although sandstone nowhere occupies all of this interval. The sandstone in this part of the formation is massive, crossbedded, or evenly bedded. Locally sandstone beds were observed to 

contain large numbers of pellets and lumps of gray clay in their basal 

parts. Elsewhere invertebrate fossil remains were observed in the 

sandstone. The division of the Stuart into a middle sandstone member and upper and lower shale members was also observed by Taff 17 

in the Coalgate quadrangle.

SENORA FORMATION

The Senora formation was named by Taff 17 from the old post office 

of Senora, in southern Okmulgee County. 18 The contact as mapped 

by Taff in the Coalgate quadrangle was examined in the northeastern

» Hendricks, T. A., op. cit., p. 26.

I? Taff, J. A., Geol. Survey Geol. Atlas, Coalgate folio (no. 74), p. 4,1901.

isGould, O. N., Index to the stratigraphy of Oklahoma: Oklahoma Geol. Survey Bull. 35, p. 44, 1925.
1(38 SOUTHERN PART OF OKLAHOMA COAL FIELD

part ofT. 6N.,K. 12E., and followed northward into the outcrop of 

the formation in the Quinton-Scipio district, in the northwestern 

part of T. 7 S., R. 13 E., and the southwestern part of T. 8 N., R. 13 E. 

Only the basal 70 feet of the Senora formation is exposed. This consists chiefly of sandstone with some shale beds, the base of the formation being placed at a sandstone bed 10 feet thick. The formation, 

where it is completely exposed elsewhere, has a thickness of as much 

as 500 feet. 19

QUATERNARY (?) SYSTEM 

GERTY SAND AND TERRACE SANDS

The Gerty sand was named by Taff J0 from the town of Gerty, in 

Hughes County. The original name of the type locality (Guertie) 

having been changed to "Gerty" by the United States Geographic 

Board, the name of the formation has been changed correspondingly. ?<l 

The surface of the Gerty sand forms a narrow, much dissected and 

discontinuous eastward-sloping plain, about 90 miles long and locally 

as much as 4 miles wide, extending eastward from Byars, Okla., 

through the McAlester district 22 and into the Quinton-Scipio district. 

Exposures of gravel and sand definitely assignable to the Gerty occur 

in the south-central part of the Quinton-Scipio district along the 

valley of Gaines Creek. The gravel contains rounded pebbles and 

cobbles of quartz, quartzite, chert, flint, jasper, and silicified wood, 

the nearest source of which is in the Cretaceous or older rocks of the 

Rocky Mountains or the Tertiary deposits of the High Plains. Intermixed with these exotic types of pebbles is a variable proportion of 

sandstone pebbles of probably local origin. The Gerty sand has been 

demonstrated to be the deposit left by the Canadian River when that 

stream flowed across this general region in a course antedating that 

which it now occupies.23 Pebbles of siliceous rocks in terrace deposits 

thus identifiable as Gerty sand have been found in the Quinton-Scipio 

district as far north as sec. 2, T. 7 N., R. 15 E. The thickness of the 

Gerty sand is not known but may be as much as 30 feet.

No evidence bearing on the age of the Gerty was found in the 

Quinton-Scipio district. Pleistocene age for the formation has been 

suggested on the basis of an elephant tusk found in it in the Stonewall 

quadrangle.24

Deposits consisting chiefly of fine-grained red sand underlie extensive terraces 25 to 80 feet above the level of the alluvium of the 

Canadian River west and south of Indianola and west of Canadian.

is Taff, J. A., op. cit. (Coalgate folio), p. 4.

«° Taff, J. A., Geology of the McAlester-Lehigh coal field, Indian Territory: Qeol. Survey 19th Ann. 

Rept., pt. 3, p. 439,1899.

a HenflricKs, T, A., op. cit., p. 26.

«Idem, p. 28. 

" Idem, pp. 28-33.

24 Morgan, G. D., Geology of the Stonewall quadrangle, Oklahoma: Bur. Geology (Norman, Okla.) 

Bull. 2, p. 145, 1924.
GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 874 PLATE 17

A. ROLLED MASS OF SANDSTONE IN THE BOGGY SHA.LH.

Along road from Growder to Blocker in NE J4 sec. 1, T. 7 N., R. 15 E. Instrument belt in circle shows

scale.

B. CONTORTED BKDS OF SANDSTONE IN THE BOGGY SHALE. 

Beds of lower horizon at same locality as those shown in A.
GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 874 PLATE 13

i. RIIH;K CAITKII m Tin n\i\\ S\M>STOMC.

View looking west in sec. 3, T. 6 N-, H. IS E. Slopes of Boggy shale at left and in foreground.

B. SANDSTONE BEDS OF ABNORMAL THICKNESS AND DIP IN THE BOGGY SHALE.

Near Rainbow Girls' camp in southeast corner of sec. 4, T. 6N..R. 14 K. Beds dip away From the observer 

at an ansle greater than the regional dip.
GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 874 PLATE 19

A. SECOll COAL ULIJ. 

Exposed in a small strip pit near center of SFM NEM sec. 26, T. 8 N., R. 17 E.

«. SANDY SHALE AND SANDSTONE IN THE BOGGY SHALE OVERLYING THE SECOR

COAL BED.

Exposed .in a small strip pit in SW^S sec. 23, T. 8 N., R. 18 E. The instrument belt in the circle 

lies on the coal, which is concealed by wash.
QUINTON-SCIPIO DISTRICT

These deposits and similar deposits in and near the valleys of Scipio, 

Gaines, and Longtown Creeks are shown on plate 12 with the same 

pattern as the deposits of Gerty sand, although they are of more 

recent origin. The sand is rather uniformly fine-grained, varies from 

white to light red, and locally contains some muddy bands. Except 

for these interbedded clays or silts, however, the bedding is vague. 

The material, where exposed in road cuts or gullies, stands in steep or 

vertical banks like loess. Exposures of as much as 15 feet of the sand 

were seen, but it probably has a thickness of at least 25 feet, the 

amount by which the northern edge of the terrace surfaces stands 

above the alluvial bottom of the river. The material probably is 

chiefly older alluvium and valley wash deposited in part by the Canadian River and in part by tributary streams at a former higher level 

of the river, but it may in part have been deposited by the wind.

QUATERNARY SYSTEM

RECENT ALLUVIUM

The alluvial bottoms of the larger streams of the area range from 

less than 100 feet to 2 miles in width. In most places the alluvial fill 

is a gray sandy silt that ranges in thickness from a few inches on the 

edges of the flood plains to at least 25 feet in the banks of the streams, 

many of which have not cut through the alluvium to bedrock.

INVERTEBRATE PALEONTOLOGY OF THE CARBONIFEROUS FORMATIONS

Collections of marine invertebrates were obtained from the Savanna 

sandstone, Boggy shale, Thurman sandstone, and Stuart shale. Only 

a small thickness of the overlying Senora formation is present in the 

district, and this crops out in a small and difficultly accessible area. 

Accordingly, no collections from it were made, although large faunules 

have been obtained from it in the nearby Stonewall quadrangle.25 

All the collections studied .consist of megafossils. A few samples were 

collected and washed for microfossils, but none yielded faunules of 

any importance.

The collections suggest very strongly that a relationship exists in 

the Quinton-Scipio district between the conditions of deposition of 

certain types of sediments and the composition of the faunules. The 

limestones, in the main, have the most varied faunules, with brachiopods, bryozoans, crinoids, and corals among the most abundant forms 

and gastropods and pelecypods among the rare forms. However, 

some limestones have meager faunas. At least one, a limestone that

16 Morgan, G. D., Geology of the Stonewall quadrangle, Oklahoma: Oklahoma Bur. Geology Bull. 2, 

p. 88, 1924.
170 SOUTHERN FART OF OKLAHOMA COAL FIELD

is partly oolitic, has a faunule that suggests the former existence of a 

depauperizing influence. Another, a very sandy limestone or limy 

sandstone, is clearly indicated by its fauna to be of fresh-water origin.

The shales also vary in lithology, and the different lithologic types 

have in the main different faunules. Most of the black fissile and 

pyritic shales from which collections were obtained have faunules composed largely of species of Aviculipecten that are known to occur in 

brackish-water sediments. They also have as prominent elements in 

their faunas Lingulas and individuals of Crurithyris planoconvexa. 

A fresh-water form, Naiadites? elongata, occurs in them at one place, 

and fern pinnules were collected at another place. At a locality where 

the black shales are conspicuously pyritic small coiled gastropods, 

suggestive of unfavorable life conditions, were the most abundant 

forms in a rather meager collection.

The lighter and less fissile clay shales and limy shales, where 

fossiliferous, yielded marine faunas.

The sandstones have faunas of two types. Many of the sandstones 

in the younger formations have abundant marine faunas. Other 

sandstones, especially many of those in the Boggy formation, have 

yielded only plants and other nonmarine forms. Some sandstones 

have yielded both plants and marine fossils at slightly different stratigraphic positions, and this suggests that they are in part marine and 

in part continental.

The stratigraphic value of the collections is enhanced because they 

were made during the plane-table mapping of the district. On the 

other hand, many of the collections were made in more or less incidental fashion during the mapping and are consequently of small size. 

Toward the end of the season a few days were allotted to more intensive collecting, and larger collections were made then from some 

of the more fossiliferous localities. All the collections were located 

stratigraphically and geographically through reference to instrument 

or rod stations.

The identifications of the fossils here reported were made in the 

winter of 1935-36, and changes in nomenclature made in articles

reaching me after March 1, 1936, are not included in this article. 

A few changes made in articles reaching me before this date are also 

not included, either because I disagree with them on morphologic or 

philosophic grounds or because I have some slight misgiving about 

them and have not yet been able to take the time to satisfy myself 

about them. Few if any of the species concerned will be less well 

understood than they are now because of my reluctance to adopt the 

changes at once.

Despite the fact that the best fossils obtainable from many zones

were fragmentary or otherwise poorly preserved, an effort was made, 

so far as time permitted, to get representative collections from every 

fossil-bearing zone in the area studied. The approximate relative
QUINTON-SCIPIO DISTRICT

abundance of the various species was noted in the field. To aid further 

in obtaining an estimate of the total relative composition of the faunules, identifications were attempted in the laboratory of nearly all the 

material collected, whether fragmentary or completely preserved. 

Question marks were, however, added to identifications of specimens 

that did not show all the characters essential for reasonably certain 

identification. Only the good material was identified positively. 

I believe that the attempted identification of all material, even if 

some of the genera have to be queried, gives a more nearly representative and hence a more reliable and more valuable faunal list 

for correlation than is obtained when only the material that can be 

positively identified is used. There is little danger in such a policy if 

question marks are added to all identifications about which there is a 

reasonable doubt.

COLLECTIONS FROM THE SAVANNA SANDSTONE

Invertebrate fossil collections were made from five zones in the 

Savanna sandstone. All the collections came from thin limestones or 

limy shales, exposed in the southeastern part of the district. The collections from the oldest beds came from a roadside ditch along the 

Quinton-Wilburton road about 2 miles south and 1 mile east from 

Quinton. These collections were obtained from a thin calcareous zone 

that is in a shale and is close to the base of the Savanna formation. 

Most of the other collections came from a single locality, along a road 

about 2,700 feet east of the southwest corner of sec. 36, T. 8 N., R. 

18 E. This locality is about half a mile south and half a mile cast 

from Quinton.

The lowest fossil zone at this locality is an 18-inch limestone and 

the weathered limy shale immediately above it. This limestone is 

about 150 to 180 feet below the top of the Savanna. Two collections 

were made from this zone. The next higher zone is a very ferruginous 

and calcareous brown and greenish-gray shale, 2 to 8 inches above the 

18-inch limestone, and the zone next above this is a 10-inch tannishgray, very shaly limestone or limy shale above a 2-inch coal and about 

12 feet above the 18-inch limestone. The highest fossiliferous zone in 

the Savanna is an 8-inch yellow-brown, very ferruginous sandy limestone about 80 to 100 feet below the top. The collection from it was 

made at Featherston.

All the fossil zones, with one exception, are almost literally masses 

of shells and shell fragments, mainly of brachiopods. Marginifera 

muricatina missouriensis Girty is the most abundant form. A small 

variety of Spirifer opimus Hall, which I have informally designated 

variety A, is also very common in most of the collections. Chonetes 

(Mesolobus} mesolobus (Norwood and Pratten) occurs sparingly. Several 

other brachiopods are common in one or more collections. Crinoid
172 SOUTHERN PART OF OKLAHOMA COAL FIELD

columnals occur in nearly all collections, and Prismopom and Hustedia 

occur in three of the zones. Pelecypods and gastropods are relatively 

rare.

The collections from the 10-inch shaly limestone above the 2-inch 

coal differ markedly in general composition from the other collections. 

They have many macerated shell fragments of many kinds, but the 

most abundant recognizable forms are branching bryozoans. If 

recognizable individuals are truly representative, the brachiopods 

are entirely lacking, but a few pelecypods and a few gastropods are 

present.

All the zones here described are marine. Plants were obtained 

near the top of the Savanna at a locality near Quinton. These are 

in the hands of C. B. Read, of the Geological Survey, for identification. The invertebrate species collected from the various zones of 

the Savanna are listed by zones and by collection numbers in the 

subjoined table. Comparisons between the fauna of the Savanna 

and the faunas of other formations and age determinations and correlations are discussed on pages 182-189.

Fossil invertebrates collected from the Savanna sandstone

[The numbers given in this and succeeding tables are permanent numbers in the Carboniferous invertebrate 

paleontology records of the U. S. Geological Survey, r, rare; c, common; vc, very common; a, abundant]

Spongiae:

Anthozoa:

Pelmatozoa:

Hydreionocrinus acanthoporus (Meek and

Bryozoa: 

Tabulipora? sp. undet.. _ . _____ . ...........

Fenestella? sp. undet-. ______________

Prismopora triangulata White var ______ ...

Other Bryozoa, branching types. ----------------

Braehiopoda:

Derbya crassa (Meek and Hayden)', young only

Chonetes (Mesolobus) mesolobus (Norwood and

"froducttis" (.Linoproductus) prattenianus Nor- wood ana Fratteu_____-_-___-_-_-______--- ._-

Wellerella? osagensis immatura Dunbar and

Spiri/er opimtw Hall var, A.. ----- 

Composite SD. undet-.... .... . . Cleiothyridin orbicutaris (Mccnesney) ..........

Pelecypoda:

Mvalina so. undet . ........

7937, 7941

c

r

?

r

a

C 

C

c

7936, 7942

C

r

a

VC

r

r

?

7944, 7945

r

r

a

C

r

r 

C

r

7939, 7940

a

r

7943

c

?

? 

a

VC
QUINTON-SCIPIO DISTRICT 173

Fossil invertebrates collected from the Savanna sandstone Continued

Pelecypoda Continued.

Streblopteria tenuilineata Meek and Worthen . .

 Gastropoda:

7937, 7941 7936, 7942

?

7944, 7945 7939, 7940 7943

7937, 7941. Thin limy shale near base. 

7936, 7942. Thin limestone 150 to 180 feet below top. 

7944, 7945. Limy shale above limestone of 7936. 

7939, 7940. Shaly limestone 138 to 168 feet below top. 

7943. Sandy limestone 80 to 100 feet below top.

COLLECTIONS FROM THE BOGGY SHALE

More collections were obtained from the Boggy shale than from 

any other formation, but the individual collections are, in the main, 

smaller than those from either the underlying or overlying formation. 

The fossils in the Boggy shale collections indicate a variety of ecologic 

conditions. About half of them suggest normal marine environments; some suggest very quiet waters and possibly waters in which 

whether owing to brackish waters or to unfavorable bottom conditions and perhaps a reducing environment, normal marine forms 

could not thrive; other collections are made up definitely of freshwater forms.

Fossils were obtained from a considerable variety of types of rock. 

Many collections but relatively few individuals were obtained from 

black fissile shales, which occur in most places immediately above 

the Secor coal. At some localities these shales contain pyrite, and 

-at one locality some of the fossils in them are partly preserved in 

pyrite. The presence and rather good preservation in rocks of this 

lithologic type of the fine markings on great numbers of thin pelecypod shells, such as those of "Aviculipecten" herzeri Meek, suggest 

to me deposition of these black shales in quiet waters. The faunal 

associations in the black shales at the place where the fossils are 

preserved in pyrite are such as to indicate unfavorable conditions for 

marine life. Significant in the collections from the black shales here 

are common Lingulas, "Aviculipecten" herzeri, Aviculipecten cf. A. 

whitei and Aviculipecten rectilaterarius, Crurithyris planoconvexa, and 

many small gastropods. The absence of larger individuals of gastropods suggests a depauperizing influence. I have found both of the 

last two Aviculipectens mentioned above associated with plants either 

in this district or in other places in the Midcontinent region. Crurithyris seems to be a genus that is capable of withstanding conditions 

unfavorable for many other normally marine genera. The preference of Lingula for muddy bottoms and brackish water is well known.
174 SOUTHERN PART OF OKLAHOMA COAL FIELD

The presence, though doubtfully recognized, of a chonetid and a 

Marginifera in the same beds suggests that more or less normal 

marine waters were not far distant and may have invaded parts of 

the Quinton-Scipio district for brief intervals soon after deposition of 

the Secor coal. This suggestion is strengthened by a small collection 

from black shales which are in part coaly at another locality (8029). 

This collection contains pelecypods which I believe are more than 

likely marine.

At a locality in sec. 10, T. 6 N., R. 15 E., the black shales immediately above the Secor coal have a faunule consisting of Naiadites 

elongata, a fresh- or brackish-water form; Aviculipecten cf. A. whitei; 

and fern pinnules. This is certainly a nonmarine faunule. Most of 

the other collections obtained immediately above the Secor coal 

suggest brackish or nonmarine waters.

Blue-gray shales 40 to 50 feet or more above the Secor coal contain 

what I would call a normal marine fauna; but included in the collections from them are two of the Aviculipectens mentioned above. 

If my interpretations are correct, the species of Aviculipecten mentioned have a considerable ecologic range.

Most of the limestones or highly calcareous shales of the Boggy 

have marine faunas, consisting mainly of brachiopods but containing 

a relatively large number of gastropods and few pelecypods. With 

one or two exceptions, the fossil-bearing limestones are restricted to 

the lower half of the Boggy, but none occur below the Secor coal.

Most of the Boggy sandstones have meager faunas, and only a few 

of them are definitely marine. The only sandstone from which I 

have studied a collection that I would call undoubtedly marine lies 

about 350 feet below the top of the Boggy. The collection from it 

consists largely of Allerisma terminale. As plant remains were obtained in other beds in the same sandstone group, I believe that this 

sandstone is in part marine and in part continental. The invertebrate faunas of all the other Boggy sandstones are either not certainly 

diagnostic of continental or marine origin or are definitely nonmarine. 

As plant collections from most of them suggest they were at least in

part nonmarine, I am inclined to believe that most of the Boggy 

sandstones are of nonmarine origin, though a few of them may contain marine sediments. The presence of many individuals of a form 

which I am tentatively identifying as Naiadites elongata Dawson, a 

fresh-water pelecypod, and the absence of any marine species in a 

thin brown very limy sandstone or sandy limestone near the top of 

the Boggy strongly suggest that this sandstone is of continental 

origin. Because no marine fossils were obtained above a horizon

about 350 feet below the top of the Boggy and plants and nonmarine 

invertebrates were obtained in two or three zones above this horizon, 

I believe it not unlikely that the upper part of the Boggy in the 

Quinton-Scipio district is all nonmarine. The absence of marine
QUINTON-SCIPIO DISTRICT 175

fossils may be due, however, merely to the lack of exposures of marine 

beds, because marine fossils have been found in the upper Boggy 

elsewhere. 26

Collections were made from eight zones in the Boggy shale. The 

lowest zone is immediately above the Secor coal, where black shales, 

in part fissile, were the source of several collections. The zone next 

above this one is a bluish-gray marine clay shale above a local coal 

and about 30 to 50 feet above the Secor coal. A few feet above this 

zone and in the same shale body is a thin nodular bed of tan, very 

ferruginous and very calcareous shale or ironstone, which is the third 

fossilferous zone of the Boggy. Above it is a fossiliferous zone estimated to be 200 to 250 feet above the Secor coal. Collections from 

three widely separated localities are grouped in this one zone, but in 

all probability they are not from the same bed. Two of them came 

from limestones known to be above coals. The other came from a 

nodular brownish-gray fine-grained limestone 3 to 4 inches thick, 

which is in part oolitic. This limestone contains only macerated shell 

fragments and small gastropods. The collection from this limestone 

was obtained at a more southwesterly locality than those from which 

came the other two collections, which contain normal marine species, 

and I am inclined to believe that it represents a local limestone that had 

a different sedimentary environment and perhaps is at a slightly different horizon from that of the limestone which yielded the other two 

collections.

 The fifth fossiliferous zone in the Boggy is a noncalcareous micaceous 

green siltstone which occurs in a sandstone unit estimated to be from 

600 to 800 feet above the Secor coal. The sixth zone is a thin yellow 

sandstone about 350 feet below the top of the Boggy and about 200 to 

400 feet above the fifth zone. It yielded one invertebrate fossil collection consisting entirely of small individuals of Allerisma terminate Hall. 

The seventh zone is a thin brown, very limy sandstone or sandy limestone about 200 feet below the top of the Boggy. One collection was 

obtained from it, consisting largely of Naiadites elongata Dawson. 

The highest fossil zone in the Boggy is a sandstone within 40 to 60 

feet of the top of the formation.

The species collected from the various zones in the Boggy shale are 

listed by zones and collection numbers in the following table. Comparisons between the fauna of the Boggy and the faunas of other formations in the Quinto-Scipio district, age determinations, and correlations are discussed on pages 182-189.

25 Morgan, Q. D., op. cit., pp. 81-83. Hendricks, T. A., Geology and coal resources of the McAlester 

district, Okla.: Geol. Survey Bull. 874-A, pp. 23-24, 1937.
Fossil invertebrates collected from the Bog

Anthozoa:

Vermes:

Pelmatozoa:

Brachiopoda:

Pelecypoda:

Other nelecypods.- . . ...... .. . 

8028 8029 8030 8031

8032, 

8035, 

8036

C

?

C

?

r

80
QUINTON-SCIPIO DISTRICT 177

 c

h

a

"c

0

"3 

c

4-

.*

-

molds..-. 3t.______ -.._--.

th

g O

c.

c o 0

a 

|

^

Xn

a

0

PH

T3

e

03

C 

O

1

2;

s 

id J^

»-

a

(-

t.

c

C

-

ina) White. brevis ------ __.-

t.

a

o

o

o

0

ostly small individuals ______. _ -.

T3 & CO

J3 -^ 

jyj tO

- 2

O O

-^ 4J

J

TiH !>. lO ^t* 1^. O3 C 

CO <N W Tfl « CO C 

~3 O O O C 

3COOOOOC

149779 38-
178 SOUTHERN PART OF OKLAHOMA COAL FIELD

COLLECTIONS FROM THE THTTRMAN SANDSTONE

The collections from the Thurman sandstone came from sandstones, 

sandy shales, and nodular ironstone beds in shales. In contrast to the 

small collections from the sandstones of the Boggy shale, they are 

large and consist mainly of marine species. Pelecypods are by far the 

most abundant, both in individuals and in species, but a few brachiopod 

species are represented by many individuals. Most of the few gastropods are internal molds that do not preserve the external ornamentation and are therefore undeterminable. Many of the pelecypods are 

also internal molds, but many also are external molds. Fortunately, 

a large proportion of those represented only by internal molds belong 

to genera in which species are so described that they can be recognized 

from internal molds, if the molds are fairly complete and show the 

dentition.

The most common pelecypods in the Thurman belong to the genera 

Solenomya, Leda, Schizodus, Streblopteria, and Pleurophorus. The 

brachiopod species represented by considerable numbers of individuals 

are Chonetes (Mesolobus) mesolobus, "Productus" (Linoproductus) 

prattenianus, and Marginifera muricatina.

At the places where collections were made from the sandstones in 

the Thurman the beds are abundantly fossiliferous, and many pelecypod individuals can be obtained from small pieces of sandstone.

Rarely are fossils seen on the surfaces of the beols. Although 

fossils are abundant at the localities where the collections were made, 

they were not obtained at many localities. This may be due to the 

lack of intensive search for fossils in many places, or the pelecypods 

may be "spotty" in occurrence.

The collections from the nodular ironstones came from thin yellowbrown nodular ferruginous shales or ironstones in shale intervals.

Six fossil zones are represented by the collections from the Thurman 

sandstone. The lowest is a bluish-gray to greenish-gray shale that 

weathers yellow brown. It is about 30 feet above the base of the 

Thurman. The second zone, is about 65 feet above the base of the 

formation. It is a medium-grained yellow-brown to slightly reddishbrown friable sandstone. Individuals of three species of Schizodus are 

very abundant in it. Fossil plants were obtained from this same 

sandstone body but not from the same bed. The third zone is a 

darker-brown sandstone, about 130 feet above the base of the Thurman. Individuals of species of Schizodus are the most common in

the collections from tixie BO^O, tut "Productus" (Linoproductus) prattenianus is represented by many individuals. The fpurtn zone,

Which is about 175 feet above the base of the Thurman, consists of a

light-tan sandstone. -Ledas, Solenomyas, and JOUng indiridvals of 

Pleurophorus subcostatus are the most abundant forms in it. The 

fifth zone, about 190 feet above the base of the Thurman, is a medium-
QUINTON-SCIPIO DISTRICT

to fine-grained tan or greenish-tan sandstone that weathers to a 

medium to dark brown. The most abundant species in the collection 

from this zone are Solenomorpha solenoides and a Streblopteria that is 

probably an undescribed species. Ledas and a gastropod that is 

probably a Goniasma are also common. The sixth zone is about 40 

feet below the top of the Thurman and about 105 feet above the fifth 

zone. ' The collections from this zone came from thin brown nodular 

ferruginous shales or ironstones in shaly beds. The two collections 

may have come from the same bed, but it is more likely that they came 

from separate beds that are not far apart stratigraphically. The 

most abundant fossils in this zone are brachiopods. Gastropods are 

fairly common, and pelecypods are rare. The common brachiopod 

species are Marginifera muricatina and young individuals of a species 

that is probably Lingula carbonaria. One specimen questionably 

identified as Chonetes (Mesolobus} mesolobus also occurs in this zone. 

The species collected in the Thurman sandstone are listed by zones 

and collection numbers in the following table. Comparisons between 

the fauna of the Thurman and the faunas of other formations in the 

area, age determinations, and correlations are discussed on pagea 

182-189.

Fossil invertebrates collected from the Thurman sandstone

Brachiopoda:

Chonetes (Mesolobus) mesolobus (Nor-

"Productus" (Linoproductus) prattenianus

Marginifera muricatina Dunbar and

Pelecypoda:

Edmondia n. sp. A. afl. E. reflexa Girty, 

1899

Leda bellistriata Stevens var. near L.

Deltopectenf occidentalis (Shumard),

Streblopteriaf n. sp.? aff. S. similis WalStreblopteria tenuilineata Meek and

Sedawickiaf n. so.?.. ..

8050

?

8051

r

?

r

8047 8061

c

8054

?

a

8048

?

?

?

?

?

8049
180 SOUTHERN PART OF OKLAHOMA COAL FIELD

Fossil invertebrates collected from the Thurman sandstone Continued

Pelecypoda Continued. 

Pleurophorus subcostatus Meek and

Gastropoda:

8050 8051

?

8047

?

?

?

8061 8054 8048

?

?

?

8049

8050. Sandy shale 30 feet above base.

8051. Sandstone 65 feet above base.

8047. Sandstone about 135 feet above base.

8061. Sandstone about 175 feet above base.

8054. Sandstone about 190 feet above base.

8048, 8049.' Ferruginous bed about 40 feet below top.

COLLECTIONS FROM THE STUART SHALE

Only four collections were obtained from the Stuart shale, but more 

could have been made had time been available. These collections 

show that the fauna of the Stuart consists predominantly of marine 

pelecypods. Brachiopods, though not represented by so many 

species or individuals as the pelecypods, are not uncommon, and two 

species are represented by many individuals. Gastropods are rare, 

and crinoids, corals, and most of the other classes of fossils have not 

been found. One very fragmentary cephalopod, which is probably a 

Coloceras, was collected from a bed near the base of the Stuart.

Of the pelecypods, the genera Solenomya, Deltopecten, Myalina, and 

Pleurophorus are most abundantly represented, either in species or in 

individuals of one or more species. The most common brachiopods 

are "Productus" (Linoproductus) prattenianus and "Productus" (Juresania) nebrascensis. The brachiopods are common only in the ferruginous beds. The sandstone beds contain little other than pelecypods,

which are very abundant in some beds. Several gastropods are 

present, though rare, in one collection from a sandstone bed. In the

main, the thin sandstone beds yield the fossils, whereas the thicker

beds, most of which are of coarser sands and many of which are within 

a few feet of the thin beds, may be barren.

The four Stuart collections were obtained from four different zones. 

The lowest zone is a very ferruginous yellow-brown nodular bed in 

shale, from which fossils weather out easily. The zone next above 

is also in a very ferruginous thin nodular bed which occurs in a section

of shales. It is about 106 feet above the base of the Stuart. It contains many individuals of "Productus" (Linoproductus) prattenianus 

and "Productus" (Juresania) nebrascensis. Three or four other 

brachiopod species are present, as are a few pelecypods. The collection from this zone came from a roadside ditch north of an isolated
QUINTON-SCIPIO DISTRICT 181

hill in the western part of the Quinton-Scipio district, in sec. 30, T. 

7 N., R. 13 E. The two higher zones in the Stuart are in sandstone. 

One of these is about 145 feet above the base of the formation, in a 

thin tan to greenish-yellow sandstone. On split slabs the sandstone 

is seen to be almost entirely composed of pelecypod molds, together 

with a few gastropods. The most common species are Deltopeden 

occidentalis, a new species of Solenomya, and a form that is either a 

new variety of Myalina pernaformis or a new species. The genus 

Pleurophorus is represented by many individuals belonging probably 

to two species. The highest zone is about 175 feet above the base of 

the Stuart and therefore probably about 160 feet below the top. It 

is a very light tan to yellowish-gray sandstone. As in the sandstone 

below, the fossils are mostly pelecypods, but they are not so numerous 

either in species or in individuals as in the lower zone. Deltopeden 

occidentalis and the new variety of Myalina pernaformis are the only 

common forms.

The species collected in the Stuart shale are listed by zones and by 

collection numbers in the following table. Comparisons between the 

fauna of the Stuart and the faunas of other formations in the QuintonScipio district and correlations are discussed on pages 182-189.

Fossil invertebrates collected from the Stuart shale

Brachiopoda:

Chonetes (Mesolobm) mesolobus (Norwood and Pratten).. ..........

"Productus" (Linoproductus) prattenianus Norwood and Pretten,

Pelecypoda:

Cardiomorpha? sp. undet. ___________________ - __

Edmondia re/toa? Meek _____________ . _____ .. ........

Edmondia n. sp. B____ __ ___ .. __ ___ ....... ..............

Pleurophorus subcostatus Meek and Worthen, young... ............

Pleurophorusf sp. undet ___ ___________ ................

Gastropoda: 

Bellerophonf sp. undet., internal molds ___ . _____ . ........

PateUostium sp. undet., molds ......................................

Pharkidonotusf sp. undet.. _____ _________ ............

Cephalopoda:

8056

r

r 

r

r

8060

c 

vc

r 

r 

r

r

r

r

8059

vc

r

r

vc

r 

a

r

? 

c

c

r

?

8057

r

c

vc

r

r

8056. Ferruginous zone 50 feet above base.

8060. Ferruginous zone 106 feet above base.

8059. Sandstone 145 feet above base.

8057. Sandstone 175 feet above base.
182 SOUTHERN PART OF OKLAHOMA COAL FIELD 

COMPARISONS OF FAUNAS

Some interesting conclusions may be drawn concerning the relations 

of the faunas of the several Carboniferous formations exposed in the 

district, provided the writers' collections are sufficient in number and 

in stratigraphic and geographic spacing to be representative. Owing 

to the large number of types of sedimentary and fauna! f acies in the 

area, however, it is necessary to weigh all stratigraphic inferences 

drawn from the distribution of the fossils against possible facies influences before the conclusions can be relied upon. For this reason 

and also because, if useful at all, the paleontologic conclusions will be 

most useful in distinguishing between stratigraphically contiguous 

formations, the following comparisons are made between similar lithologic units in such formations. Even though the units compared 

are alike in lithology, there is of course no assurance that like environmental conditions existed during their formation. Moreover, the 

recurrence of like environmental conditions would not of necessity 

bring back into any one area all the species that may have been there 

previously or that existed in nearby areas at the time of the recurrence. 

Despite these qualifications, comparisons between the faunas, of like 

lithologic units are probably more significant than comparisons 

between the faunas of unlike units.

The invertebrate fossil-bearing beds hi the Savanna sandstone in 

the Quinton-Scipio district are all thin limestones or calcareous shales. 

With a single exception, the faunules consist of great numbers of 

brachiopods, largely Marginifera muricatina missouriensis and Spirifer 

opimus var. Bryozoa are not uncommon and in one collection are 

abundant. Prismopora occurs at two localities, at one of which there 

is a variety close to a Morrow species. Crinoid stems and plates are 

common in at least one zone. Chonetes (Mesolobus} mesolobus and 

the normal variety oi Marginifera muricatina are rare, if present at 

all. Hustedia mormoni miseri, another Morrow form, occurs in two 

of the limestones. Pelecypods and gastropods are rare.

All the collections from the thin limestones and calcareous shales 

of the Boggy formation were obtained above the Secor coal. Some 

of these limestones are almost devoid of fossils. One partly oolitic 

limestone contains only small gastropods. Another sandy limestone 

or limy sandstone is almost certainly of fresh-water origin. It contains only Naiadites elongata and unidentifiable pelecypods. The 

more fossiliferous limestones, like the limestones of the Savanna, 

contain brachiopod faunas, but the abundant species are not the 

same as the abundant species in the Savanna limestones, and some 

of the Savanna species do not extend into the limestones of the Boggy. 

These Savanna species that were not found in the Boggy include 

Marginifera muricatina missouriensis, Hustedia mormoni miseri, 

Wellerella osagensis immatura, and Spirifer opimus var.' A. Also
QUINTON-SCIPIO DISTRICT 133

included in the Savanna is the bryozoan Prismopora triangulata, var. 

Forms that may be the same as the last three just named are listed 

from beds above the Savanna in nearby areas, however.27 Marginifera 

muricatina, Chonetes (Mesolobus) mesolobus, and Derbya crassa are the 

most common forms in the limestones of the Boggy formation. No 

limestone similar to the Campophyllum-be&Tmg limestones of the 

upper Boggy of the Stonewall area 28 was seen in the Quinton-Scipio 

district.

No fossils other than plants were collected from the sandstones, the 

noncalcareous shales, or the ironstones of the Savanna in the QuintonScipio district. That the Savanna sandstones are, in part at least, 

marine and fossiliferous is attested by the presence of marine faunules 

in them in nearby regions. A comparison of faunal lists 29 shows that 

the Savanna sandstones of nearby regions are more fossiliferous and 

probably have a greater proportion of marine sediments than the 

Boggy sandstones of the Quinton-Scipio district. One or more large 

faunules have also been collected from the Savanna in nearby areas, 

from the ironstones in shale.30 Ironstones occur sparingly in the 

Boggy, and their faunas are small.

Our collections from the sandstone beds of the Thurman formation 

show striking differences from our collections from the sandstones of 

the Boggy. They strongly indicate that the Thurman sandstones 

are more fossiliferous and have a greater proportion of marine sediments than the Boggy sandstones. The Thurman sandstones, where 

fossiliferous, contain abundant pelecypods. These belong mainly to 

marine genera, such as Edmondia, Solenomya, Leda, Schizodus, and 

Streblopteria, all of which are absent from our collections from the 

Boggy sandstones. Some of these genera have, however, been reported from the Boggy in the McAlester district,31 but they may not 

have come from sandstones. No one of these genera is confined to the 

Thurman. As representatives of all these genera occur both above 

the Thurman and below the Boggy, any of them may be found in the 

Boggy on further collecting. The presence of this assemblage in the 

Thurman, even though it may be due merely to a facies condition, is 

significant locally, because the assemblage has not been found by us 

or reported in the literature from the sandstones of the Boggy. The 

'table showing the range of species in the four formations from which 

.fossils were obtained in the Quinton-Scipio district (pp. 186-187) shows 

at once the dissimilarities between the pelecypod assemblages of the 

Boggy and Thurman formations, but some of the Boggy pelecypods 

did not come from sandstones.

17 Hendrieks, T. A., Geology and fuel resources of the southern part of the Oklahoma coal field, Part 1, 

The McAlester district: Geol. Survey Bull. 874-A, p. 24, 1937. Morgan, G. D., op. cit., pp. 82, 88. 

» Morgan, G. D., op. cit., p. 78.

» Hendrieks, T. A., op. cit., p. 20-21. Morgan. G. D., op. cit., p. 76. 

« Idem, p. 22. 

* Idem. p. 24.
184 SOUTHERN PART OF OKLAHOMA COAL FIELD

No collections were obtained in the Thurman from black, fissile 

shales similar to those that occur above the Secor coal, in the Boggy 

formation, and none of the Aviculipectens that occur in these black 

shales occur in our collections from the Thurman or have been reported by others. The fresh-water Naiadites is also absent from the 

Thurman. The lack of collections from other shales in the Thurman 

may mean that the marine shales of the Thurman are less f qssiliferous 

than the marine shales of the Boggy. No fossil-bearing limestones or 

very calcareous shales like those that occur in the Boggy are known 

in the Thurman.

Ferruginous beds or nodules in shales are the source of the collections from the uppermost zone of the Thurman. The faunas of these 

beds are larger and more varied than the faunas of the ferruginous 

beds of the Boggy, but I do not think that the differences are significant, because the ferruginous beds in both formations are thin, 

nodular, and lenticular, and it therefore seems likely that ferruginous 

beds in the Boggy that have considerable faunas may have been overlooked.

The collections from the Stuart shale, like those from the Thurman 

sandstone, came from only two types of rocks sandstones and 

ferruginous nodules and beds in shale. In the Stuart the ferruginous 

beds that yielded fossil collections are near the base of the formation, 

whereas in the Thurman the ferruginous beds from which collections 

were obtained are near the top of the formation. In both formations 

these beds have faunas in which the most common elements are 

brachiopods, but in both they also contain a few pelecypods and 

gastropods. The most common brachiopods in the Thurman collections made in the Quinton-Scipio district are Lingula carbonaria and 

Marginifera muricatina. The most common brachiopods in the 

Stuart are "Productus" (Linoproductus) prattenianus and "Productus" 

(Juresania) nebrascensis. .

The faunas of the Stuart sandstones are not unlike those of the 

Thurman sandstones in general composition, but the genera Schizodus 

and Ledd are not so abundantly represented in them, and Deltopectens 

and Myalinas are therefore relatively more important. Solenomorpha 

solenoides, an abundant species in one of our Thurman sandstone 

collections, was not found in the Stuart. Other species that occur

in the sandstones of one formation do not occur in our collections from

the sandstones of the other, but as many of these species are rare and 

long-ranging, their stratigraphic significance is probably slight.

STRATIQRAPHIC RANGE OF SIGNIFICANT SPECIES

If the collections from the Quinton-Scipio district alone were considered, it would appear that each of the four formations from which 

fossils were obtained had a distinctive fauna and that many species 

were restricted to one or two formations. When consideration is given
QUINTON-SCIPIO DISTRICT 185

to the fact that some of these formations have lithologic facies not 

represented in the others, doubt is cast on the reliability of these 

seeming species restrictions for correlation. When consideration is 

also given to published data on other and nearby areas, it is found 

that few of the species identified from the Quinton-Scipio district are 

sufficiently limited in stratigraphic range to be of widespread use in 

the identification of the different formations.

A few species or varieties, however, have relatively restricted ranges 

that have not yet been shown to be local or due to insufficient collecting. . Prominent among these are Marginifera muricatina missouriensis, Spirifer opimus var. A, and Hustedia mormoni miseri. The first 

does not occur in our collections from any formation younger than 

the Savanna, and I have seen no published record of its occurrence 

above the Savanna. There are records of the occurrence, above the 

Savanna, of varieties of Marginifera muricatina, presumably distinct 

from the typical variety, but none is definitely referred to the variety 

missouriensis. Spirifer opimus is a lower Pennsylvanian species, and 

the variety here listed is restricted to the Savanna and Boggy formations. Hustedia mormoni miseri has not previously been found as 

high as the Savanna, but it is common in the Morrow group. A 

form here listed as Prismopora triangulata var. is close to a Morrow 

species. It is not known from formations above the Savanna. 

Marginifera muricatina and Chonetes (Mesolobus) mesolobus are in our 

collections much more abundant above the Savanna than in that formation, but as the relative abundance of the various forms is not 

given in many published lists, I do not know that this has been 

found to be true by other investigators.

Naiadites elongata seems to be restricted to the Boggy in this general 

region, but it is found in formations elsewhere that are probably 

younger. Some other pelecypods in the Boggy collections have not 

been found in any of the younger formations of the Quinton-Scipio 

district, but they also occur in formations elsewhere that are probably 

or certainly younger than the Boggy. Some of these may be found 

to be reliable locally as index fossils for beds of Boggy age. They 

include Aviculipecten rectilaterarius, A. pellucidus, and A. whitei. I 

believe that their limitation to the Boggy shale and older beds in the 

Quinton-Scipio and nearby areas is really more the result of facies 

limitations than of geologic age limitations.

Many of the pelecypods that appear in the stratigraphic column in 

the Quinton-Scipio district for the first time in the Thurman occur in 

formations undoubtedly older in other regions and so have little value 

as widespread age determinants.
186 SOUTHERN PART OF OKLAHOMA COAL FIELD

The range of the various species in our collections in the formations 

exposed in the Quinton-Scipio district is given in the following table:

Fossil invertebrates collected in Quinton-Scipio district.

Spongiae:

Antbozoa:

Vermes:

Felmatozoa:

Bryozoa:

Other Bryozoa, branching types. ..........................

Brachiopoda:

Lingulaf sp. undet _______________ ___ ...

Derbya crassa (Meek and Hayden) .........................

Derbya crassa (Meek and Hayden), young only.. ..........

Chonetes granulifer Owen _ __ ______ _____ . ...

Chonetes (Mesolobus) mesolobus (Norwood and Pratten) ...

Chonetes (Mesolobus) mesolobus (Norwood and Pratten) var. 

Chonetest sp. undet-- ___ ________________ ....

"Productus" (Juresania) sp. undet., young .................

"Productus" (Linoproductus) prattenianus Norwood and

"Productus" (Linoproductus) prattenianus Norwood and 

Pratten, young only ____________________

"Productus" (Linoproductus) sp. undet .....................

Marginifera muricaiina Dunbar and Condra..............

Marginifera muricatina missouriensis Girty. ................

Marginifera sp. undet., young ..............................

Dielasma bovidens (Morton).... ............................

Spirifer opimus Hall, var. A.... _______________

Spirifer sp. undet., fragments. .............................

Squamularia perplexa (McChesney) . .......................

Squamularia sp. undet., young. _ ________ ..........

Crurithyris planoconvexa (Shumard) _______ ... ......

Crurithyrisf sp. undet- ________ . .....................

Punctospinfer keniuckyensis (Shumard)--- ___ _ . ....

Hustedia mormoni (Marcou) __ .. __ . __ .

Hustedia mormoni miseri (Mather) . ______ ...

Composite sp. undet.... ________ . ...................

Cleiothyridina orbicularis (McOhesney) __________ ...

Pelecypoda: 

Solenomya n. sp.? A ........................................

Solenomyau. sp.? B ........................................

Solenomorpha solenoides (Geinitz).... ......................

Clinopistha radiata levis Meek and Worthen _________

Cardiomorphaf sp. undet- ____ ______________

Edmondia ovata Meek and Worthen ........................

Anthraconeilo sp. undet. ...................................

Ledat sp. undet ________________________

Parallelodon cf. P. obsoletus (Meek). ____________

Parallelodon "tenuistriatus" (Meek and Worthen) ..........

Pteria cf. P. ohioense (Herrick).. ______________

Jl/!/a!tM prnifl/omls Cox.. ................................

Myalina pernaformis Cox var ________________

Myalina swallovi McChesney. ________________

Myalina sp. undet _ __________ . _________

Savanna 

sandstone

X 

X

X 

X 

X

X 

X 

X 

X 

X

X 

X 

X

?

X 

X

?

X

?

X

X 

X 

X

X 

X

X 

X 

X 

X 

X

X

X

Boggy 

shale

X 

X 

X

?

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X 

X

X

X

?

X 

X 

X 

X

X

X

Thurman 

sandstone

X 

X

X 

X

X

X 

X

X 

X 

X

X

X

X

?

X 

X 

X

?

X 

X

Stuart 

shale

X

X

X

X 

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X
QUINTON-SCIPIO DISTRICT

Fossil invertebrates collected in Quinton-Scipio district Continued

187

Pelecypoda Continued.

Pleurophorus? sp. undet ______________ __

Gastropoda: 

Bellerophont sp. undet., internal molds ___________

Pharkidonotust sp. undet ___________________

Goniasmat sp. undet. ____________________

Phanerotrema cf. P. grayvillense (Norwood and Pratten)...

Naticopsisf sp. undet ________ . ___________

Pseudozygopleura sp. undet. .. _______________

Meekospiraf sp. undet ______________________

Trachydomaf sp. undet.. _____________ . . _

Other gastropods, mostly small individuals ________

Cephalopodas:

Savanna 

sandstone

X

X

X

X

X

X

X 

X

X

Boggy 

shale

X

X

X 

X 

X

X

X

X

X

X

X 

X

X 

X 

X

X

X 

X 

X 

X 

X

X 

X

Thurman 

sandstone

X 

X 

X

X

X

X 

X

X

X

X 

X 

X

X

X 

X

X

X 

X

X

Stuart 

shale

X

X 

X

X

X

X

X 

X

X

X 

X

X 

X

X

AGE ASSIGNMENT AND CORRELATIONS

The Pennsylvanian age of the formations bearing the collections 

here discussed is well established by their faunas and stratigraphic 

positions. Several species limit all the formations to the lower 

Pennsylvanian. These species, none of which occur above the Des 

Moines group in the northern Midcontinent region or above rocks 

of equivalent age elsewhere, are Chonetes (Mesolobus) mesolobus, 

Marginifera muricatina, Marginifera muricatina missouriensis, Spirifer 

opimus, Prismopora triangulata, and some pelecypods. All the formations here considered are of Des Moines age, as both the first and 

second of the species mentioned above occur in the Stuart shale, the 

highest formation from which collections were obtained.
SOUTHERN PART OF OKLAHOMA COAL FIELD

Definite correlations of formations and zones in the Quinton-Scipio 

district with formations and zones in other regions are, however, 

much more difficult, if not impossible to make on the paleontologic data 

available, mainly because most of the species are long-ranging. 

However, some groups, such as the pelecypods and bryozoans, have 

not recently been carefully studied, and revisional studies may show 

that the species are more restricted than they now appear to be. 

Another deterrent to the correlation of formations is that some of the 

species included in the fossil lists of nearby areas have since been 

renamed or subdivided, and it is impossible now, without the study 

of collections, to determine the present-day species and varieties that 

are represented by the listed names. Still another obstacle to correlation is the occurrence of so many different lithologic and paleontologic facies, which no doubt are represented, at least in some parts 

of the formations, by wedges that may reasonably be supposed to be 

in different stratigraphic positions in the same formations in other 

areas. Another deterrent to the regional correlation of individual 

fossil zones and even formations is the fact that many of the zones 

of some of the formations in the Quinton-Scipio district are thin. 

Regional correlation by fossils of thin fossil zones is not to be expected 

unless evolution has proceeded at an unusually rapid rate, for otherwise these units of like lithology, stratigraphically near together, 

could not reasonably be expected to have distinctive faunas or, for 

that matter, distinctive species. Unless carefully checked by widespread collecting or widespread experience, the seeming limitation 

of one or more species to a single thin formation is not to be accepted 

without some doubt and is more frequently due to incomplete knowledge and collecting than to faunal distinctions. Local correlations 

are, however, often suggested by the relative abundance of certain 

long-ranging species in given beds, and these suggestions are certainly 

significant, if due allowance is made for possible facies influences and 

for the "spotty" occurrence characteristic of some classes of fossils. 

Relative abundance cannot, however, ^be safely used for long-distance 

correlation of Pennsylvania!* rocks in the Midcontinent region.

A few forms in our collections suggest certain correlations that 

should be considered. For instance, Marginifera muricatina miswunensis is limited to the lower 100 to 200 feet of the Cherokee shale

as exposed in Missouri and to the Bluejacket sandstone member or 

beds below it in southeastern Kansas. The highest occurrence of 

this variety in the Quinton-Scipio district is in the upper part of the 

$a.ya,nna, formation. This limitation would suggest that the top of

the Bluejacket sandstone in southeastern Kansas was equivalent to 

the top of the Savanna sandstone in the Quinton-Scipio district. 

Because Marginifera muricatina missouriensis is the only form suggesting so definite a correlation and because it is only a variety of a 

species and represents only one class of fossils, such a correlation would
QUINTON-SCIPIO DISTRICT

not be on very substantial grounds in any event. In addition, the 

lower part of the Boggy shale up to the Secor coal has not yielded 

marine fossils, and it is therefore quite possible that the zone within 

which Marginifera muricatina missouriensis occurs in marine beds in 

Kansas may be equivalent to some or all of the nonmarine beds of the 

lower part of the Boggy shale in the Quinton-Scipio district. Present 

knowledge of the distribution of Marginifera muricatina missouriensis 

accordingly suggests only that the top of the Bluejacket sandstone 

in southeastern Kansas is equivalent to some horizon below the 

Secor coal.

The Savanna is on substantial grounds believed to be no younger 

than the latest Cherokee of Missouri and Kansas. Such an age 

restriction is validated by the presence in it, in addition to Marginifera 

muricatina missouriensis, of Spirifer opimus Hall and is suggested by 

the presence of Hustedia mormoni miseri and Prismopora triangulata 

var.

The Cherokee age of the Boggy and perhaps of the Thurman also 

is suggested by the abundance of Marginifera muricatina and Chonetes 

(Mesolobus} mesolobus in these formations. There is nothing in our 

collections to fix the age of the Stuart more closely than from upper 

Cherokee to uppermost Des Moines. The abundance of M. muricatina in the Senora formation of the Stonewall quadrangle,32 which, 

overlies the Stuart, gives a slight suggestion that both the Senora and 

Stuart are also of Cherokee age.

REGISTER OF LOCALITIES

7936. Sans Bois quadrangle, about half a mile south and half a mile east from 

Quinton, along road on south line of sec. 36, T. 8 N., R. 18 E., roadside ditch on 

north side of road about 2,700 feet east of southwest corner of sec. 36, about 

halfway up a hill and about 30 feet west of and 2 feet above a pipe line. Savanna 

sandstone, thin limestone and weathered calcareous shale 150 to 180 feet below 

top.

7937. Sans Bois quadrangle, about- 2 miles south and 1 mile east from 

Quinton, along Quinton-Wilburton road about 3,600 feet south and 100 feet east 

from northwest corner of sec. 7, T. 7 N., R. 19 E., and about half a mile southwest 

of a bridge over Sans Bois Creek, roadside ditch on east side of a curve to north of 

and below a hill. Savanna sandstone, thin calcareous zone in yellow-brown 

shales, within a few feet of base.

7939. Sans Bois quadrangle, same locality as 7936, except near crest of hill and 

about 15 feet above the pipe line. Savanna sandstone, 10-inch shaly limestone 

immediately above a 2-inch coaly streak and about 12 feet above the limestone of 

7936.

7940. Sans Bois quadrangle, same locality and horizon as 7939.

7941. Sans Bois quadrangle, same locality and horizon as 7937.

7942. Sans Bois quadrangle, same locality and horizon as 7936.

7943. Sans Bois quadrangle, about half a mile southeast of Featherston, along 

section-line road between sees. 14 and 23, T. 7 N., R. 17 E., about 1,900 feet east

32 Morgan, G. D., op. cit., p. 88.
190 SOUTHERN PART OP OKLAHOMA COAL FIELD

 of northwest corner of sec. 23. Savanna sandstone, 8-inch sandy limestone about 

80 to 100 feet below top.

7944. Sans Bois quadrangle, same locality as 7936, except a few inches higher 

on hillside. Savanna sandstone, ferruginous and calcareous shales 2 to 8 inches 

above limestone of 7936.

7945. Sans Bois quadrangle, same locality and horizon as 7944.

8025. Sans Bois quadrangle, about 3}£ miles north and 0.9 mile west from 

Russellville, coal mine about 900 feet south and 600 feet east from northwest 

corner of sec. 6, T. 8 N'., R. 18 E. Boggy shale, very shaly limestone a few inches 

above a coal that is estimated to be 200 to 250 feet above Secor coal.

8026. Sans Bois quadrangle, same locality and horizon as 8025.

8027. Canadian quadrangle, about 1}£ miles south and 3}£ miles west from 

Blocker, along creek above a coal bed that has been mined and also above the 

sandstone that overlies the coal bed, about 700 feet north of the southwest corner 

of sec. 28, T. 7 N., R. 16 E. This creek is crossed by the main traveled road 

about a quarter of a mile east of the Lochmanese coal mine. Boggy shale, nodular 

beds of ironstone in black shale about 2 or 3 feet above a local coal that lies above 

a sandstone and 30 to 50 feet above the Secor coal.

8028. Canadian quadrangle, about 3 miles north and 2^ miles east from North 

McAlester coal slope mine, in SW% sec. 10, T. 6 N., R. 15 E., about 2,200 feet 

north and 1,700 feet east from southwest corner. Boggy shale, black shales 

immediately above Secor coal.

8029. Sans Bois quadrangle, about a quarter of a mile south of Russellville, 

strip pit about 650 feet north and 250 feet west from the southeast corner of 

sec. 19, T. 8 N., R. 18 E. Boggy shale, brownish and dark-gray shales immediately above Secor coal.

8030. McAlester quadrangle, about 9 miles east and 1 mile north from North 

McAlester, in an abandoned mine on a hillside about 2,000 feet west and 750 feet 

north from southeast corner of sec. 21, T. 6 N., R. 16 E. Boggy shale, shales 

about 3 feet above Secor coal.

8031. Canadian quadrangle, about 1 mile south of Blocker, in strip pit east of 

a house and 2,000 feet west and 1,800 feet south from northeast corner of sec. 

25, T. 7 N., R. 16 E. Boggy shale, from float on coal dump, but probably from 

the black shale that occurs here immediately above the Secor coal.

8032. Canadian quadrangle, about 1% miles south and 4 miles west from 

Blocker, in Lochmanese coal mine, about 1,300 feet west and 350 feet north from 

southeast corner of sec. 29, T. 7.N., R. 16 E. Boggy shale, black shales immediately above Secor coal.

8033. Canadian quadrangle, about 3)4 miles south and 1 mile west from 

Featherston, in an old prospect pit about 2,100 feet north and 1,200 feet west 

from southeast corner of sec. 33, T. 7 N., R. 17 E. Boggy shale, black shales 

immediately above Secor coal.

8034. Canadian quadrangle, same locality as 8027. Boggy shale, gray clay 

shale immediately above to 3 feet above a local coal that is above a sandstone 

and is 30 to 50 feet above the Secor coal. This collection was obtained 1 foot or 

so below collection 8027.

8035. Canadian quadrangle, same locality and horizon as 8032.

8036. Canadian quadrangle, same locality and horizon as 8032 and 8035.

8037. Canadian quadrangle, about 8 miles south and 1 mile west from Thurman, 

small isolated elongated hill on east side of Bull Creek about 1,200 feet west and

750 feet north from southeast corner of sec, 36, T, 7 N., R. 13 E. Boggy shale,

thin yellow sandstone about 350 feet below top.

8038. Canadian quadrangle, about 7 miles south and 3 miles west from Thurman and half a mile south and 2% miles east from Scipio store (which is about 1 

mile south and half a mile west from mapped portion of Scipio on map of Canadian
QUINTON-SCIPIO DISTRICT

quadrangle), sandstone ledge exposed near top of a hill along an abandoned road 

about 2,000 feet west of northeast corner of sec. 34, T. 7 N., R. 13 E. Boggy 

shale, sandston/e within 50 or 60 feet of top.

8039. Canadian quadrangle, about 1^ miles south and 1% miles west from South 

Canadian, along a section-line road about 300 feet south of northwest corner of 

sec. 24, T. 8 N., R. 15 E. Boggy shale, calcareous sandstone about 1,200 to 

1,400 feet above Secor coal.

8040. Sans Bois quadrangle, about \% miles south and 3 miles west from 

Rus.sellville, in roadside ditch near but below top of a hill about 700 feet west of 

northeast corner of sec. 34, T. 8 N., R. 17 E. Boggy shale, pinkish-gray finegrained limestone about 1 foot above a coal that is about 200 to 250 feet above 

the horizon of the top of the Secor coal.

8043. Canadian quadrangle, about 3% miles west and 4}£ miles south from 

Blocker, in feed lots about 100 yards S. 40° W. of a house and a few hundred feet 

west of a turn in a road in breaks above Gaines Creek flats, about 4,050 feet west 

of southeast corner of sec. 9, T. 6 N., R. 16 E. Boggy shale, nodular lead-gray 

argillaceous limestone that weathers yellow brown and is about 225 to 250 feet 

above the Secor coal.

8044. Canadian quadrangle, about 5 miles north and 2 miles east from North 

McAlester, along a road about 1,700 feet north and 2,300 feet west from southeast corner of sec. 34, T. 7 N., R. 15 E. Boggy shale, noncalcareous micaceous 

green siltstone in a sandstone unit, about 600 to 800 feet above the Secor coal.

8045. Canadian quadrangle, same locality and horizon as 8034.

8046. Canadian quadrangle, about 4 miles south and 3# miles west from 

Blocker, on south side of a small stream, about 1,000 feet west of a country road 

about 2,750 feet west and 1,275 feet south from northwest corner of sec. 8, T. 6 N., 

R. 16 E. Boggy shale, shales above and within 15 inches of the top of the. Secor 

coal in a 5-foot zone of black fissile shale that immediately overlies the Secor coal.

8047. Canadian quadrangle, about half a mile south and \Yz miles east from 

the present store at Scipio (which is about 1 mile south and half a mile west from 

the place where Scipio is shown on the topographic map), on west side of a hill, 

along a roadside ditch on north side of road that runs along the north line of sec. 

33, T. 7 N., R. 13 E., 1,100 feet west of northeast corner of sec. 33. Thurman 

sandstone, yellow-brown sandstone about 130 feet above base.

8048. Canadian quadrangle, about a quarter mile north and half a mile east 

from present store at Scipio, about 28 to 30 feet below north westernmost point on 

an isolated hill and near west section line of sec. 28, T. 7 N., R. 13 E., about 1,000 

feet south of northwest corner. Thurman sandstone, thin yellow-brown nodular 

ferruginous bed in a shaly zone about 40 feet below top.

8049. Canadian quadrangle, slightly less than half a mile north of present 

store at Scipio, in roadside ditch south of and below an isolated hill, on east side of 

a north-south road that runs through the center of sec. 29, T. 7 N., R. 13 E., 400 

feet south of the north line of sec. 29. Thurman sandstone, ironstone nodules from 

a zone about 40 feet below top.

8050. Canadian quadrangle, about 2% miles north and 2y2 miles east from 

present store at Scipio, along a roadside ditch on a hillside 30 to 40 feet above a 

draw and on north side of a road along north line of sec. 14, T. 7 N., R. 13 E., 

about 400 feet east of the northwest corner. Thurman sandstone, bluish-gray 

to greenish-gray shale, which weathers yellow brown, about 30 feet above base.

8051. Canadian quadrangle, about half a mile south and iy2 miles east from 

present store at Scipio, roadside ditch about 200 feet east and 5 feet below crestof a hill, across road from a house, on south side of a road along the north line 

of sec. 34, T. 7 N., R. 13 E., about 600 feet east of northeast corner. Thurman 

sandstone, medium-grained yellow-brown sandstone about 65 feet above base.
192 SOUTHERN PART OF OKLAHOMA COAL FIELD

8054. Canadian quadrangle, about 3% miles south and 2 miles west from 

Indianola, on highest point of a bald hill about 1,800 feet west and 1,150 feet north 

from southeast corner of sec. 3, T. 7 N., R. 14 E. Thurman sandstone, tan sandstone about 190 feet above base.

8056. Canadian quadrangle, about half a mile east and 5}£ miles north from 

present store at Scipio, along an approximately north-south road 150 feet west and 

600 feet north from northeast corner of sec. 32, T. 8 N., R. 13 E. Stuart shale, 

ferruginous nodular bed in shale zone about 50 feet above base.

8057. Canadian quadrangle, about half a mile east and 5 miles north from present store at Scipio, along road north of a school, on east line of sec. 32, T. 8 N., 

R. 13 E., about 2,500 feet south of northeast corner. Stuart shale, float of a tan 

saccharoidal sandstone that is probably from a sandstone about 175 feet above 

base.

8059. Canadian quadrangle, about 4% miles north and 1% miles east from present store at Scipio, thin sandstone 20 to 30 feet below a thick sandstone that caps 

the southern part of a hill 700 feet west and 1,000 feet north from southeast 

corner of sec. 33, T. 8 N., R. 13 E. Stuart shale, thin tan sandstone about 145 

feet above base.

8060. Canadian quadrangle, about half a mile north and 1% miles west from 

present store at Scipio, roadside ditch north of an isolated hill and on south side of 

a road along north side of sec. 30, T. 7 N., R. 13 E., about 800 feet east of northwest corner. Stuart shale, ferruginous nodular zone in shale about 106 feet above 

base.

8061. Canadian quadrangle, about half a mile east and 3}4 miles north from 

present store at Scipio, at top of an isolated hill about 1,050 feet east and 1,500 

feet south from northwest corner of sec. 9, T. 7 N., R. 13 E. Thurman sandstone, 

thin light-brown fine-grained sandstone about 175 feet above base.

STRUCTURE

In the southeastern half of the Quinton-Scipio district the rocks 

exposed at the surface are folded into anticlines that trend approximately east-northeast. These anticlines are separated by relatively 

broad, flat synclines. In the northern part of the district the rocks 

dip gently northwestward, but the regional dip is interrupted by a few 

broad open folds and terraces without distinct structural trend. In 

the western part of the district there is a broad, low anticline, whose 

axis extends only slightly east of north through the western part of 

Tps. 6, 7, and 8 N., R. 14 E. The structural features exhibited by the 

rocks exposed at the surface are represented on the structure-contour 

map (pi. 13) by the contour lines in black. Each of these lines is so 

drawn as to include all points of equal altitude above or below sea 

level on the horizon contoured, successive lines being drawn at intervals of 50 feet in altitude.

In the course of the field work it was early noted that observed dips 

on individual outcrops, even wkere they appeared to be reliable, were 

much in excess of the dips computed from altitudes determined at 

several places on traceable lithologic units. In the compilation of the 

structure map (and also of the stratigraphic sections) the computed 

dips were used in preference to observed outcrop dips. On the Flowery Mound anticline, chiefly in the northeastern part of T. 6 N., R.
QUINTON-SCIPIO DISTRICT

15 E., the outcrops are rather narrow strike ridges, and it was impossible to obtain altitudes on the beds at widely spaced points. The 

contouring of the flanks of that anticline is therefore based largely on 

the most reliable dips observed.

In the eastern half of the area the Secor coal was selected as the 

horizon on which to draw contours, representing the structural deformation of the surface rocks. The stratigraphic intervals to various, 

sandstones outcropping above and below the coal are known with 

some accuracy, and the coal crops out in at least part of nine townships in the eastern part of the district. The contours were drawn 

wholly on the basis of dips and altitudes of the beds exposed at the 

surface.

The thickness of the portion of the Boggy shale exposed above the 

Secor coal in the northwestern part of T. 6 N., R. 15 E., is, however, 

considerably greater than the thickness exposed in Tps. 7 and 8 N., 

R. 16 E. (See columnar sections, pis. 14, 15, and 16.) To have contoured the western half of the district on the Secor coal would therefore have involved the application of convergence to the structure of 

the surface rocks, and the westward component of such convergence 

would have been based on unsatisfactory data. In addition, the application of convergence, the surface dips being low, would have produced 

a materially altered picture of the structural relations as seen in,the 

surface rocks. For this reason it was thought desirable to contour 

the western half of the district on a higher horizon. For convenience 

an arbitrary horizon was chosen 650 feet below the base of a persistent 

sandstone in the Boggy shale, which is 400 to 600 feet below the base 

of the Thurman sandstone. This persistent sandstone in the Boggy 

crops out on both sides of Coal Creek in Tps. 6 and 7 N., R,. 15 E., 

and between Gaines and Mathuldy Creeks inT. 7N., R. 16E. (See 

pi. 12.) The selection of the horizon 650 feet below the base of this 

sandstone brings the contours into numerical conformity with the 

contours on the Secor coal along the boundary between T. 8 N., R. 

15 E., and T. 8 N., R. 16 E. To the south the large alluvial area along 

Gaines Creek separates the contours drawn on different horizons. In 

the southeastern part of T. 7 N., R. 15 E., and the northern part of 

T. 6N., R. 15E., the contours are drawn on the horizon of the Secor 

coal within the line of the outcrop of the coal around the Flowery 

Mound anticline. In sees. 5-8, T. 6 N., R. 15 E., the contours are 

drawn on the arbitrary horizon above described, and in the intervening 

portion of the township up the flanks of the Flowery Mound anticline 

as far as the line of the crop of the Secor coal, the contours are gradually adjusted to the lower datum, being thus strictly "strike lines" 

rather than structure contours.

During the progress of the mapping, offsetting of sandstone beds 

and other evidences of faulting were observed at many localities, but

149779 38 1
194 SOUTHERN PART OF OKLAHOMA COAL FIELD

attempts to trace such faults were futile. Although the amounts of 

displacement were rarely determinable, the faults in the district are 

all believed to be small. The presence of faults inferred in the field 

at two localities one in sec. 11, T. 6 N., R. 13 E., and the other in 

sec. 21, T. 8 N., R. 17 E. was confirmed by the office study of the 

data on altitudes. These faults are shown on the areal map (pi. 12) 

and the structure-contour map (pi. 13). The larger one, that in sec. 

21, T. 8 N., R. 17 E., has a throw of slightly more than 100 feet.

The east-northeastward-trending anticlines of the southeastern part 

of the district include the Enterprise, Kinta, Burning Springs, Flowery 

Mound, and Lake McAlester anticlines.

The Enterprise anticline enters the district near the center of the 

north line of T. 8 N., R. 18E., and extends southwestward to a point 

near the center of the west line of that township. Although the axis 

cannot be accurately drawn farther to the west, the anticline appears 

to continue westward as a very broad plunging arch with a suggestion 

of northwestward trend. The Russellville syncline, so called from the 

post office of that name in the western part of sec. 20, T. 8 N., R. 18 E., 

roughly parallels it on the south.

The Kinta anticline enters the district in the northeast corner of 

T.7N.,R. 18E., and extends southwestward through that township 

and westward through the central part ofT.7N.,R. 17E. The west 

end of the Kinta anticline is separated from the east end of the Flowery Mound anticline by a broad flat saddle, but the anticlinal axis 

appears to extend more directly into a northwestward-plunging nose, 

which in turn merges into a broad northward-plunging anticlinal fold. 

The Panther Mountain syncline, so named from Panther Mountain, 

in sees. 23 and 24, T. 7 N., R. 18 E., lies parallel to and about 2 miles 

south of the axis of the Kinta anticline.

The Burning Springs anticline, named by Hendricks,33 extends eastnortheastward from the McAlester district through the northern part 

of T. 6 N., R. 17 E.

The Flowery Mound anticline, so named from the school in sec. 2, 

T. 6 N., R. 15 E., extends east-northeastward through the northeastern part of T. 6 N., R. 15 E., into the southwestern part of T. 7 N., 

R. 16 E. Its eastern termination is separated by a broad flat saddle 

from the west end of the Kinta anticline and by a similar saddle from 

a nose plunging northwestward from the Burning Springs anticline.

The Talawanda syncline, named by Hendricks,34 extends northeastward from the McAlester district into the northwestern part of 

T. 6 N., R. 16 E.

The axis of the Lake McAlester anticline extends slightly north of

east through sees. 4 and 5, T. 6 N, R, 14 E,; sees, 33-36, T, T N,

» Hendricks, T. A., op. cit.. p. 45. 

»Idem, p. 45.
QUINTON-SCIPIO DISTRICT 195

R. 14 E.; and sec. 31, T. 7 N., R. 15 E. Its eastern end is separated 

by a broad saddle from a nose plunging northwestward from the 

Flowery Mound anticline.

The steepness of the folding diminishes from east to west and from 

south to north. The five anticlines described have nevertheless a 

common habit or form. The crown of the anticline is broadly rounded 

.for a width of about a mile, but on each flank the dips increase rather 

abruptly away from the axis. The dips are steeper on the north 

flank, but this belt of steep dips is narrow, and the beds appear to 

.flatten out rather abruptly away from the anticlinal axis.

In general, the distance from the anticlinal axis to the synclinal 

.-axis on the north is greater than that to the synclinal axis to the south.

-This fact and the relative steepness of the north flanks result in a 

progressive decrease northward in the altitudes of the anticlinal 

f crests. The synclines of the district are broad and shallow, and 

the precise location of their axes is difficult to determine.

The structural features described are clearly related to the Ouachita 

"Mountain orogeny. In their east-northeast alinement and structural 

form they resemble the sharper and more highly compressed folds

-that lie to the south. In the western part of the Quinton-Scipio 

district, however, the principal structural feature has a trend only

-slightly east of north. This is the Lilypad Creek anticline, so named

tin this report from the small creek in the western part of T. 7 N.,

R. 14 E., which drains southward near the crest of part of the anti-

-cline. The east flank of this fold is somewhat steeper than the west 

jflank. The highest part of the fold, on which there is a closure of

-more than 200 feet in the surface rocks, lies in sec. 6, T. 6 N., R. 14 E., 

in line with the westward prolongation of the Lake McAlester anti-

-cline. The anticline extends northward to the Canadian River, and 

.the trend is apparently continued northward through Mclntosh

-.County by a fault extending somewhat east of north through R. 14 E.

-in that county.36 This fault is downthrown to the east about 200 feet. 

'The nearly northward trend of the Lilypad Creek anticline is duplicated farther east in the Quinton-Scipio district by an anticlinal nose 

;that plunges northward from the west end of the Kinta anticline in 

Tps.7 and 8 N., R. 16 E., and possibly by a sharp northward bend of 

the Russellville syncline in T. 8 N., R. 18 E. Although these features

-may possibly reflect the influence of a different system of folding

-superimposed upon the folds that are clearly related to the Ouachita

-orogeny, there is within the limits of the district nothing to show that

-they may not simply be a response to a component of stress present 

during the Ouachita folding.

The rocks exposed at the surface in the Quinton-Scipio district 

..appear to have been folded during a single period of deformation. No

85 Clark, E. W., Oil and gas in Oklahoma, Mclntosh County: Oklahoma Geol. Survey Bull. 40, vol.ti 

3,1930.
195 SOUTHERN PART OF OKLAHOMA COAL FIELD

change of dip at the contact between the Savanna sandstone and the 

Boggy shale, at the contact between the Boggy shale and the Thurman 

sandstone, or at any horizon within the Boggy shale was observed.

COAL

GENERAL FEATURES

Coal has been mined intermittently on a small scale in the QuintonScipio district since 1902 or earlier. Most of the coal that has found 

a commercial outlet has come from strip pits or small slope mines 

most favorably located near the Fort Smith & Western Railway. 

This railroad has at times consumed coal produced in this district, 

and considerable quantities have also been shipped out. The coal 

is a bituminous coal of good quality, but competition with thicker or 

more advantageously located coals in adjoining districts has, for the 

most part, been too keen to permit successful exploitation of the coal 

of this district except for short periods of time. A small amount of 

"dead coal", obtained chiefly from small strip pits, was sold to thesmelter at Quinton while it was in operation. "Dead coal", the result 

of the action of weathering, has practically no fuel value, but it is used 

in smelting as a reducer of zinc oxide.36 At present the coal of the 

district is used only locally.

The only coal bed of this district that has been mined commercially 

is the Secor coal, which lies 450 to 500 feet above the base of the Boggy 

shale. The outcrop of this coal is shown on plate 12. Other coals 

in the Boggy formation above and below the Secor coal have been 

prospected at various places but are apparently of minable thickness 

for only short distances. The outcrop of a coal above the Secor 

coal is shown in the eastern part of T. 8 N., R. 17 E., and in sec. 6,. 

T. 8 N., R. 18 E. The outcrop of a coal below the Secor is shown in

parts of Tps. 6 and 7 N., R. 16 E., and T. 6 N., R. 17 E. The thickness and distribution of coal in the Quinton-Scipio district are described by townships on the following pages. Natural exposures of

the coal are rare, but it has been prospected extensively, and in many 

of the prospect pits the coal is partly or wholly exposed. Figure 9 

shows sections of the Secor coal measured at localities indicated by 

the corresponding numbers on the map (pi. 12).

TOWNSHIP DESCRIPTIONS

T. 8 N., R. 18 E.

The Secor coal crops out extensively in the southern and eastern parts of 

T. 8 N., R. 18 E., and also in sec. 6 and the NWJ4 sec. 5. In the NWJ4 sec. 11 a 

small slope exposes, near the mouth, 18 inches of coal, with a shale roof and shale

and sandstone floor, but the coal bed may be thicker, as it is described by residents

as being 28 inches thick. In the NE]4 sec. 15 the coal has been mined at two small 

strip pits and from a small tunnel at locality 1, where there is exposed 24 inches

"Young. C. M.. Kansas coal, Dt. 1. Occurrence and production: Kansas Univ. Eng. Bull. 13, q. Ill, 1925.
QUINTON-SCIPIO DISTRICT 197

 of coal with a shale parting half an inch thick. (See pi. 12 and fig. 9.) In the 

;SE}£ sec. 15 there is only 20 inches of coal. In the southern part of sec. 23 the

coal has been stripped on a larger scale than at the localities above mentioned.

At locality 3 (pi. 19, B) there is 25 inches of coal, but there is also a parting of

carbonaceous shale 7 inches thick. Localities 4 and 5, in the SE^ sec. 23, are 

;in the Charles Glenn strip pit, which has shipped out as much as 100 cars of coal

a year but since 1920 has sold coal only to the smelter at Quinton and for local

fuel. Another section of the coal in this pit is given on page 203, and a chemical 

.analysis of the coal is recorded on page 202. The bed is described by Mr. Glenn as

containing an upper bed of coal 18 inches thick, a dirt layer 8 inches thick, and a 

"lower bed 8 inches thick. He also states that there is a coal bed 12 to 14 inches

thick from 20 to 25 feet above the Secor coal and another bed 40 to 50 feet below it.

The Barnes slope mine, in the northern part of sec. 25, has not been operated for 

.many years, and no section of the coal was measured. The Garretson mine, in the

SEJ4 sec. 25, has been operated within the last decade and is reported to have pro-

 duced 5,000 tons in 1924, most of which was shipped out of the district. The 

coal is reported to have consisted of an upper coal bed 18 to 24 inches thick, which 

in places was bony, a shale bed 4 to 12 inches thick, and a lower coal bed 8 to 10 

inches thick. At two small slope mines in the southern part of sec. 26 and a 

strip pit in the NE}£ sec. 27 the coal was not accessible to measurement. At 

locality 6, in the NE}£ sec. 27, however, the upper part of the Secor coal is exposed 

:in a strip pit and is 20 inches thick. The lower part of the bed is not exposed. In 

the SE*4 sec. 27, west of the road from Quinton to Enterprise, the Secor coal was 

completely exposed at an abandoned mine at locality 7 and was measured as 22 

Inches thick. This mine and the two to the south, known as the Miller (?) and 

Kimball mines, have not been operated for many years.

The Secor coal has been stripped at several localities in sees. 19, 29, and 30 for 

local use. At locality 8 the coal is not completely exposed but is more than 12 

inches thick. A small pit from which the coal has been stripped for local use

 exposes 21 inches of coal at locality 9, in the SE% sec. 31. The base of a 6-inch

 coal bed lies 23 feet above the top of the Secor coal at this locality and thus corresponds in stratigraphic position with the thin bed above the Secor coal reported by 

Mr. Glenn in sec. 23.

The Secor coal has been stripped for local use at a small pit in the NE}4 sec. 6, 

where it is more than 10 inches thick. In the NWJ4 sec. 6 a coal bed that lies 

.about 200 feet stratigraphically above the Secor coal has been prospected and found 

to be only 10 inches thick.

T. 8 N., R. 17 E.

The Secor coal crops out in the eastern portion of T. 8 N., R. 17 E., around the 

westward-plunging end of the Enterprise anticline, but the outcrop is largely concealed by the alluvium and terrace deposits along Longtown Creek and its tributaries. In the NW)^ sec. 12 the coal has been exposed in a prospect pit from which 

.some coal has been stripped. The coal ranges from 10.to 20 inches in thickness 

within a short distance and is overlain by black carbonaceous shale. A small 

prospect near Longtown Creek, in the western part of sec. 15, exposes the coal. It 

^Iso has been stripped in two pits in the NE}£ sec. 26, and at one of these (locality 

10) the bed is 26 inches thick (pi. 19, A).

About 200 feet above the Secor coal lies a coal bed that has been occasionally

 dug for local use from the bed of Lick Creek in the NW>i sec. 27. The coal is 

reported to be 22 inches thick and is overlain by black shale, near the base of which 

is a fossiliferous limestone a few inches thick. Inasmuch as this limestone is 

exposed in the NE}£ sec. .34, the coal is inferred to be present in this vicinity also, 

probably nearly in the position shown on the map (pi. 12).
198 SOUTHERN PART OF OKLAHOMA COAL FIELD

.? o at

mm:

S fpa&o

- BB

BB
QUINTON-SCIPIO DISTRICT 199 

NORTHERN PART OF T. 7 N., R. 18 E.

The Secor coal is known to crop out only in the northwest corner of T. 7 N., 

R. 18 E. At locality 11, in the NE}4 sec. 6, the coal has been exposed by prospecting and has a thickness of 23 inches. The Secor coal should crop out on the north 

slopes of Panther Mountain in sees. 21 to 24, but no natural exposures were seen, 

nor has it been exposed by prospecting, so far as could be learned. Its inferred 

position in sec. 23 is shown on plate 12.

T. 7 N., R. 17 E.

The Secor coal crops out in the northern half of T. 7 N., R. 17 E., along the 

north side of the Kinta anticline, in a line extending somewhat south of west 

from sec. 12 to sec. 18, and also in the southwest quarter of the township in a 

line partly encircling a large hill that lies in the western part of the Panther 

Mountain syncline. North of Featherston there are two slope mines, neither of 

which has been worked since 1922. The bed at the eastern slope (locality 12) is 

reported to have contained 32 inches of coal.

The strip pit in the west-central part of sec. 30, about a mile south of Blocker, 

was operated before 1910 by the Blocker Coal & Land Co., and some coal was 

shipped out. It is now used only for pick and shovel mining of coal for local use. 

At locality 13 the coal bed is 3 feet 1 inch thick. In the SEJ4 sec. 29 (at locality

14) an old slope mine, now caved in, operated on a bed that was more than 17 

inches thick. Neither the top nor the bottom of this bed is now exposed. In 

the SWJ4 sec. 28 a mine variously known as the Brooks, Buchanan, or McHoma 

Coal Co. mine operated on a considerable scale for several years. It is reported 

to have produced about 8,000 tons of coal in 1925 and continued to ship coal 

until 1927. A section measured near the mouth of the abandoned slope (locality

15) shows 32 inches of coal in the bed. An analysis of the coal from this mine 

and a section measured 500 feet in from the mouth in 1926 are given on pages 202 

and 203. In the northwest corner and the SEJ4 sec. 33 there are other abandoned 

slopes. At the latter locality, where only a few tons has been taken out for local 

use (locality 16), the bed contains in all 39 inches of coal.

NORTHERN PART OF T. 6 N., R. 17 E.

In the part of T. 6 N., R. 17 E., that was mapped the Secor coal crops out in 

sees. 5 and 6, on the north flank of the Burning Springs anticline. At locality 

17 a few tons of coal has been taken out of a small slope, which is now abandoned. 

A coal 50 to 75 feet below the Secor coal has been prospected in a small pit near 

the center of sec. 6. This lower bed has a thickness of at least 26 inches at this 

locality.

T. 7 N., R. 16 E.

The Secor coal in T. 7 N., R. 16 E., crops out near the town of Blocker, around 

the westward-plunging end of the Kinta anticline, in sees. 13, 14, 23, 25, and 26, 

and also in the southwestern part of the township, on the north flank of the 

Flowery Mound anticline.

In the SW}4 sec. 13, 1 mile north of Blocker, a slope mine opened by Pollock & 

Jerome and subsequently operated by the Tri-State Coal & Coke Co. has shipped 

out coal but is now abandoned. This is also known as the C. M. Lee mine. 

The thickness of the coal bed in this mine could not be determined, nor could it 

be measured in two abandoned slope mines in the southeastern part of sec. 14. 

In the NWJ4 sec. 23 a large strip pit, called the Mason or Heisel pit, was operated 

by the Midway Coal Co. from 1922 to 1925 and produced coal that was sold to 

the Fort Smith & Western Railway and also shipped out of the district. This 

pit is not now in use. The Lee strip pit, in the NE# sec. 26, was operated intermittently from 1923 to 1927, selling coal chiefly to the railroad. A small slope
200 SOUTHERN PART OF OKLAHOMA COAL FIELD

was started in the pit, and one carload of coal was produced in 1933. At present 

the coal is used only locally. The coal is reported to run 32 inches in thickness 

and in places to reach 42 inches. The Leflore pit, in the eastern part of sec. 25, 

was opened in 1902 and operated intermittently until 1909, selling coal chiefly 

to the Fort Smith & Western Railway. The coal now finds only small local use.

At locality 18, in the SWJ4 sec. 35, an abandoned tunnel in the Secor coal and 

outcrops nearby show that the coal is 38 inches thick. In the SW}4 sec. 27, at 

locality 19, the Secor coal is 30 inches thick in a small prospect pit. In the 

SE>4 sec. 29 the coal has been prospected at several localities, and in the Lochmanese mine, a small timbered slope, the coal is from 24 to 28 inches thick. This 

mine is now operating on a small scale and supplies some coal to Crowder and 

Quinton. An analysis of the coal and a section 30 feet in from the mouth of the 

slope, measured in 1926, are given on pages 202 and 203. At that time the mine 

was operated by the Crowder Coal Co. There is an abandoned slope mine on the 

Secor coal in the western part of sec. 31, but no information on the thickness of the 

coal at that place is available.

About 30 feet stratigraphically above the Secor coal, at localities 19 and 20 

and elsewhere in the southern part of T. 7 N., R. 16 E., there is a coal bed that 

ranges from 10 to 13 inches in thickness. This thin coal is presumably to be 

correlated with the thin bed 20 to 25 feet above the Secor coal in T. 8 N., R. 18 E., 

above described.

About 150 feet below the Secor coal in sees. 32 and 33 a coal bed crops out at a 

few places. In the northeast corner of sec. 33 it has been stripped for local use 

and is reported to be 30 inches thick. Elsewhere it is believed to be only a 

thin bed.

NORTHERN PART OF T. 6 N., R. 16 E.

In the part of T. 6 N., R. 16 E., here mapped, the Secor coal crops out in sees. 

1 and 2, dipping northward on the north flank of the Burning Springs anticline, 

and in sees. 3, 4, and 7 to 10, dipping westward and southward into the east end 

of the Talawanda syncline. The only exposure of the Secor coal in the northeast 

corner of this township.is in the NWJ4 sec. 2, where a small abandoned slope 

(locality 21) exposes from 3 feet to 3 feet 4 inches of coal. Another coal bed that 

lies 50 to 75 feet below the Secor coal is 1 foot thick in the NWJ4 sec. 2. At 

locality 22, in the eastern part of sec. 3, some coal has been obtained for local use 

from a small prospect pit, and at locality 23 there is a natural exposure, where 

the coal bed is 30 inches thick.

T. 7 N., R. 15 E.

The Secor coal crops out in sees. 35 and 36, T. 7 N., R. 15 E., on the north 

flank of the Flowery Mound anticline, dipping about 20° NW. At locality 24, 

in sec. 36, it is 24 to 30 inches thick. At locality 25, in the southwest corner of 

sec. 36, and at locality 26, in the southeast corner of sec, 55, the coal is 27 or 28 

inches thick in small slopes, now abandoned. About 25 feet above the Secor coal 

is a coal bed 10 inches thick, exposed north of locality 24, and about 200 feet 

above this coal a still higher coal bed is exposed in the NEJ4 sec. 36, in the bluff 

of Coal Creek. This coal is from 9 to 1.2 inches thick and is succeeded by a thin 

sandstone, and that in turn by a limestone from 8 to 10 inches thick. About 25 

feet stratigraphically higher is a coal bed 9 inches thick, with black shale above and

below

NORTHERN PART OP T, 6 N., R. 15 E.

In the part of T. 6 N., R. 15 E., here mapped, the Secor coal crops out in sees. 

2, 3, 10, 11, and 12, where it encircles the southwestward-pllinging end Of the 

Flowery Mound anticline. In the SE]4 sec. 3, at locality 27, a small mine is now 

operating on a 24-inch bed of coal. A few hundred feet west of this mine and 20
. QUINTON-SCIPIO DISTRICT 201

feet stratigraphically above the Secor coal is a 13-inch coal, which is not utilized. 

In the SWJ4 sec. 10 there are five small slope mines. In one of these, at locality 

28, the coal is 26 inches thick, and at locality 29, where the coal is now being 

worked for local use, it is 28 inches thick. In the SWJ4 sec. 12 the coal 20 feet 

above the Secor coal has been prospected but is not now exposed.

PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL CHARACTERISTICS

The coal of the Quinton-Scipio district is a bituminous coal of good 

quality. It consists chiefly of alternating bands of bright or dull coal 

but contains some partings of charcoal, pyrite, clay, and bone. The 

coal is tough and blocky, so that a relatively small percentage of 

"fines" is produced. The amount of sulphur is rather high.

The quality of coal is most commonly represented by the proximate analysis, in which the percentages of volatile matter (combustible 

gases), fixed carbon (combustible solid matter), moisture, and ash 

(noncombustible materials) are determined. In addition, the heating 

value is given in calories or, more commonly, in British thermal units. 

The ultimate analysis of a coal is supplementary to the proximate 

analysis and shows the percentages of sulphur, hydrogen, carbon, 

nitrogen, and oxygen in the sample. Both forms of analysis are given 

for three conditions of the coal as received, moisture-free, and 

moisture- and ash-free. In addition to the analysis of the coal, the 

softening temperature of the ash is frequently determined. This is the 

temperature at which the ash produced in burning the coal begins to 

melt and form a slag.

The available analyses of mine samples of coal from the QuintonScipio district are given in the following tables.
Chemical analyses of mine samples of Secor coal from 

[From Bur. Mines. Tech. Paper 411]

Mine and locality

1. Crowder Coal Co.'s mine (now Lochmanese mine), 7 miles southeast of 

Crowder in SEM sec. 29, T. 7 N., R 

16 E. Sample collected by H. I. 

Smith and. W. W. Fleming, TJ. S. 

Qeol. Surrey, July 29, 1926 (30 feet 

from surface). 

2. McHoma Coal Co.'s mine (also known 

as Brooks or Buchanan mine), 2 

miles southwest of Featherston, in 

SWH sec. 28, T. 7 N., R. 17 E. 

Sample collected by H. I. Smith and 

W. W. Fleming, U. S. Qeol. Survey, 

July 28, 1926 (500 feet from pit mouth) . 

3. C. E. Qlenn mine, 2 miles north of 

Quinton, in SE}4 sec. 23 and NEV4 

sec. 26, T. 8 N., R. 18 E. Sample 

collected t»y H. I. Smith and W. W. 

. Fleming, TJ. S. Qeol. Survey, July 

28, 1926 (3O feet undergound in strip 

pit).

Laboratory no.

A23798 

A23795 

A23797

Condition

M oisture- and ash-free.

Moisture- and ash-free.

Moisture-and ash-free -

Proximate

Moisture

2.4

2.7

2,4

Volatile 

matter

36.8 

37.7 

41.7

38.6 

39.7 

45.3

36.3 

37.2 

43.5

Fixed 

carbon

51.5 

52.8 

58.3

46.6 

47.8 

54.7

47.2 

48.4 

56.5

Ash

9.3 

9.5

12.1 

12.5

14.1 

14.4

NOTE. Measured sections of the coal in these three mines are given on the following page. 1, Crowder 
QUINTON-SCIPIO DISTRICT 203 

1. This bed was measured as described below: Ft. in.

Coal and "sulphur" (not included in sample) _____ _._ __ %

Coal. _._-._---- - --------------- 1 11

Thickness of-bed _____......_.. -. __. 2 2%

Thickness of sample.___________________________ 2 1 $

. This bed was measured as described below:

Coal-..------------------------.------.-----.--. 7

"Sulphur".band (not included in sample)_- _ - _ ._ %

Coal.----..---.-.--------------.-.------------..--- 6#

Soft shale (not included in sample)-___-----__---_____. 8

Coal--.-..---...-----.------------------------- 1 4^

Sulphur (not included in sample)______________________ %

Coal----.--------------------.--------------.-.-- 5}_

Thickness of bed.._-___...............___ 3 8

Thickness of sample._____ . - _ 2

3. This bed was measured as described below: 

Roof, shale. 

Coal----.---------.------.-......--------..--.. 1

Shale (not included in sample)________________________ 9

Bone (not included in sample)__ ....................i 4

CdaL _ --- ___- - -.--------_ 1

"Sulphur" streak.

Coal.... ... _ -- - -- ---.- _ 18

Thickness of bed..._______......._.._ 3 2}_

Thickness of sample.___ __--- - _ --_ - 2 \%

There is also available a record of analyses of coal delivered from 

the Quinton-Scipio district during the Government fiscal year from 

July 1,1923, to July 1,1924. These analyses were made from samples 

of not less than 1,000 pounds, systematically collected by taking 

«qual increments at regular intervals throughout the delivery, and 

subsequently reduced by proper sampling methods to samples of 

laboratory size. The coal thus sampled from the Quinton-Scipio 

district is recorded 37 as mined from the Blocker No. 1 mine, near 

Blocker. This coal may have come from the large strip pit in the NW# 

sec. 23, T. 7 N., R. 16 E., locally known as the Heisel or Mason pit 

and stated to have been operated by the Midway Coal Co. of Pittsburg, Kans., from 1922(?) to 1925.

r Analyses of Oklahoma coals: Bur. Mines Tech. Paper 411, pp. 56, 57, 1928.
204 SOUTHERN PART OF OKLAHOMA COAL FIELD

I

"e 

 8

1

SoS ^

n-l 0 .

H CriJ.Si

C«5CO

oood"

oo

t- CO 

IMCO

O500

COM3 

00 t^

of-*

§

a o

.g 

L, a r*

O.O

Sg
QUINTON-SCIPIO DISTRICT 205

OIL AND GAS POSSIBILITIES AND STRATIGRAPHY 

AND STRUCTURE OF ROCKS NOT EXPOSED

By H. E. ROTHROCK 

HISTORY OF DRILLING

One of the earliest attempts to develop oil or gas in northern 

Pittsburg County, Okla., was made south of Featherston by the 

Choctaw Oil Co. The test well.was put down in the southwest 

corner of the SE% sec. 34, T. 7 N., R. 17 E. It was abandoned as a 

dry hole on July 12,1909, at a depth of 2,112 feet.

The records show no further development until 1914, when the 

discovery of gas near Ashland, in the southwestern part of the county, 

attracted the attention of operators to the possibilities of gas elsewhere in the county. Two test holes were drilled near the town of 

Scipio, in sec. 29, T. 7 N., R. 13 E., by the Choctaw Oil & Gas Co. 

Shortly thereafter development was begun on the Lilypad Creek 

anticline, at the west end of Lake McAlester, where the Gypsy Oil Co.

 drilled three test wells but failed to find commercial quantities of gas.

The scene of operations was shifted to the eastern part of the 

county by the completion, in July 1915, of a gas well on the Short 

farm, in the southeast corner of the NEK sec. 1, T. 6 N., R. 15 E. 

This well was known as the Fish Creek well and was drilled by W. S. 

Weimer. The Choctaw Natural Gas Co. laid a line from the well to 

the city of McAlester, which abandoned its coal-gas plant in favor of 

natural gas.

In September 1915 D. Nottage completed a gas well near the center

 of the SWtfNWtf sec. 1, T. 7 N., R. 18 E., about half a mile south of 

the town of Quinton. This well had an initial daily open flow of 25 

million cubic feet of gas, with a rock pressure of about 500 pounds to 

the square inch, and began the development of the series of gas fields 

that occur along the crest of the Kinta anticline. These fields include 

the Kinta field, which lies east of the Quinton-Scipio district, the 

'Quinton field, the Carney field, and the Blocker-Featherston field. 

The Kinta field is not described in this report.

The only other area in which marketable quantities of gas have been 

developed lies northeast of the town of Canadian, in sees. 26 and 32,

 T. 9 N., R. 16 E., and sec. 5, T. 8 N., R. 16 E.

Descriptions of the wells in the producing fields are given in the

 discussion of those fields (pp. 215-242). A list of the other test 

wells,37a as well as some of the important producing wells, is given in 

the table below. The index numbers of the wells in this list correspond 

to numbers shown on plate 13. These numbers are also used in the 

text to identify the wells that are being discussed.

»7 » Since the preparation of this report, the Oklahoma District Oil Co.'s Beeler No. 1, In the NE }4NE ]4 S W J4 

;Sec. 7, T. 7 N., R. 14 E., has been drilled to a depth of 6,130 feet (December 1937). According to personal

 .communications from L. M. Wilshire, this well reached the top of the Morrow formation at a depth of

 4,490 feet, the top of the Cromwell(?) sand at 4,970 feet, and the top of the Wilcox sand at 6,010 feet. The

 .altitude of the surface at the well mouth is 743 feet.
Names, depths, and locations of wells drilled outside of producing gas fields and some w

Index 

number 

on 

pi. 13

1

2

3

5

6

7

8

g

10

11

12

IS

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

OK

26

97

28

29

^0

31

32

33

Company

South Canadian Oil <fe Gas Co . __

C. B. Shaffer _ . ___ _ ... ....

Oklahoma Natural Gas Corporation ..

N. J. Weible. ......... ___._.____.

. do - ..........._..

....do . . .._-

Pattison & Phillips.... ._..__.__..

_... do ......---

N. J. Weible. .- ..............

 do. ---

 do ...- --......_..

....do ............. .........-.

. do . .........

 do . .. .- ......._.

 do . - . .... .

Choctaw Oil & Gas Co ___ ... .....

Gillock Oil Co . .. ..

Cannaday . _ . __ ....... __

H. A. Whitley...... ... ........

Paraffine & Reliance Oil Co..... .....

Apex Oil & Gas Co. ...__ ...

Well 

no.

1

1

1

]

3

1

1

2

1

1

2

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

Farm

Patricho.. ............

Fears. .. _ .....

Weible- 

..... do ....... .....

..... do ... .... .

Price ____ . .........

McDuff ... 

 do ........

Belt .,

- do ..... .........

Smith ..............

Alien. 

Pratt - ....... ...... .

Walter

.....do ..... .... .....

Approximate location '

SEcNWMNWM-- 

C NWMNWM- -

NEcSW^NE^ 

NWeSWMSW^.. 

SWc SEJiSWM -

NEcSEJiSEJi---- 

SWcSE^SEJi-.. 

C E^NWMSWM -

NEc NWKNWJi.....

C E^NWMSEJi.. 

NEc SWMSEM 

C SEJiSW^SEJi -

CNJ^SEJi _ ........

C W^NEMSWM -

NEcNEMSWJi 

C NL NWJ^SE^ 

GEM 

CEHSEc NEMNWMSE&.

CWMSWJ^.. ........

C WLSEMNWK .

SWcNEMSW^ 

C........ .............

CNHNWMNEc NWMNWK -

NWoSWJiSWJi-....

SEcSEJiSWK--- -

NEc SEJ4NEM -

C SE^NW^.. ....

C NWJ£SEJ4 

SEc NWMSWJ^ ...

CSEJi --. 

NWcNEk--, -,

Sec.

OQ

26

26

26

26

26

OC

36

36

00

qo

on

5

5

5

5

5

5

18

9

97

14

OQ

19

13

18

1Q

90

29

4
34

OK

36

07

38

39

40

42

43

45

47

48

49

en

51

52

53

54

55

56

57

58

CQ

60

61

62

63

64

65

66

67

68

69

70

71

W. A. Glimpse 

 do- 

... ..do 

 do ... 

 do. - 

 do 

 do 

N. J. Weible. 

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

3

2

3

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

1

J. McCarty ...........

Wilkinson... . ____ .

Yoho 

McFall. 

 do .

Klug.......... ........

CNJt... ......... ....

CNLSWJiSEJi-- 

NEc SEXNWJi......

NEcSEM-- _ -

NEcSWM ----- -

C WL SWJiSEJi 

C SW^NWJi. .......

SEcSEJi. ............

NEcNEJ^NWM-- 

SWcNWJ^SEM- _ -

NEcNEJi - 

C EL SEJ<NEM- _ -

C WL SWMNWM -

SEc SE^SEJiCNEMSWJ4 ------

C NWMSEM 

C WHSWKNEK --

NEc SEJ^. ...........

C WHNWM 

NWcNEJiSEM 

NWcNW^SEM-- 

C NL SWMNEJ< ..

C NWJiSEJ^. ....

SWc SWM - __ .

NWcSWJiNEM----

NWc NEMNWM --

SWcSWJ£ ...

C N^NEJ< ... _ ..

NEcNEM- - _ -

NEc NEJiSEJi 

SWc SE^SEJi. ......

C N^SWM ....

C NEJiSWJ*..... 

CNWMSEM - -

NWc NWJ4-. ........

CNEMNWJ^.. _.

NWc SWMSWHSWM

CNEMNEHNEH---

24

31

6

1

6

6

7

34

7

28

10

1

6

6

33

9

23

19

21

21

22

24

18

9

10

12

6

7

8

26

34

9

9

9

16

4

14

7

» C, center; c, corner; NL, EL, north line, east line, etc. ' G. S., show o
208 SOUTHERN PART OF OKLAHOMA COAL FIELD 

STRATIGRAPHY OF ROCKS NOT EXPOSED

GENERAL FEATURES

The determination of formation boundaries in the subsurface study 

of this district is based upon drillers' logs, and the inaccuracies inherent 

in such records may be reflected in the geologic interpretation made 

from them. Aside from the water, oil, or gas content of the rock, the 

driller's chief concern is whether the formation is hard and abrasive 

or soft and subject to caving. Under this classification hard rocks, 

such as sandstone, limestone, dolomite, and chert, are often not 

differentiated by the driller. Likewise soft rocks, such as clay, shale, 

marl, and coal, are often undifferentiated. Furthermore, as the 

driller's business is to complete the well quickly, he usually cuts as 

much hole as possible before pulling out the tools, bailing the well, 

and observing the character of the rock penetrated. Thin beds are 

likely to escape notice, particularly soft beds like coal. Accordingly, 

the absence of an expectable coal in a driller's record is not significant, 

unless it is consistently omitted from the records of other wells also. 

Many thick resistant sandstones are logged as limestones, but the few 

thin limestones that occur in the stratigraphic section between the 

Boggy shale and the Atoka formation are seldom reported accurately. 

The subsurface data presented by the drillers' logs are for these 

reasons not wholly satisfactory, but the conclusions here reached are 

thought to be essentially correct, and it is hoped that they will serve 

a useful purpose until more precise data from complete sample logs 

become available. The altitude of some horizons distinguished in 

some of the more productive wells is shown in the following table:

Position, in feet above or below sea level, of horizons identified in wells

Number of well

1. . ....... .

2. ....... -

6.... __ ..

9.-...-.-..

10.........

11.........

19

17.. . ......

20.. .......

91

24.. .......

26.. .......

27. ...... -

Altitude at 

well mouth

520

550

084

632

816

597

585

R95

631

623

fifU

641

796

Top of Thurman

sandstone

+581

Top Of

Boggy shale

+500

+353

Top of Savanna sandstone

-962

-650

-500

-429

-424

-328

-300

-562

ftQl

+381

-544

Top of McAlester 

shale

-1,244

-068?

-459?

-U11

-43

-800

Top of 

Upper 

Hartshorne 

coal or an equivalent horizon

-2, 139?

-1,780?

-1,664?

-1,631?

-1,303?

-1,405?

-1,862

-1, 149

Top of 

Atoka 

formation

-1,850

-1,701

-1,740

-1, 308

-1,537

-1,982

-1,319

Remarks

Top of Morrow formation at

-3, 439 feet

-3,469 feet; Viola lime at 

-4,680 feet.
QUINTON-SCIPIO DISTRICT 209

Position, in feet above or beloiv sea level, of horizons identified in wells Continued

Number 

of well

28.. 

04... 

&... 

41. ...... ..

44.. .......

«... 

'47.. .......

48.... 

50... 

51. ....... .

52. .. ......

53.. 

54... 

55... 

56... 

57.. 

58. ....... .

59. ........

60.........

61... 

62.. . ......

64.........

67.. .......

68.........

69.........

Altitude at 

well 

month

723

823

694

654

622

581

620

562

633

649

668

649

710

793

615

617

734

573

570

568

558

636

768

709

1,009

Top of Thurman sandstone

+547

Top of 

Boggy 

shale

+381

+848

Top of Savanna sandstone

-610

+194

+482

+447

-72?

+389

+573

+614

+401

+569

Top Of 

McAlester 

shale

-882

-76

-189

-183?

+381

+160 -118

-522

-171

-2

j-7d

+145

+363

+397

+505

-234

+658

+598?

+119

Top of 

Upper H artshome 

coal or an equivalent horizon

-2, 182

-2,367?

-1,909

-2, 256

-1,978

-1,249

-1,523

-1,863

-2, 209

-1,736

-1,632

-1,646

-1,545

-1,313

-1,225

-1,115

-1,019

-822

-500

-657

-604

-1,212

-1,293

-1,776

Top Of 

Atoka formation

-2, 387

-2, 051

-1,539

-1,735

-2, 031

-2,317

-1,916

-1,917

-1,971

-1,885

-1,622

-1,425

-1,303

-1,154 -700

-846

-702

-1,412

-1,586

-2,018

Bern arks

-3, 184 feet.

The formations which are revealed by drilling but which do not 

come to the surface in the Quinton-Scipio district range from the 

McAlester shale, of the Pennsylvanian series, to limestone of Ordovician age. Only the uppermost part of the McAlester shale crops out 

in sees. 1, 2, 11, 12, T. 7 N., R. 18 E. The rest of the formation and 

the successively underlying Hartshorne and Atoka formations, also of 

Pennsylvanian age, are penetrated by many wells in the district. 

The Morrow formation, of Pennsylvanian age, was penetrated by the 

ParafBne & Reliance Oil Co/s No. 1 Pratt well, in the northeast corner 

of the SEtfNEtf sec. 13, T. 7 N., R. 12 E., and the Pattison-Phillips 

No. 1 McDuff well, in the center of the SEKSWtfSEX sec. 32, T. 9 N., 

R. 16 E. Only the McDuff .well has penetrated older Paleozoic 

formations.

The surface exposures of the McAlester shale, Hartshorne sandstone, and upper part of the Atoka formation in adjoining areas to the 

south and east have recently been described. 38 The following description of these formations where penetrated by wells in the QuintonScipio district is based almost wholly on a study of the well records 

and accordingly deals chiefly with the thickness and gross lithology of 

the formations.

« Hendricks, T. A., Geology and fuel resources of the southern part of the Oklahoma coal field, Part 1, 

The McAlester district: U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 874-A, pp. 10-16,1937. Wilson, O. W., Jr., Age and correlation of Pennsylvanian surface formations and of oil and gas sands of Muskogee County, Okla.: Am. Assoc. 

Petroleum Geologists Bull., vol. 19, no. 4, pp. 505-508,1935.

149779 38 5
210 SOUTHERN PART OF OKLAHOMA COAL FIELD

MCALESTER SHALE

The McAlester shale lies beneath the Savanna sandstone and 

above the Hartshorne sandstone. The change in lithology between 

the Savanna and the McAlester is known from surface exposures to be 

gradational, but it is sufficiently abrupt to be readily discernible in 

most of the well logs. The McAlester shale in the McAlester district 

has been divided into three parts, upper, middle, and lower,39 and 

these three parts can be recognized in the well records in the QuintonScipio district, most easily in the eastern part of the district, where 

they have average thicknesses of 900, 300, and 400 feet, respectively.

The upper shale is generally logged as blue or light-colored shale, 

but it contains also discontinuous sandy zones. Coals are sometimes 

recorded, but only a coal which, because of its position in the stratigraphic section, is correlated with the Stigler or Upper McAlester 

coal is shown often enough to be useful as a key bed. A coal that 

is probably the Lehigh or Lower McAlester coal is occasionally logged 

at the base of this upper part of the formation.

The middle sandstone and sandy shale part of the formation is 

easily recognized in the eastern part of the district, but its individual 

beds cannot be traced definitely very far north or west. Where it is 

developed best it is predominantly sandstone but contains hi its upper 

half a shale zone from 50 to 100 feet thick. The upper beds of this 

part of the formation are gas-bearing in some wells, but the lower beds 

almost invariably carry a "hole full of water."

The lower shale part of the formation is usually logged as brown or 

dark shale in its upper portion and black shale at the base. The Upper 

Hartshorne coal occurs within this black-shale zone. The coal is 

usually logged in the east half of the area covered by this report, 

but it is not recorded in wells west or north of the Lilypad Creek 

anticline, In the McAlester district 40 the Upper Hartshorne coal lies

from 1 to 50 feet above the base of the McAlester shale, and the top 

of the underlying Hartshorne sandstone may be either a massive 

sandstone OP a sandy shale. It is therefore difficult to locate the 

McAlester-Hartshorne contact precisely in the well records of the 

QuintOn-Scipio district. The interval between the base of the Upper 

Hartshorne coal and the first thick sandstone bed below the coal 

ranges from 0 to 100 feet, though it is not more than 50 feet in most

of the records.

Tue IvtoAlester stial© lias only a, small rarxg© in. -tlxickrLess across the

southern part of the district. In the Carney field it is 1,600 feet thick;

on the Burning Springs anticline it is about 1,900 feet, and in the 

vicinity of Scipio it is about 1,650 feet. In general, the formation

thins northward, being but 800 feet thick in the Pattison-Phillips 

well (no. 11), 2 miles northeast of Canadian. However, the rate of

» Hendrlcks, T. A., op. cit., p. 13. 

« Hendricks, T. A., op. cit., p. 49.
QUINTON-SCIPIO DISTRICT 211

thinning is not regular but is most pronounced over the larger anticlines. On the Flowery Mound anticline the McAlester shale on the 

top of the fold is 1,635 feet thick (well 45), but 1 mile to the east it 

has increased to 1,765 feet 41 (well 48), and 2 miles to the west it. 

amounts to about 1,795 feet (well 44). On the crest of the Lilypad 

Creek anticline the McAlester shale is 1,833 feet thick (well 38), 

whereas well 41, 3/£ miles to the east on the Lake McAlester anticline, 

indicates a thickness of 2,067 feet. Most of the change of thickness 

occurs in the lower part of the formation, for the interval between the 

Stigler or Upper McAlester coal and the top of the formation varies 

but little. (See cross section, pi. 20.)

HARTSHORNE SANDSTONE

The Hartshorne sandstone, which underlies the McAlester shale, 

consists of fine-grained white or light-gray sandstone and gray sandy 

shale. The top of the formation lies from 0 to 50 feet below the 

Upper Hartshorne coal and is recorded in the well logs as sandy shale 

or sandstone.

In. the McAlester district the Hartshorne sandstone grades downward into the Atoka formation, but in areas farther east in Oklahoma 

the contact may locally exhibit erosional irregularity. 42 In most wells 

drilled in the Quinton-Scipio district the underlying Atoka formation 

is easily recognized by the drillers because of its dark-colored shales* 

and the change in lithology is in most places abrupt. The position 

of the top of the Atoka in the wells shows abrupt changes in the thickness of the Hartshorne sandstone. These variations of thickness ara 

of such magnitude and irregularity that they suggest an erosional 

unconformity between the Hartshorne sandstone and the Atoka 

formation.

The Hartshorne is extremely variable in its thickness, which may 

be very slight or as much as 369 feet. The general direction of 

thinning is toward the north and northwest, but local variation occurs 

throughout the Quinton-Scipio district. In the Quinton field the 

Hartshorne sandstone averages 125 feet in thickness, in the Carney 

field 261 feet, in the Blocker-Featherston field 326 feet, whereas in 

the northwestern part of the county it is either entirely absent or its 

lithology has changed to so great an extent that it cannot be definitely 

recognized.

The local variations in the thickness of the formation are shown 

best in the well records from three gas fields. The logs of wells that 

reached the Atoka formation show that the difference between the 

maximum and minimum thicknesses is 79 feet in the Blocker-Featherston field, 244 feet in the Carney field, and 200 feet in the Quinton field.

<> These figures have not been corrected for the difference in angle of dips at the several locations, because 

this correction at the localities cited would not significantly affect the comparison, and it was thought 

preferable to retain the figures as directly derived from well records.

a Hendricks, T. A., personal communication.
212 SOUTHERN PART OF OKLAHOMA COAL FIELD

In the Biocker-Featherston field virtually all of this variation in 

thickness occurs in the lower part of the formation, because the Upper 

Hartshorne coal in most places rests directly on the top of the Hartshorne sandstone. In the Carney field it is impossible to tell how 

much of the variation occurs .at the top and how much at the base of 

the formation, because the reference bed, the Upper Hartshorne coal, 

is present at but few places. In the Quinton field, where the Upper 

Hartshorne coal is usually recorded, the 200 feet of variation in thickness is distributed about equally between the upper and lower parts 

of the formation. Plate 20 illustrates these conditions and suggests 

that the Hartshorne sandstone was deposited on a very irregular 

surface which in the Quinton area had a relief of 100 feet, and that its 

upper surface is also very irregular, possibly owing to intertonguing 

of sandstone and shale in the lower part of the McAlester shale below 

the Upper Hartshorne coal.

The Hartshorne sandstone is the chief gas-producing formation 

in this area but is barren of liquids at atmospheric pressures.

ATOKA FORMATION

The Atoka formation, which lies below the Hartshorne sandstone, 

is logged as dark-blue, black, or dark shale, or shale and shells. It 

has been drilled through by only two wells within the district. In the 

Pafctison-Phillips No. 1 McDuff well (no. 12), in sec. 32, T. 9 N., 

R. 16 E., the top of the formation is not determinable from the driller's 

record but was probably encountered at a depth between 1,905 and 

2,100 feet. The base of the Atoka was found at 4,044 feet, which gives 

an approximate thickness of 2,000 feet for the formation. In sec. 13, 

T. 7 N., R. 12 E., the Paraffine & Reliance Oil Co.'s No. 1 Pratt well 

(no. 28) probably reached the top of the Atoka formation at 2,957 feet. 

This interpretation is based on the correlation of the shallower 

formations. As the base of the formation was encountered at 3,907 

feet, the thickness of the Atoka in this well is about 950 feet.

An eastward component of thickening of the Atoka is thus indicated 

by these two wells. Neither discloses the maximum thickness of the 

formation in this district. The Whitley No. 1 Alien well (no. 26), 

in sec. 8, T. 8 N., R. 18 E., penetrated at least 2,925 feet of the formation. The nearest significant deep test well south of the district is 

the well of the Limestone Oil & Gas Co., 3 miles west of Wilburton 

and 15 miles south of Quinton, in sec. 15,T.5N.,R. 18E. This well 

began drilling about 1,000 feet below the top of the Atoka, and at a 

total depth Of 4)038 feet was still in the same formation, indicating a 

thickness in excess of 5,000 feet at this point.42a The thickness of 

the Atoka at any locality in the area covered by this report is con-

«tt Hendricks, T. A., Qeology and fuel resources of the southern part of the Oklahoma coal field, part 4, The 

Howe-Wilburton district, Latimer and Le More Counties: U. S. Qeol. Survey Bull. 874-D (in preparation).
GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

28

w

6 

W

GS

OS

OS

STUART SHALE

__ '

SANDSTONE

41 44 45 47

BOGGY SHALE

SAVANNA

GS

W

SANDSTONE

Stigler coal

GS

Me ALESTER

W

W

W

300 0

I____L ._ I I

300

Vertical scale

ITOMUETIN art PLATE 20

Horizontal scale

EXPLANATION

Sandstone

GS

SHALE

W

HFW W

56 57 58 59 60 61 62

ATOKA FORMATION

w

W

HFW w

1500 Feet

10 Miles

Gravel Shale Limestone 

HFW-HoIefull of water W-Water G-Gas GS-Gasshow 05-0ilshow

Coal

CORRELATION OF DRILLERS' LOGS OF WELLS IN THE SOUTHERN PART OF THE QUINTON-SCIPIO DISTRICT.
QU1NTON-SCIPIO DISTRICT 213

jectural and probably depends not only upon the rate of thickening 

of the formation but also upon the magnitude of the unconformity 

at its base.

FORMATIONS OLDER THAN THE ATOKA

Rocks below the Atoka formation have been penetrated in this 

district only by the Pattison-Phillips and the Paraffine & Reliance 

Oil Co. wells. (See footnote 37a, p. 205.) Underlying the Atoka in 

these wells is a unit consisting of two thick limestones separated by 

a shale and resting on a sandstone or sandy limestone. This calcareous 

unit is regarded as the Morrow formation, of Pennsylvania!! age. In 

the Pattison-Phillips well the unit was found to be 480 feet thick and 

yielded 3 million cubic feet of gas from the sandy phase near its base. 

In the other well it had a thickness of 380 feet and yielded half a 

million cubic feet of gas in the top and water in the bottom. The 

sandy limestone or sandstone near the base is probably equivalent 

to the Cromwell sand, which contains oil and gas elsewhere in Oklahoma. The remainder of the stratigraphic section was penetrated 

only by the Pattison-Phillips well (no. 12). The following log of that 

well was compiled from sample determinations, scout reports, and 

miscellaneous sources of information:

Partial log of the Pattison-Phillips No. 1 McDuff well, in the center of the 

SWy4 SE% sec. 82, T. 9 N., R. 16 E., Pittsburg County, Okla.

Feel 

Atoka formation-________________________________ 4, 044

Morrow formation.____ _ ________________________ 4, 044-4, 530

Cromwell (?) sand____.____._...___....._.... 4,405-4,530

Fayetteville shale: Dark-gray and black shale_______ 4,530-4,940

Moorefield (?) shale: Dark calcareous gritty shale. __ 4, 940-5, 059

Chattanooga shale: Black shale.__________________ 5, 059-5, 085

Hunton limestone (?): White and buff cherty siliceous

limestone - _ _ _-- _ - - - - 5, 085-5, 213

Sylvan shale: Green shale__--_-_---__-_.-__----.. 5,213-5,263

Viola limestone: White crystalline limestone._-.____ 5,263-5,297

Simpson formation:

Buff dense limestone.--------------.--------- 5, 297-5, 320

Buff arenaceous dolomite with much included

sandstone--_--__-_------_--_------------ 5, 320-5, 343

Hard quartzitic sandstone; oil show_---_---_-__ 5, 343-5, 420

Dolomite--------------------- ----- -.--- 5, 420-5, 440

Hard quartzitic sandstone.___________________ 5, 440-5, 455

Dolomite.-___-____---__-__--_-_____--___- 5, 455-5, 460

Sandstone-.----...------------------------ 5, 460-5, 520

Dolomite----.------ .-------_----------- 5, 520-5, 544

Green shale and sand_______ _______________ 5, 544-5, 650

Sandy limestone___________________________ 5, 650-5, 683

Limestone--- .------ --- - ----------- 5, 683-5, 700

Sand--..-..--..--.-..---------.-----..-- 5, 700-5, 725

Limestone..._______________________________ 5, 725-5, 735

Limestone and green shale.___________________ 5, 735-5, 805

Arbuckle limestone. _______-_-_--- _ _-_-_- __ 5, 805-5, 902
214 SOUTHERN PART OP OKLAHOMA COAL FIELD

STRUCTURE OF ROCKS NOT EXPOSED 

GENERAL. FEATURES

The subsurface structure of the district is shown on plate 13 by 

structure contours on the top of the Upper Hartshorne coal, which is 

the oldest bed that is readily determinable in most of the wells drilled 

in the area. The coal was deposited after most of any irregularities 

that may have been present on the top of the Hartshorne sandstone 

had been eliminated, and hence it is a satisfactory key bed for determining the amount of deformation that has taken place since early 

McAlester time.

The structure on this key bed shows that the rocks have been folded 

into a series of anticlines and synclines, the axes of which coincide 

approximately with those of the folds as shown by the surface rocks.

 (See pi. 13.) The dips on the Upper Hartshorne coal are in most 

places considerably steeper than the dips in the surface rocks, suggesting recurrent periods of deformation. In some places on the flanks of 

the folds the dip on the Upper Hartshorne coal is three tunes as great 

as the dip in the surface rocks. The general trend of the axes of the 

anticlines and synclines is N. 75° E. In the northeastern part of the 

district this trend becomes N. 45° E., but in Tps. 6 and 7 N., R-. 14 E., 

it is almost due east. Over most of the district the folds plunge to 

the west, but toward the western boundary of the district a reversal 

of dip appears in the deeper subsurface formations. The limestones 

of the Morrow formation show a pronounced southeast dip from the 

area northwest of the district toward Scipio.

EFFECT OF CONVERGENCE

In the surface rocks the principal structural features of the district 

are the Kinta, Burning Springs, Flowery Mound, Lake McAlester, 

and Lilypad Creek anticlines and the terrace northeast of the town of

-Canadian. All these features change in character with depth to a 

greater or less degree by the northwestward thinning of the Pennsylvanian sediments. The northwestward thinning of the interval 

between the base of the Savanna sandstone and the top of the Morrow 

formation in eastern Oklahoma has been graphically represented to be 

100 feet to the mile.43 Although this figure is probably representative 

of the area north of the Canadian River, it appears that the rate of 

divergence is increased south of the river as the center of the basin is 

approached. The only conclusive data on this subject in northern 

Pittsburg County come from wells 11 and 28, but additional evidence 

<5an be obtained from the deep well near Wilburton, on the Limestone

Prairie anticline (see p. 212), and from well 26. Although neither of 

these wells reached the limestones of the Morrow, they penetrated 

thick sections of the Atoka. The stratigraphic section at Limestone

«' Clawson, W. W., Jr., Oil and gas in Oklahoma, Coal and Pittsburg Counties: Oklahoma Geol. Survey 

Bull. 40, vol. 3, p. 407, 1930.
QUINTON-SCIPIO DISTRICT 215

Prairie, according to Hendricks,44 contains 2,200 feet of the McAlester 

shale, 300 feet of the Hartshorne sandstone, and more than 5,000 feet 

of the Atoka formation, the thickness of the McAlester, Hartshorne, 

and upper part of the Atoka being obtained by measurement of beds 

exposed at the surface. Comparison of this section with that penetrated by wells 11 and 26 shows that the average rate of thickening 

between the base of the Savanna sandstone and the limestones of the 

Morrow formation is at least 180 feet to the mile in a S. 30° E. direction. The rate of thickening of the interval between the base of the 

McAlester and the top of the Morrow formation was also computed 

and found to be 130 feet to the mile in a S. 50° E. direction. This 

figure, particularly when it is resolved into its north-south and eastwest components of approximately 80 and 110 feet to the mile respectively, is useful in applying convergence to the structure of the Upper 

Hartshorne coal, as shown on plate 13, in order to forecast the position 

of the tops of the folds in the pre-Pennsylvanian rocks. The data 

thus obtained indicate that, unless the Upper Hartshorne coal has a 

north dip of more than 80 feet or a northwest dip of more than 130 

feet to the mile, the anticlines that are shown on the Upper Hartshorne 

coal will not be present in the pre-Pennsylvanian rocks. Furthermore, 

the tops of such gently plunging folds as the Kinta anticline may shift 

westward for considerable distances in the basal Pennsylvanian rocks. 

Steeply dipping anticlines like the Flowery Mound and Burning 

Springs anticlines are not greatly altered in form by applying these 

rates of convergence. In addition, it must be remembered that a 

moderate-sized unconformity in the older rocks on any of these anticlines may cancel completely the computed effect of convergence.

GAS FIELDS ON THE KINTA ANTICLINE 

LOCATION, DISCOVERY, AND DEVELOPMENT

On the west end of the Kinta anticline, in the southeastern part 

of the Quinton-Scipio district, gas has been obtained from a nearly 

continuous strip of land, bearing N. 75° E., along the axis of the anticline, extending from a locality 2 miles southeast of Quinton westward 

to a point within 1 mile of Blocker and lying for the most part in the 

valley formed by the headwaters of Sans Bois Creek and some of its 

tributaries. Small areas of slight or no production divide this strip 

into three fields the Quinton, Carney, and Blocker-Featherston 

fields. The Quinton field is at the east end of the group, in sees. 1,2, 

11, and 12, T. 7 N., R. 18 E., and sees. 6 and 7, T. 7 N., R. 19 E. 

The Carney field is in sees. 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 14, 15, 16, 17, and 18, 

T. 7 N., R. 18 E. The Blocker-Featherston field derives its name 

from the two towns between which it is located and includes sees. 19, 

20, 21, 22, and 24, T. 7 N., R. 17 E. The general characteristics of

44 Hendricks, T. A., personal communication.
216 SOUTHERN PART OF OKLAHOMA COAL FIELD

these fields are so similar and their development has been so closely 

connected that the history and general features of all three will be 

described together before some special features of the individual 

fields are considered.

The Quinton field was discovered by the success of the Nottage 

well, near the center of the SW^NWtf sec. 1, T. 7 N., R. 18 E., and 

only 2 months later the Blocker-Featherston field was discovered 

when the Gladys Belle Oil Co. encountered 7 million cubic feet of gas 

in the Hartshorne sandstone in a well (no. 51) drilled on the Le Flore 

allotment, later known as the Keys or Bassett farm. Drilling in the 

vicinity of these two wells proceeded as markets were developed.

A pipe line was built by the Choctaw Natural Gas Co. from McAlester to Blocker and later to Quinton, where gas was purchased by 

the pipe-line company at a rate of 2}£ cents per thousand cubic feet. 

The producing companies in the field at this time were the Quinton 

Oil & Gas Co. and the Pittsburg Oil & Gas Co. The prospect of 

cheap fuel induced Messrs. L. P. Coblentz, Elmer I. Streich, and 

J. G. Starr to erect a zinc smelter at Quinton, which operated under 

the name of the Quinton Spelter Co. The smelter purchased gas from 

the Choctaw Natural Gas Co. at 3 cents per thousand cubic feet 

until 1918, when the McAlester Coal & Coke Co., which had acquired 

the properties of the Choctaw Natural Gas Co., raised the price to 

6 cents per thousand. This figure has since been maintained, with 

but slight fluctuations. The prospect of 6-cent gas caused the smelter 

to develop its own gas supply through the Quinton Oil & Gas Co. 

and the Pittsburgh Oil & Gas Co., which it had purchased. During 

this realinement of producing and marketing companies, the Quinton 

Relief Oil & Gas Co. was formed to supply the town of Quinton with 

fuel.

In 1921 the Sans Bois Gas Co. entered the area but confined most 

of its operations to the Blocker-Featherston field. In 1922 the 

producing companies were engaged in a proration suit, which was 

settled by order of the Corporation Commission of Oklahoma decreeing that the withdrawals from the field be distributed ratably among 

the producing companies. During the same year the gas market 

was expanded further by the construction of a carbon-black plant at 

Quinton by the Western Carbon Black Co. The Quinton Relief 

Oil & Gas Co. supplied the plant with fuel until 1924, when the use 

of natural gas for the manufacture of carbon black was prohibited

by order Of tne Corporation Commission of Oklahoma.

During the litigation against the manufacture of carbon black the

Carney field was discovered, The discovery well was the Quinton

Spelter Oil & Gas Co.'s No. 1 Amos, near the center of the north line 

of the NWtfSWtf sec. 10, T. 7 N., R. 18 E. The well showed an initial 

open flow of 25 million cubic feet of gas and an initial rock pressure 

of 595 pounds to the square inch from a total depth of 1,786 feet.
QUINTON-SCIPIO DISTRICT 217

An outpost well (no. 56) for this field had been completed in 1923 

by the same compnay in sec. 18, but the gas flow from it was small, 

and its connection with the field is not fully understood.

In the succeeding years the several producing companies were consolidated under the management of the Quinton Spelter Co., and in 

1929 all the gas properties were sold to the Utilities Production 

Corporation. But the development of the Carney field with its 

large wells brought new concerns into the district and raised the same 

question of equitable division of the available market that had been 

raised previously in the Quinton field. This question was settled 

by an order of the Corporation Commission of Oklahoma, which 

required that the amount of gas that should be taken from any well 

in the Carney field should depend (1) upon the ratio of the area of the 

drill site of that well to a unit area of 40 acres, (2) upon the ratio of 

the open-flow capacity of that well to the total open-flow capacity 

of the field, and (3) upon the ratio of the total capacity of the field 

to the total market demand for gas from the field. 

. The rate of development and the number of wells in each field are 

shown in the following table:

Rate of development of fields on the Kinta anticline as shown by number of wells

drilled

Year

1915.. . - 

1916......... ........................

1917. .............................. ..

1918...-...-..... .......... .......

1919.................................

1920 ...............................

1921... ..............................

1922.. ............................. ..

1923. ............................ ....

1924.................................

1925.......... .......................

1926................. ...... .... ......

1927...... ...... ...... ..... 

1928.................... ........ ..

1929.... .. . 

1930........... ......................

1931. ............... .................

1932..... _ __ 

1933........ ........... .......... .

1934.... .............................

1935 i_ .. . 

Total i. .......................

Blocker-Featherston

Gas

1

1

1 

1 

4 

3 

1

1

13

Dry

1 

2

1

1

6

Carney

Gas

1

3 

3 

3 

3 

22 

20 

6 

2 

4 

1

68

Dry

1

1

Quinton

Gas

1 

2 

6 

5

7

4 

3 

3 

8 

1

41

Dry

1 

1

1

1

1

1 

1

11

Total

Gas

1

3 

6 

5

7

4 

3 

5 

8 

2 

4 

7 

6 

4 

22 

20 

6 

3 

4 

1

122

Dry

2 

3

1 

1

1

1

2 

1

1

18

1 To February.

2 Includes wells for which drilling records are not available.

At present the producing companies operating in these fields are 

the Utilities Production Corporation, with headquarters at Tulsa; 

the Public Service Co. of Oklahoma, at McAlester; the Midwestern 

Oil & Gas Co., at Tulsa; and the Choctaw Gas Co., at Quinton. The 

pipe-line companies that serve the fields are the Southwestern Natural
218 SOUTHERN PART OF OKLAHOMA COAL FIELD

Gas Co., with a line north to the distributing system of the Oklahoma 

Natural Gas Corporation; the Public Service Co. of Oklahoma, with a 

line to McAlester; the Oklahoma Natural Gas Corporation, with a line 

east and north to Muskogee; the Tri-Cities Gas Co., with a line south 

to Haileyville and Hartshorne and another east to Wilburton; the 

Central States Power & Light Corporation, with a line to Stigler; and 

S. J. Campbell et al., with a line to the State penitentiary at McAlester.

PRODUCING SANDS

Two gas-producing zones have been developed on the Kinta anticline, one a sand in the middle part of the McAlester shale and^the 

other in the Hartshorne sandstone. The sand in the McAlester shale 

is producing at a depth of 755 feet in the Quinton Oil & Gas Co.'s 

No. 2 Floyd well, in the northeast corner of the SEM sec. 2, T. 7 N., 

R. 18 E. The initial production of this well was 500,000 cubic feet 

of gas at a pressure of 265 pounds. A similar flow was obtained from 

the same horizon, but at a depth of 1,100 feet, in the Quinton Spelter 

Co.'s S. Carney No. 1 well, drilled in the center of the NWJiSEji sec. 

18, T. 7 N., R. 18E. This gas was never utilized, the flow being cased 

off as the well was drilled to the Hartshorne sandstone.

The Hartshorne sandstone is the principal gas-producing formation. 

As a rule, only a part of the formation is productive, but in many 

places it is difficult to differentiate between the barren and the productive zones. In some of the wells a gradual increase of gas is obtamed 

from the top to the bottom of the sand. In most of the wells, however, there are unproductive zones of varying thickness and position 

in the sand. The differences in productivity of the different portions 

of the sand are due principally to differences in the porosity, but the 

zones of different porosity can seldom be correlated, even in adjacent 

wells. The differences in porosity are due in a large measure to differences in the degree of cementation of the sand grains, as is indicated by fragments that are blown from the wells. Some of these 

fragments are megascopically porous and friable; others are dense and 

quartzitic. The sand in the Blocker-Featherston field, according to 

the operators, is notably harder than the sands in the other fields.

Quantitative analyses of the physical characteristics of three samples of Hartshorne sandstone were made in April 1929 by the late 

A. F. Melcher and are presented here through the courtesy of James 

0. Lewis. The samples are believed to have come from the Carney 

field. Mr. Melcher's comments on his analyses were as follows:

The laboratory examination of the three samples of gas sand Submitted SlWCd 

them to be made up of individual grains consisting mainly of quartz with lime, 

silica, and iron cementing material.

The porosity of sample 1 is 12.5 percent; sample 2,16.5 percent; sample 3,19.2 

percent.

The size of grain is fairly uniform in the three samples. The most compact 

sample, sample 1, has slightly the largest grain. Its grains are irregular and very
QUINTON-SCIFIO DISTRICT 219

compactly laid down. Its cementing material consists mainly of lime and silica. 

Sample 2 has not its grains so compactly laid down and has iron as well as lime and 

silica cementing material. The grains of sample 3 are much less compactly laid 

down than the grains of the other two samples. It has lime and silica for cementing material.

Enclosed is the laboratory sheet showing the size of grain and distribution of 

sizes of grains in each sample.

Grain sizes in samples of Hartshorne sandstone

Sieve opening

Millimeter

0.883 

.417 

.208 

.147 

.104 

.074 

.061 

.046

Inch

0. 0328 

.0164 

.0082 

.0058 

.0041 

.0029 

.0024 

.0018

Sieve no.

20 

35 

65 

100 

150 

200 

250 

300 

Through

Sample 1 (porosity 12.5 

percent)

Weight 

(grams)

6.186 

1.142 

.578 

.155 

.051 

.048 

.057

2.127

Percentage 

through 

sieve

8.4 

51.5 

26.0 

7.0 

2.3 

2.2 

2.6

100.0

Cumulative 

percentage

100.0 

91.6 

40.1 

14.1 

7.1 

4.8 

2.6

Sample 2 (porosity 16.5 

percent)

Weight 

(grams)

0.057 

1.139 

1.094 

.325 

.125 

.121 

.157

3.018

Percentage 

through 

sieve

1.8 

37.9 

36.4 

10.8 

4.1 

3.9 

5.1

100.0

Cumulative 

percentage

100.6 

98.2 

60.3 

23.9 

13.1 

9.0 

5.1

Sample 3 (porosity 19.2 

percent)

Weight 

(grams)

0.120 

1.008 

.917 

.226 

.097 

.083 

.129

2.580

Percentage 

through 

sieve

4.7 

. 38.7 

35.5 

8.8 

3.8 

3.5 

5.0

100.0

Cumulative 

percentage

100.0 

95.3 

56.6 

21.1 

12.3 8.5* 

5.0

Drillers in the Carney field report a shale break near the middle of 

the Hartshorne sandstone. The shale is black and concretionary and 

from a few inches to 30 feet thick. The following table gives the 

average depth to the Hartshorne sandstone and summarizes the data 

available on its thickness and lithology in the three fields on the Kinta. 

anticline:

Depth to and thickness of the Harishorne sandstone on the Kinta anticline

Thickness of the Hartshorne sandstone:

Thickness of gas-producing portion of the Hartshorne sandstone:

Minimum. __ ___ __ .--.-----...... __ ....... __ .... _ .

Average thickness of the predominant kinds of rock in the Hartshorne sandstone:

BlockerFeatherston 

field (feet)

2,300

320

369

290

99

240

38

150

99

71

320

Carney 

field (feet)

1,800

261

346

102

86

208

15

60

86

115

261

Quinton 

field (feet)

1,300

125

220

20

27Aft

5

65-

2T

3*

12$

GAS PRODUCTION

No oil has ever been produced from any of these fields. One of the 

wells on the north flank of the Carney field was reported to have
220 SOUTHERN PART OF OKLAHOMA COAL FIELD

yielded a few gallons of oil from the top of the Hartshorne sandstone, 

but no other occurrence of oil could be substantiated.

The gas from these fields is classified by operators as a dry gas. It 

has .a high methane content, as indicated by the following analysis, 

made by the Oklahoma Natural Gas Corporation in 1934:

Analysis of gas from Quinton-Scipio district

Carbon dioxide (C02)_---_---__------------------__.-- 0. 5

Oxygen (02)--___-_-_-------___---------------------- None

Methane (CH4)_........_..___......_................ 95. 0

Ethane (C2H6)-._........__..-. ..-.._.--...... 4. 4

Nitrogen (N)__________-___________-_-__------______-

99.9 

British thermal units per cubic foot.____________________ 1, 035

Gravity________-.__....__......__-------- 0. 5800

The total yield of these fields will never be known, owing to the 

escape of large quantities of gas. However, the metered yield, the 

volume of which is computed at a 2-pound base pressure (2 pounds 

above atmospheric pressure), constitutes the greater part of the output 

and is a matter of record.

In addition to the metered yield an appreciable amount of gas is 

used in drilling. An estimate of this amount can be obtained by 

multiplying the daily consumption of a drilling boiler, which is 70,000 

cubic feet, by the average number of days required to complete a well 

in each of the fields and by the number of wells in each field. Another 

significant addition to the metered yield should be made for gas that 

has escaped during the completion of the well. While the producing 

zone is being penetrated and during subsequent completion operations 

the wells are, of necessity, allowed to flow unrestricted. For the 

smaller wells the gas thus lost may be estimated as amounting to 2 

days' flow; for the larger wells it may amount to only 1 day's flow.

|r) Estimates of the amount of gas used for fuel and the amount escaping^during the completion of the well have been added to the metered 

yield, giving the following total figures as of January i; 1934:

Quinton_-------__---_----__._._-_-__-.______ 30, 005, 720, 000

Carney________._._.._._...____._.__.._ 27, 784, 952, 000

Blocker-Featherston.___-_-___________________ 4, 967, 938,000

Total..._--------------_-_--_-----_--- 61, 858, 610, 000

Other Corrections that Should be added to the known yield arise from 

leaks in the casing-seat, casing-head, and pipe-line connections, gas 

blown into the air during monthly or quarterly tests and during the 

blowing of wells to rid them of water, gas lost through the incomplete 

plugging of noncommercial wells, and fuel used for lease operations. 

These factors are appreciable, because they take place continuously
QUINTON-SCIPIO DISTRICT 221

over a period of several years. However, they are not included in 

the estimate of total production because data are not available.

GAS PRESSURE

The original pressures in the three fields are as follows:

Field

Average

(feet)

1,400

2,050

2,600

Original 

(pounds 

inch)

Well head

520

595

580?

pressure 

per square

Bottom 

of hole 

(computed)

545

621

612T

In the following discussion the term "field" is used to represent an 

area in which is located a reasonably continuous sequence of producing 

gas wells, the maximum area allotted to a well being 40 acres. The 

term "reservoir" is used to indicate all of the sand that contributes gas 

to the wells in the field. References to pressures of individual wells 

represent pressure measurements taken at the well head, and references to pressures of a group of wells represent the numerical average 

of the measurements taken at the well heads, unless it is definitely 

stipulated that some other meaning is intended. The study of the 

relation of gas production to gas pressure of a field should be based 

upon the pressure in the reserv.oir, which would be determined from 

the average of the bottom-hole pressures of the field and the peripheral 

producing zone about the field. Although the bottom-hole pressures 

of the fields on the Kinta anticline could be computed, the pressures in 

the outer limits of the reservoirs are not known. For this reason the 

data available are not thought to be sufficiently precise to warrant 

the use of computed bottom-hole pressures, and in this study numerical 

average well-head pressures are used. Weighted average pressures 45 

of the fields in which the areas of equal pressure, in addition to the 

pressures themselves, are taken into account are not used, because 

they were found to conform very closely to the numerical average 

pressures.

STRUCTURE OF ROCKS NOT EXPOSED

The Quinton, Carney, and Blocker-Featherston gas fields are 

situated along the crest of the Kinta anticline, and accumulation of 

the gas is definitely related to the structure, which on the Upper 

Hartshorne coal is that of a plunging anticline with a sinuous crest. 

(See pi. 13.) This crest coincides with the axis of the surface fold, 

but the dips on the flanks of the subsurface anticline are from one and

« Stephenson, E. A., Problems in proration on the basis of gas energy: Petroleum Development and Technology, Am. Inst. Min. Met. Eng. Trans., 1931. v
222 SOUTHERN PART OF OKLAHOMA COAL FIELD

one-half to two times as steep as the dips at the surface. In the 

Quinton and Carney fields the beds below the surface on the north 

side of the anticline are faulted, with the upthrow to the north. This 

has the effect of broadening the top of the subsurface anticline.

The westward plunge of the anticline is steeper in the areas between 

the gas fields, which lie on terraces along the crest of the anticline. 

The richest accumulations of gas occur on the west ends of these 

terraces and within 200 feet vertically of the top of each terrace.

DRILLING PRACTICE

In the early days of development drilling was done by means of 

the standard derrick and churn drill, but many of the wells are now

 completed with portable equipment of lighter weight. The drilling 

time of a well has been materially reduced, in spite of the use of 

lighter equipment. The average time of completion for the 1,450-foot 

wells in the Quinton field was 1.8 months; the 2,050-foot wells in the 

Carney field, 1.25 months; and the 2,600-foot wells in the BlockerFeatherston field, 2.1 months. Some wells in the Carney and BlockerFeatherston fields have been completed in 3 weeks.

The Hartshorne sandstone is drilled slowly, owing to its hardness 

and to the fact that drilling water can be kept in the hole only with 

difficulty after the gas is encountered. The common practice is to 

allow the gas to blow into the air while the Hartshorne sandstone is 

being drilled. In some of the wells this loss has been obviated by 

filling or "loading" the hole with water to such a point that the 

reservoir pressure is overcome by the weight of the column of water. 

This practice saves the gas, but opinion is divided as to its effect, 

whether harmful or otherwise, on the yield of the well.

The Hartshorne sandstone is usually "shot" in order to increase the 

flow of gas, and the flow from some of the small wells is thereby 

increased as much as seven times, Wells in the Blocker-Featherston 

area were shot with 60 to 100 quarts of nitroglycerin as soon as the 

drilling was finished. In the other fields shooting is done with smaller

 charges to revive a declining well or to increase the initial production 

of a small well.

Three strings of casing are usually used in drilling a well. A short 

string shuts off the water from the sandstones near the surface. A 

second string is used to shut off the "hole full of water" that usually 

occurs in the sandstone member of the McAlester shale. The last 

string of casing is set on the Hartshorne sandstone. The two outside 

Strings and sometimes the third string are pulled after the well is

tubed.

The cost of drilling a well to the Hartshorne sandstone has ranged 

;from $2,000 in the Quinton field to $15,000 in the Blocker-Featherston 

field. In 1934 the cost of a 2,000-foot well in the Carney field ranged
QUINTON-SCIPIO DISTRICT 223

from $7,000 to $9,000, of which about one-third can be recovered 

through salvage of equipment after the well has been abandoned.

QUINTON GAS FIELD

Development. The Quinton field, located about 1 mile south of the 

town of Quinton, was discovered in 1915 (p. 216). During its development 52 wells, 11 of which were classed as dry holes, were drilled 

and 1,250 acres was proved to be productive of gas in commercial 

quantities. The locations of the wells are described in the following 

table and shown on the map of the field (pi. 21). The locations given 

are the results of a careful check of the wells in the field and of the 

original drilling reports and land records, and it is believed that the 

confusion that exists regarding these old records will be eliminated by 

the data presented here.
Chronologic drilling schedule of the Quin

Date of 

completion

Sept. .1915 

Apr. , 1916 

Sept. 1,1916 

Nov. , 1916 

Feb. 15.1917 

Mar. 20,1917 

June 27, 1917 

1917 

Aug. , 1917 

Aug. 16, 1917 

Do.. - _. 

Dec. 5,1917 

Feb. 27, 1918 

Aug. 27, 1918 

Oct. , 1918 

Nov. 26, 1918 

Dec. 5, 1918 

Jan. 26, 1919 

Mar. 13, 1919 

Mar. 24, 1919 

May 4, 1919 

May 31, 1919 

Aug. 15, 1919 

Aug. , 1919 

Jan. 15, 1921 

Jan. 28, 1921 

Apr. 1, 1921 

Mar. 1, 1921 

Aug. 29, 1921 

Do- ---.

Apr. 12, 1922 

May 28, 1922 

July 25, 1922 

Jan. 2, 1923 

Feb. 7, 1923 

Mar. 24, 1923

Company

.....do ..... ..... ..._ - _ .... ..

.....do ._.-.. ... ....... ..

.. do ....- -. - .... 

.....do .. _ .. 

.....do ...... ... ... ...........

.. do __. _ _-___ ... _____

Quinton Oil & Gas Co.- _ . __ ____ ......

..... do- ........... ...............................

Quinton Relief Oil & Gas Co.. .. _ .. ..._ ...

 do- .. . 

..... do.. -....- - _ 

 do. ...... 

.... do _.. 

Well 

no.

1 

2 

1 

3 

1 

2 or 5 

4 or 6 

5 

1 

7 

1 

2 

2 

3 

1 

Ior6 

1 

1 

2 or 7 

1 

2 

1 

1 

1 

1 

3 

1 

2 

1 

3 

2 

1 

2 

4 

5 

4

Farm

Fee 

 .doFee.. 

 do 

C. B. Basora _____ .

Fee

King _ 

King. . 

N. Riddle 

S, Riddle... ...

C. Riddle 

N. Riddle 

J. Riddle 

S. Riddle.

Noblin .... 

C. Riddle. 

Aldridge. 

.. do _

 do _ 

King .... .

Ap

SWc N

C NJ^

C EI/

NEc S

NWc 

NWc S

C EHN

SWc S

SEc S

SWc S

NWc t

NWc N

SEc S

NWJ^

C SL

SWc S

SWcN

SWc N

C NE

NEc N

NWc N

NEc N

SWc N

SEc N

c jLS
QUINTON-SCIPIO DISTRICT 225

" r- IH" of i-T oo od'

> i H

I OJ » | 05

0222 '

333333333 iO'O'O'O'O'O'O'O'O'

149779 38
226 SOUTHERN PART OF OKLAHOMA COAL FIELD

Stratigraphy and structure of rocks not exposed. The subsurface 

stratigraphic sequence is shown on the cross section in plate 20, and 

a general description of the formations is given on pages 208-213. Coal 

is more frequently recorded in the upper shale member of the McAlester formation in the Quinton field than elsewhere. The Upper 

McAlester or Stigler coal and the Lower McAlester or Lehigh coal are 

shown in many of the well logs. Most of the wells record one of the 

Hartshorne coals, probably the Upper Hartshorne, near the base of 

the McAlester shale. A notable exception to this is found in the wells 

in sees. 1 and 2, T. 7 N., R. 18 E., where not only is the coal absent 

but a portion of the basal McAlester appears to be missing also. 

The absence of the coal in sees. 1 and 2 is closely related to a faulted 

dome which occurs in this area (pi. 21). The presence of a fault is 

indicated by an apparent displacement of the key horizon in wells on 

opposite sides of the fault, as drawn on the map. Confirmatory 

evidence of its presence is given by the shortening of the McAlester 

shale section on the upthrown side of the fault, as compared with the 

equivalent sections elsewhere in the field, the presence of several dry 

holes in the vicinity of the fault, and the marked pressure gradient 

that developed locally between the dome and the rest of the anticline 

during the years when large amounts of gas were withdrawn from the 

southeastern part of the field. The north-south cross sections of the 

Quinton field (pi. 22) show the magnitude of the fault at the time the 

middle sandstone member of the McAlester shale was laid down and 

illustrate the fact that the wells north of the fault and on the top of 

the dome have from 100 to 140 feet less of the basal McAlester shale 

than the wells south of the fault. The date of faulting is either postHartshorne, pre-McAlester, or very early McAlester.

The northern portion of the gas field lies on the faulted dome. 

The remainder of the field is situated on a simple plunging anticline. 

It is terminated on the west by the low structural position of the 

sandstone and probably by lower porosity of the sand. On the east it is 

limited also by very unfavorable sand conditions and by a terracing 

or reversal of the structure. Although the drilling limits of the field 

are well defined by dry holes, abandoned wells, and small producers,

the limits of the reservoir that is supplying the gas are not definitely

known, owing in part to the absence of water in the sand, which would

concentrate the gas within easily determinable limits.

Producing sand. The top of the Hartshorne sandstone is found at 

a depth of 1,300 feet in the Quinton field. The thickness of the formation averages 125 feet but ranges from 20 to 220 feet. About one-half

of the formation is composed of sandstone; the remainder is shale and 

sandy shale. In some of the well loep only half of the sandstone is

shown as "pay" sand, but it is probable that all of the sand is gasbearing to a greater or less degree.
QDINTON-SCIPIO DISTRICT 227

Production and estimated reserves. The annual withdrawal of 

metered gas plus the estimated amount of gas used in drilling and 

lost during completion of the wells is tabulated below.

Annual yield of gas from the Quintan field, 1915-38, in thousands of cubic feet

Year

1915 .. . ... . .............. ..

1916.......................... ...... ............

1917............... .......................

1918..... ... __ .. ......... ...........

1919.. ._._........ __._..... ......... .........

1920..............-..-.... .................

1921...................... ........... ........

1922............................................

1923..................... .............. ......

1924 _ __. .. .

1925........................ ......... ...........

1926..................... .. 

1927..................... .......................

1928..... ...................... .................

1929........ .....-. ........ ...............

1930.......-.. ......... ..................... .

1931......... ............. -- - -.. 

1932...................................... ...

1933................................ ...... 

Total............ .....................

Metered 

yield

25, 522

1, 494, 055

1, 836, 774

2, 507, 860

2, 262, 515

3, 584, 350

2, 857, 498

3, 033, 338

2, 325, 337

2, 450, 321

2, 224, 090

1, 793, 374

1, 454, 493

. 785, 076

690, 461

564, 182

299, 538

81, 936

29, 270, 720

Used for 

drilling 

(estimated)

21, 000

27, 000

19, 000

26,000

19, 000

11,000

15, 000

30, 000

8,000

4,000

180, 000

Lost during 

completion of 

wells 

(estimated)

25, 000

33, 000

47,000

122,000

81, 000

69, 000

44, 000

46, 000

72, 000

17, 000

556,000

Total

25,000

79, 522

1, 567, 055

1, 977, 774

2, 614, 860

2, 262, 515

2, 67?, 350

2, 912, 498

3, 094, 338

2, 427, 337

2, 475, 321

2, 228, 090

1, 793, 374

1, 454, 493

785, 076

690, 461

564, 182

299, f 38

81, 936

30,005,720

The wells in the Quinton field are spaced so closely and have 

produced so evenly that the numerical average pressure of the wells 

was found to conform closely to the weighted average pressure of the 

drilled area, hence numerical average pressure data are used and, with 

other related information, are shown in the following table:

Production and pressure data for Quinton field, 1915-38

Year

1915.... ...

1916........

1917........

1918 

1919........

1920........

1921........

1922........

1923........

1924........

Gas yield (thousands of 

cubic feet)

Annual

25,000 

79, 522 

1, 567, 055 

1, 977, 774 

2, 614, 860 

2, 262, 515 

2, 672, 350 

2,912,498 

3, 094, 338 

2, 427. 337

Cumulative

25, 000 

104, 222 

1, 671, 277 

3, 649, 051 

6, 263, 911 

8, 526, 426 

11, 198, 776 

14, 111. 274 

17, 205, 612 

19, 632, 949

Average wellhead pressures as of 

December 

(pounds per 

square inch)

530 

(?) 

(?) 

425 

403 

330 

317 

270 

190 

186

Year

1925........

1926........

1927........

1928... ..

1929.... .

1930 ...

1931 .....

1932.. ...

1933........

Gas yield (thousands of 

cubic feet)

Annual

2, 475, 321 

2, 228, 090 

1, 793. 374 

1, 454, 493 

785, 076 

690, 461 

564, 182 

299, 538 

81, 936

Cumulative

22, 108, 270 

24, 336, 360 

26, 129, 734 

27. 584. 227 

28, 369, 303 

29, 059, 764 

29, 623, 946 

29, 923, 484 

30,005,720

Average wellhead pressures as of 

December 

(pounds per 

square inch)

137 

107 

85 

61 

60 

59 

62 

78 

78

A study of these pressures justifies the conclusion that they represent only a part of the pressure that expels the gas and that an increment of higher pressure from a peripheral zone around the producing 

area of the field is necessary to explain the observed phenomena. 

The history of the field shows a uniform decline in pressure from 1918 

to 1928, a period during which the field produced 71.5 million cubic 

feet of gas per pound of drop in pressure. During the next 2 years
228 SOUTHERN PART OF OKLAHOMA COAL FIELD

the withdrawals were greatly curtailed, the drop in pressure declined 

to 1 pound annually, and the yield per pound of drop in pressure increased to 737.5 million cubic feet. The withdrawals were reduced 

further during 1931, 1932, and 1933 and were accompanied by an 

increase in pressure throughout 1932, but thereafter the pressure 

remained constant. This history indicates that the drilled portion of 

the reservoir is being recharged by gas from the undrilled portion and 

that the rate of discharge from the field after 1928 was less than the 

rate at which it was being recharged. This process is due to a pressure 

differential between the two portions of the reservoir.

The maintenance of a constant pressure of 78 pounds to the square 

inch for 1932 and 1933 indicates that the pressure had been equalized 

during that period; hence this figure represents the pressure of the 

entire reservoir at that time. Therefore the rate of yield can be 

computed as follows:

Cumulative yield-;- drop in effective reservoir pressure = yield per 

pound of drop in reservoir pressure ; or

30,005,720,000 .. __ . nnn , . . , 

 ~^ =i =66,384,000 cubic feet

and the gas reserves computed at atmospheric pressure would be 

66,384,000X78 = 5,177,952,000 cubic feet,

which gives a total yield at atmospheric pressure for the field of 

35,183,672,000 cubic feet.

The relations between production and pressure are illustrated 

graphically in figure 10, which shows that the numerical average 

pressures (curve B) are less, by an average of 62 pounds, than the 

reservoir pressure (curve A). Curve A was constructed by connecting the two points 546 pounds (no gas withdrawal) and 80 pounds 

(30 billion cubic feet cumulative gas withdrawals). These pressure

figures were obtained by reducing the well-head pressure to the 

bottom-hole pressure, and as they were taken after periods of 

quiescence, during which the reservoir pressures had been equalized,

these bottom-hole pressures represent the pressure of the reservoir.

The graph indicates that the ultimate production computed from 

curve B would be 11 percent lower than that computed from curve A. 

The parallelism of the two curves indicates that a constant differential 

pressure is maintained between the field and the remainder of the 

reservoir during those periods when the rate of withdrawal is in excess 

of the rate of recharge or equalization of pressure. As this pressure

differential probably represents the result of the interstitial friction,

or the resistance to the flow of gas which is offered by pore space of 

the reservoir sandstone outside of the periphery of the field, and is 

constant, it suggests that the reservoir volume from which gas flows
GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 874 PLATE 21

R. 18 E. R. 19 E.

STAPR, STRE1CH, 

AND COBLENT2

 «-

:j.ALORIDGE

/

C.RrDDLE

/

'-$ '

,-657

x

G. N. RIDDLE (

//X /

A57

J" RIDDLE

-#-

-62Sc

/ « 

//7.A/07T/45f

T.

7 

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-^20 T^

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V ______

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6-

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i ~3_> --7OO

-709c 

Z7. NOTTAGE

-665c 4^

3 -*- *««c 

-672 c

CJ: ALDRIDGE

- 750-

 -800-

MAP OF THE QUINTON GAS FIELD.

I Mile

^- Abandoned gas well

-y- ^[V AJO/C 

(J

_ ' ~ Fault (D, downthrow; 

U, upihrow)

Contours drawn on top of the Upper Hartshorne coal or an equivalent bed. Contour interval 50 feet. Datum mean sea level. Names on tracts are those of fee owners -when wells were drilled. Numbers at left of well symbols are those assigned by lease owners. Italie 

numbers adjacent to the well symbols show depth below sea level of the top of the Upper Hartshorne coal or equivalent bed. The letter C following the italic number indicates that, the Upper Hartshorne coal was recorded in the well log.
GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

North

GRAPHIC LOGS ALONG LINE A-A"

South North

BULLETIN 874 PLATE 22 

GRAPHIC LOGS ALONG LINE B-B' 

McALESTER SHALE

Shale and sandstone Shaly limestone or Coal 

limy sandstone

G-Gas GS-Showofgas W-Water

NORTH-SOUTH CROSS SECTIONS OF DRILLERS' LOGS OF WELLS IN THE QUINTON GAS FIELD. 

Shows a pre-McAlcster post-Hartshorne fault.

South

1

p

W

McALESTER

GS 

HARTSHORNE

^ -^

ATOKA

rVr

=

m

,i _ i ii

W

G

0.

D

^- _

1FAULT 

z

o 

a

i i

 '. .as

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==£.' .'

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I

G

 

i^

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i i

1 '| '

rVi i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i

Jppe

i i

i i i i

-Vr

 ^

_ - 

w

SHALE 

r Hartshorne c

SANDSTONE

G

oal

 a

?

FORMATION

-

G

 

Hiss

am

i i i '

_J _ L

H

££:

Vertical scale 

100 0 200 Feet

 

G 

W

^^

^

HARTSG

\

G Horizontal scale 

SOO 0 1,000 Feet

EXPLANATION

Sandstone Shale

1 ~i" 1 l| rr~ T ~i 1

1 T I II

M

#S

H

McATOK

W 

W

\LESTER

§

HORNE "" - Upper 

G

SANDSTONE

CL 1 

A ~. .....

SSj

Har

\s ,^ H

tshor

m.

v75:

SH

^e

ffiSjig

;: : : : :

^E

oal

G

_ 

 

W.-:-\

"M:

^

i i';i;i;'.;i

FORMATION

Limestone

B
QUINTON-SCIPIO DISTRICT 229

into the drilled portion of the field does not extend beyond a definite 

though unknown limit, irrespective of the drop in the field pressure. 

Data are not available for computing the exact extent of the 

reservoir, but a minimum distance through which drainage is effective 

on the west side of the field can be deduced from the history of the 

Midwestern Oil & Gas Co.'s No. 1 Noblin well, drilled near the center 

of sec. 11, T. 7 N., R. 18 E., half a mile west of the nearest producing 

well. The Noblin well was completed in August 1921 with a pressure 

of 390 pounds, not greatly in excess of the average pressure of the 

field at the time, which was from 317 to 330 pounds. The difference 

between the initial pressure of the well (390 pounds) and the initial

CUMULATIVE GAS YIELD IN BILLIONS OF CUBIC 

5 10 15 20 25

FEET 

30 35

FIGDKE 10. Graph showing the relation between cumulative gas yield and reservoir and well-head pressures 

in the Quinton gas field. A, Reservoir pressures; B, numerical-average well-head pressures.

field pressure (530 pounds) is the drop in pressure that took place 

while the field was producing about 10,000,000,000 cubic feet of gas, 

from 1915 until August 1921. The ratio between pressure and production indicated by this well is a drop of 14 pounds per billion cubic 

feet of gas produced. This figure corresponds so closely to the pressure-production ratio for the entire life of the field namely, 15 pounds 

per billion cubic feet that it strongly suggests a connection between 

the Noblin well and the field and justifies the assumption that, in 

this area at least, gas flows into the producing part of the field from a 

distance of at least half a mile.
230 SOUTHERN PART OF OKLAHOMA COAL FIELD

The maximum limit of drainage lies somewhere between the distances of half a mile and 1 mile in this area, because the Carney field, 

the eastern edge of which is half a mile west of the Noblin well, or 1 

mile west of the Quinton field, showed a field pressure higher than the 

original pressure of the Quinton reservoir, although development in 

the Carney field began after the Quinton field had been greatly depleted. The only significant exception to the higher pressures encountered in the Carney field is recorded in the completion history of 

the Sans Bois Gas Co. No. 1 Koehler well, in the southwest corner of 

the NWK sec. 11, T. 7. N., R. 18 E., approximately 1 mile west of the 

nearest producing well in the Quinton field. This well penetrated 

two separate gas sands, one at a depth of 1,871 to 1,900 feet and the 

other at 1,915 to 1,960 feet, and was completed on June 15, 1927, as a 

small gas well with a pressure of 400 pounds. At this time the pressure of the Quinton field was about 95 pounds, and the pressure of the 

Carney field was 585 pounds. The operators plugged back the lower 

sand, whereupon the pressure rose to 580 pounds. As the Hartshorne sandstone was not known to contain low-pressure zones, it was 

thought that the lower sand was connected with the partly depleted 

Quinton reservoir. Although this assumption may be correct, the 

evidence is inconclusive.

For the purpose of computing the porosity of the reservoir rock, it 

has been assumed, for the reasons given above, that the gas reservoir 

extends for half a mile beyond the producing limits of the field except 

on the east side, where the sand is very thin. The gas-containing 

reservoir of the Quinton field, under this assumption, covers an area 

of about 2,270 acres, or 98,881,200 square feet. The average thickness of gas-producing sand in the Quinton field being accepted as 60 

feet, the volume of the reservoir is 5,932,872,000 cubic feet.

The effective porosity that is, the percentage of pore space through 

which gas will be delivered to the wells can be computed by determining the volume that would be occupied at the original pressure of 

the reservoir by all of the gas producible from the field and dividing 

the volume thus determined by the total volume of the reservoir rock. 

The figure obtained for the Quinton field is 16.

The volume of gas originally present in the reservoir of the Quinton 

gas field was determined by the following formula:

FrT

which combines the formulas given by Dienl 4fi for the pressure-volumetemperature relations of perfect gases and the deviation of natural 

gas from those formulas.

«6 Diehl, J. C., Natural-gas handbook, pp. 50, 201, Erie, Pa., American Meter Co., Inc., 1927.
QUINTON-SCIPIO DISTRICT 231

In this formula W= volume of gas in the reservoir.

Pr= absolute pressure in the reservoir. 

Tr = absolute temperature in the reservoir. 

V= volume of gas at the surface. 

P= absolute pressure at the surface. 

T= absolute temperature at the surface. 

C= a compressibility factor for the gas.

For the Quinton field the various factors to be inserted in the formula 

were determined as follows:

P is equal to the atmospheric pressure plus the base pressure at 

which the gas was measured, a total of 16.4 pounds per square inch. 

V is the estimated total volume at the surface of the gas of the 

Quinton field, 35 billion cubic feet.

Tr was considered to be 543° Abs. (the mean annual temperature at 

the surface, 60° F., plus an increase of temperature of 1° F. in each 

60 feet of depth in a 1,400-foot well, amounting to 23° F., plus 460° 

to convert Fahrenheit temperature to the absolute temperature required by the formula).

Pr was considered to be 560.4 pounds per square inch (the original 

well pressure, 530 pounds per square inch; plus atmospheric pressure, 

14.4 pounds per square inch; plus the pressure of a 1,400-foot column 

of gas of 0.58 gravity, 16 pounds per square inch).

Tis 520° Abs. (the mean annual temperature at the surface, 60° F., 

plus 460° to convert Fahrenheit temperature to absolute temperature). 

C, the compressibility factor for the gas of the Quinton field, was 

taken as 0.904, as determined by the formula.47

 0.

1,000

In this formula

B= deviation factor, in percent. 

2>=gage pressure, in pounds per square inch. 

m= methane content, in percent. 

e= ethane content, in percent. 

c= carbon dioxide content, in percent. 

a=air content, in percent.

The factors for the Quinton field that are to be inserted in this 

formula are as follows:

p= well-head pressure of 530 pounds plus pressure of 16 pounds 

per square inch due to a column of gas 1,400 feet high of 

0.58 gravity =546 pounds per square inch. 

m=95 percent, by analysis. 

e=4A percent, by analysis.

« Diehl, J. C., op. cit., p. 201.
232 SOUTHERN PART OP OKLAHOMA COAL FIELD

c=0.5 percent, by analysis. 

#=0.1 percent, by analysis. 

Substituting these figures in the formula, we have

= 0.096

1,000

C, the compressibility factor=100 percent 5=0.904 

Inserting this figure in the formula, we have

OOU.

Dividing the volume of gas originally present in the reservoir by 

the previously computed volume of the reservoir rock gives the effective porosity of the reservoir rock 16 percent.

CARNEY GAS FIELD

Development. In the Carney field 68 wells and 1 dry hole have been 

completed. The rate of development, location, and size of the wells, 

together with other pertinent data, are shown in the following table:

Chronologic drilling schedule of the Carney field, in T. 7 N., R. 18 E.

Date of completion

Aug. 21,1923 

July 15,1926 

Sept. 21, 1926

Dec. 30, 1926

Mar. 7,1927 

June 15,1927 

Feb. 20,1928 

May 10, 1928 

Sept. 29, 1928 

Dec. 15,1928 

Oct. 18,1929 

Nov. 12, 1929

Dec. , 1929 

Jan. , 1930 

Mar. 2, 1930

Mar. , 1930

May 6,1930 

June 1930 

June 13,1930 

June 29,1930 

July 1, 1930

Aug. 25, 1930

Sept. 12, 1930

Sept. 18. 1030 

Sept: 22, 1930

Oct. 14,1930

Company

Quinton Spelter Co. ... ...

...-.do __ ..... __ . ......

Quinton Belief Oil & Gas 

Co. 

.. _ do. __________ .. 

. . do... ..................

.....do... .. .............. ..

..... do .. ................

.....do ..................

Midwestern Oil & Gas Co. 

.....do.....................

___ do. ________ . _____ 

 . do. _-__--.._.._._.._

Utilities Production Corporation. 

Midwestern Oil & Gas Co. .....do.......... ...........

Choctaw Gas Co... .......

Midwestern Oil & Gas Co. 

.... .do........ .............

Utilities Production Corporation.

Midwestern Oil & Gas Co.

Utilities Production Corporation.

Utilities Production Oorporation.

Midwestern Oil & Gas Co. 

et al.

Well no.

1

1 

1

i 

1 

1 

l 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

i i i

2 

1 

1 

1 

1 

2

i 

1

1 

2

1

Farm

S. Carney.. ...

S. Carney.. ...

C. Bascoin __

L. Bascom....

Houston......

Curry.... .

Vail ... ... .

Daugherty.... 

Gunn.... .....

E. Carney... .

Tucker __ --.. 

Benedict-- .. 

Wilbur State 

Bank. 

Carney -. Treokell. ...

Brown. _ ....

Curry.... .....

Bascom.--. ..

C. Bascom-. 

C. Riddle.....

..... do. ...

Approximate location i

CNWMSE^...... 

SWcNWJiNWH-- 

NEc SE^NE^SE^ .

NWc NEJ4SWJ<£___-_

NWcNWMSE}i.._- 

SWcSW^NW^..... 

CN^NEMNE^...-. 

NEC NWMSEJ4SEMSEcSEMSEM- -

NWcSW^NEKNEcSE&SE^- 

NEcNEKNWJ^-- 

SEc SWJ^SEK--- 

SWc SEJiSEM--- 

NWc SEJ^SEMNEJiNEcNW^NE^.....

NWcNWMNWM 

SEc NE>£NEMSEM - 

C SHNWMNEM-.- 

SEcSE^SEM-- 

NW^SEMSEM-- 

C SJ^SEi^SWK --

NWcNEJiNW^. 

SEcSEliSWl*. .. 

NWC SWJ^SWM-----

NWcNE^NE^.....

6 

tn

18 

10 

9

10 

10 

11 

17 

9 

8 

10 

10 

15

9 

10 

9

15 

14

9 

9 

10 

10

4 

15

9 11

15

Initial measurements

§_

*! 0 s"" 

& 0

ii

o

1,000 

25, 500 

32,500

40, 144

33, 420 

5,830 

14,500 

47,049 

10, 981 

30, 460 

30,000 

17,000

9,000 

23,000 

25, 000

25, 100

20,000 

25,000 

15,000 

32,000

24,800

14,000 

22,000

8.500 

17,000

10,000

Rock pressure (pounds per

inch) square 

576 

595 

595

590 

590 

580 

585 

580 

585 

555 

550 

520

500 

550 

520

550 

550

500 

540 

550 

520

550 

520

505 

520

500

1 C, center; c, corner; SL, south line.
QUINTON-SCIPIO DISTRICT 233

Chronologic drilling schedule of the Carney field, in T. 7 N., R. 18 E. Continued

Date of completion

Oct. 22,1930 

Oct. 26,1930 

Do .

Nov. 20, 1930

Nov. 29, 1930 

Dec. 12,1930 

Dec. 15,1930

Jan. 2, 1931

Jan. 24,1931 

Jan. 28,1931 

Feb. 11,1931 

Feb. 15,1931 

Mar. 4,1931 

Mar. 23, 1931

Apr. 2, 1931 

Apr. 20,1931 

May 21, 1931 

May 22, 1931

May 25, 1931

May 31, 1931 

June 20,1931

June 26, 1931 

June. 27, 1931

July 28,1931 

Sept. 10,1931

Oct. 23,1931 

Jan. 20,1932 

Do . 

Feb. 13,1932

Oct. 26,1932 

Nov. 21, 1932 

Dec. 4, 1932 

Oct. 22,1933

Oct. 30,1933

Dec. 15,1933 

Feb. 15,1934

Mar. 10, 1934 

Mar. 31, 1934 

June 5, 1934 

Jan. 23, 1935 

1930? 

1930?

Company

Midwestern Oil & Gas Co. 

etal. 

Utilities Production Corporation. 

Public Service Co __ . _

Utilities Production Corporation. 

-...do 

Midwestern Oil & Gas Co. 

et al. 

Utilities Production Corporation. 

Choctaw Gas Co. et al. _

 do 

Choctaw Gas Co. et al_. 

Midwestern Oil & Gas Co. 

.....do . 

Utilities Production Corporation. 

..... do .... ...... ....

.....do ... ... ..... .......

Utilities Production Corporation.. 

..... do. . .. ...

Midwestern Oil & Gas Co. 

Utilities Production Corporation.

Utilities Production Corporation.

Utilities Production Corporation. 

..... do 

Midwestern Oil & Gas Co. 

 do ----.----~---

Utilities Production Corporation. 

Midwestern Oil & Gas Co. 

 do .... 

... ..do -----------

 do .

Utilities Production Corporation. 

...-do . . --------

-...do . ... 

Midwestern Oil & Gas Co. 

..... do .

.....do 

. do ....... ......

 do . . 

Utilities Production Corporation.

d

a

"o

;»

2 

3

1 

2

1 

2 

2

3

1 

1 

f,

3 

1 

2 

1

1 

4 

1 

2

3

1 

3

1 

4

2 

5

4 

2 

3

1

1 

1 

2 

5

1

1 

6

1 

1 

2 

1 

2 

1

Farm

 do .... .

E. Carney.... 

Wilbur State 

Bank.

E. Carney....

C. Bascom 

Hayhurst-. . 

Hendrickson.. 

.....do 

Hayhurst. _ . 

White ......

J. Carney .....

W. Carney . 

C. Bascom ....

Vail...........

Wilbur State 

Bank.

Vail... ........

Wilbur State 

Bank.

C. Bascom....

__ do . 

Ogden __ . ...

Hall 

Wilbur State 

Bank.

W. Carney .... 

Wilbur State 

Bank.

Courts-Shelton

L. Bascom....

Approximate location

SWcSEMSEM--- 

SWcSWMSWM -

NEcNE^NWK----

C NMSWMNEM 

SWcSWMSE^ ...

NWc NWMNWM 

NEcNEMNEM 

SWcSW^NEM 

NWc NEJ<tNEJi

SWcNEMSEK 

NEc NWMNWMNWc NWKNEMSEcNEMSEM-- 

CN^NEMNW^.... 

NWc NWMNEKSWcSW^SWK -

SEcSEHSW^.......

NEc SEMNEJi ..

NEcSE^SEM--- -

CN^NEMNWKCNW^SEM 

NWc SEJiSEJtf.......

NWcNWMSWK .. 

SWcNWMSW^.....

NWcSEJiNEM 

SWcSEMSWM 

C SL SEMSW^ 

C NE^NEM -

C WMSWJ4NE}4 

NEcNWMNEM-- 

CSEMSEK-- ..._.

CS^SEJ4NEM-- 

C SW^SWM 

NWc SWMNWJi .. 

SWc NW&NWJi... ..

SEMNEMNEM...... 

C NWMNWM - 

NWcSEMNWM---- 

SEc SEKNWM ....

CNEMNWM-- 

NEc SEJ^NEK -

SEcSWJiSEJi.......

NEcNEMNEM 

0

<o 

CO

9 

11

16 

9

9 

16 

15

10

16 

8 

16 

16 

8 

14 

9

9 

10 

8 

8

9

8 

8

17 

9

8 

10

11 

8 

8 

16

5 

8 

4 

9

10

9 

9

8 

7 

8 

15 

10 

16

Initial measurements

%^ 

t> <>> t$ 0}

o W o

al a § 

o

9,200 

25,000

8,000 

17, 898

7,864 

15, 000 

12, 449

24, 067

10,000 

12, 855 

6,412 

5,000 

22,000 

27, 120 

21,000

3,500 

23, 000 

28,895 

9,293

10,900

970 

10, 170

2,170 

13, 765

16, 599 

27, 542

16, 070 

12,000 

1,000 

6,927

8,000 

2,000 

8,000 

16,000

2,000

C) 

22,500

4,435 

700 

947 

2,850 (3) 

(3)

Rock pressure 

(pounds per

inch) square 

520 

520

580 

520

520 

580 

530

470

515 

510 

520 

550 

560 

495

480 

480 

510 

505

505

590 

510

575 

510

520 

490

500 

590 

590 

500

400 

400

500 

500 

515 

325

'Dry.

The area in which commercial quantities of gas have been developed 

is about 2,600 acres. The gas reservoir, however, is considerably 

larger. This field is the most productive one in the county. It has 

produced almost as much gas as the Quinton field, and yet its pressure 

has been depleted only one-third.
234 SOUTHERN PART OF OKLAHOMA COAL FIELD

Stratigraphy and structure of rocks not exposed. The Hartshorne 

sandstone in the Carney field lies in a plunging anticline with a broad 

faulted top in sees. 9 and 10, T. 7 N., R. 18 E., very little closure on 

the east, dips of 7° on the north and south flanks, and an elongated 

western extremity that extends through sec. 18 into the adjoining 

township on the west. (See pi, 23.) The fault is similar to the one in 

the Quinton field, in that the break occurs on the north flank of the 

anticline and the downthrown side is on the south. The fault is approximately parallel with the axis of the Kinta anticline and is in close 

alinement with .the fault in the Quinton field. The position of the 

fault is indicated by marked differences in the depth to the Hartshorne sandstone in offset wells, by a belt of erratic production in its 

vicinity, and by thinning of the lower part of the McAlester shale north 

of the fault.

Among the wells that mark the course of the fault are the Utilities 

Production Corporation's No. 1 M. Carney, in the SE^NE^NE^ sec. 

9, which was dry, although surrounded by producing wells on all but 

the north side. The Midwestern Oil & Gas Corporation's No. 1 Hall 

well, in the center of the S^SE^NE^ sec. 8, and the same company's 

No. 1 Mattocks well, in the center of the NW^SE^ sec. 8, are very 

small producers as compared with their north and south offsets, although their structural position is not unfavorable. The small production from these wells may be due to low porosity of the Hartshorne 

sandstone induced by alteration of the rock in the vicinity of the fault 

plane.

The evidence revealed by the well records and the cross sections 

(pi. 24) indicates that the fault does not break the rocks exposed at 

the surface and that its present form is the result of a series of movements that began shortly after the Hartshorne sandstone was deposited 

and did not end until after the Stigler coal was laid down, in late McAlester time. The average displacement of the Hartshorne sandstone, 

as shown in the cross sections on plate 24, amounts to about 220 feet, 

whereas in the Stigler coal it amounts to only about 120 feet. Correlation of the Savanna beds at and near the surface shows no displacement. The difference of 100 feet between the displacement of the 

Hartshorne sandstone and the Stigler coal is approximately equal to 

the average difference of 105 feet in the thickness of the beds north 

and south of the fault. One-tKir<l of this difference occurs in the lower

shale portion of the McAlester shalfi, and the remaining tWO-thirds in 

the beds above this lower shale and below the Stigler coal.

The Upper Hartshorne coal is absent in nearly all the well records

from the Carney field, Whether this IS due t/0 elevation of the surface 

to a level too high to permit the deposition of coal at the end of Hartshome time, or whether the coal was deposited and subsequently 

eroded from the top of the anticline after the folding had raised it 

above baselevel, cannot be determined from the data at hand.
GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 874 PLATE 23

EXPLANATION 

 # Gas we//

Abandonee/ gas 

<j>- Dry ho/e

Abandoned /ocahon 

Fau/t (ft, downthrow; 

U, upthrow} U PC

J N R.USHIHG

\ U P.C \ 

\Mtf/£i.

\ U PC

BASCOM

U PC /

PATTER SON,' /VAIL (S TARR,STREJCH

MO&Cand 

SULLIVAN! 

U PC and C6C KOEHLER

WC HAYHURST

l Mile

MAP OF THE CARNEY GAS FIELD.

Contours drawn on top of the Hartshorne sandstone Contour interval 50 feet Datum moan sea level Names in italic on tracts are those of fee owners when wells worn drilled Names or abbreviations above the fee owners' names are those of the lease owners Numbers at left of well symbols are those assigned by lea^e owners Italic numbers adjacent to the well symbols shov depth below saa

level of the top of the Harlshorno sandstone The letter C following the italic number indicates that the Upper Hartshorne coal was jcrordcd m th*» well log. C G C , Choctaw Gas Co , M 0. G C , Midwestern Oil & Gas Co , P S C , Public Service Co , S S & C , Starr, Strrich & Coblentz, IJ P C , Utilities Production Corporation
GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

GRAPHIC LOGS ALONG LINE A-A' 

North South

Savanna

sandstone

Me Alester 

shale

Stiller coal

HFW

Me Alester 

shale

IG

}G

Hartshorne 

G sandstone

T

I-FW

f o

ll

HFW

Me Alester 

shale

Hartshorne

sandstone

I)G

}G

Atoka formation

Northwest

BULLETIN 874 PLATE 24

GRAPHIC LOGS ALONG LINE B-B'

Southeast

EXPLANATION

Me Alester 

shale

Hartshorne 

sandstone

J7

Atoka format on

Me Alester shale

Stiller coal

100

000

0

1

0

Vertical scale

100 

i i . i

Horizontal scale

1000 i i i

400 Feet

4000 Feel

Sandstone dstone and shale Sar 

lir

* . . * . '-'--'-i'T'S-'.^

idy limestone or 

ny sandstone

Shale Limestone

G-Gas GS-Showofgas W-Water HFW-Hole full of water

CROSS SECTIONS OF DRILLERS' LOGS OF WELLS IN THE CARNEY GAS FIELD.

Shows a pre-Savanna post-Hartahorne fault.

Coal
GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 874 PLATE 25

A. MKTEH AM) KEGULATOK STATION IN THE CARNEY GAS FIELD.

B. TYPICAL GAS WELL IN THE CARNEY FIELD 

Utilities Production Corporation No. 3, Carney.
QUINTON-SCIPIO DISTRICT 235

Producing sand. The top of the Hartshorne sandstone lies at an 

average depth of 1,800 feet in the Carney field. The formation is 

about twice as thick here as it is in the Quinton field and consists 

chiefly of sandstone. In many of the wells in the Carney field the 

Hartshorne sandstone consists of two sandstones with an intervening 

bed of black, dense concretionary shale. The operators expect gas in 

both sandstones. Only 39 of the 69 wells in the field have been drilled 

to the Atoka formation, but the remainder are being deepened to the 

lower "pay" sand and into the top of the Atoka as the necessity for 

additional gas arises. An analysis of the thickness of the component 

parts of the Hartshorne in the wells that reached the Atoka formation 

is tabulated below.

Thickness, in feet, of Hartshorne formation in Carney field

Total thickness of the sandstone beds that are definitely reAverage

261

201

86

115

Maximum

346

323

208

263

Minimum

102

67

15

8

Production and estimated reserves. The annual metered production 

of the field together with estimated amounts for drilling and loss during completion, are shown in the following table:

Annual yield of gas from the Carney field, in thousands of cubic feet

Year

1926 

1927 ........ ....... ................. .........

1928. ... ..... ........... ..................

1929-.. ... ... ..... ............ .........

1930.... ........ .............................

1931......... ................................

1932 

1933.. . ..... ...... ........... .........

Total..... . 

Metered 

yield

142, 242

897, 789

1, 469, 042

2, 107, 058

3, 142, 153

5, 288, 120

7, 152, 769

6, 084, 779

26, 283, 952

Used for 

drilling (estimated)

8,000

8,000

8,000

8,000

58, 000

53, 000

16, 000

9,000

168, 000

Lost during 

completion 

of wells 

(estimated)

QQ ruifl

77, 000

106, 000

82, 000

478, 000

384, 000

72, 000

36,000

1, 333, 000

Total

OXQ 040

982, 789

1, 583, 042

2,197,058

3, 678, 153

5, 725, 120

7, 240, 769

6, 129, 779

27, 784, 952

These figures are combined to give the annual cumulative production and are shown with well pressures hi the following table:

Production and pressure data for Carney field, 1916-SS

Year

1916.. .

1926... .....

1927. ..

1928........

1929........

Gas yield (M 

cubic feet)

Annual

248, 242 

982, 789 

1, 583, 042 

2, 197, 058

Cumulative

248, 242 

1,231,031 

2. 814, 073 

5,011,131

Numerical 

average wellhead pressure, 

as of December (pounds 

per square 

inch)

595 

582 

573 

533 

528

Year

1930.. 

1931 

1932........

1933 

Gas yield (M 

cubic feet)

Annual

3, 678, 153 

5, 725, 120 

7, 240, 769 

6, 129, 779

Cumulative

8, 689, 284 

14, 414, 404 

21, 655, 173 

27, 784, 952

Numerical 

average wellhead pressure, 

as of December (pounds 

per square 

inch)

476 

486 

437 

380
236 SOUTHERN PART OF OKLAHOMA COAL FIELD

The rate of yield of the Carney field per pound of drop in numerical 

average well-head pressure through 1933 has been:

cubic feet

and the reserves as of January 1, 1934, at atmospheric pressure would 

be

129,232,000X380-49,108,160,000 cubic feet

which gives a total ultimate production at atmospheric pressure of 

76,893,012,000 cubic feet.

POUNDS SQJJARE IN PER INCH

PRESSURE

18 

o\. 

0 o\

0

\

\ so

X\

\ \

N

\ 

\

\ 

N

N

\

N

\

\ 

\

\ 

\

10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 

CUMULATIVE GAS YIELD IN BILLIONS OF CUBIC FEET

FIGURE 11. Graph showing the relation between cumulative gas yield and numerical-average well-bead 

pressures in the Carney gas field.

These relations are shown graphically in figure 11. Experience has 

shown that the estimates of recovery based upon numerical-average 

pressures are often lower (11 percent in the Quinton field) than the 

actual recovery; hence this estimate for Carney field may be too low. 

As back pressure is usually maintained upon a field, any figures 

representing reserves based upon atmospheric pressure will have to 

be corrected by an amount that is proportional to the pressure required 

by operating conditions.

Another means of obtaining an estimate of the total yield of gas 

is by the use of the porosity method, which depends upon the formula

AXtXpXPrXT 

V ~ PXTrXC
QUINTON-SCIPIO DISTRICT 237

where V= total yield at base pressure. 

.4=area of the reservoir. 

t=thickness of the gas-producing sand. 

p=effective porosity of the gas-producing sand. 

Pr=original reservoir pressure. 

T= absolute temperature at the surface. 

jP=final pressure at the surface or base pressure. 

Tr=absolute temperature in the reservoir. 

C= a compressibility factor for the gas.

For the Carney field the factors in the above-stated formula are 

accurately known, with the exception of A, t, and p, and these can be 

determined with a good degree of probability.

The area of the reservoir, A, can be judged from the fact that the 

wells which have been drilled half a mile in advance of the field or 

which are situated less than half a mile from the nearest producing 

well in the field show a rate of decline in pressure that is approximately 

the same as the rate of decline for the field. But the rate of decline of 

wells that are situated at distances greater than half a mile is only 

one-third as much as the field decline. (See table, p. 238.) The change 

in the rate of decline in pressure is abrupt and suggests that a large 

part of the gas that is produced from the field will come from the zone 

within half a mile of the drilling limits of the field. On this basis the 

reservoir would contain about 4,000 acres.

The thickness of the gas-producing zone, t, is based upon the available 

records, which indicate an average thickness of 86 feet of gas-producing 

sand.

The effective porosity, p, accepted for the Carney field is 16 percent. 

This is the figure that was computed for the Quinton field (see p. 232), 

and it seems reasonable to assume that the same figure holds for the 

Carney field also, in view of the porosity determinations for the 

Hartshorne sandstone by Melcher (p. 218).

The remaining factors in the formula may be computed as follows:

Pr, the original reservoir pressure, is the original well-head pressure 

(595 pounds per square inch), plus atmospheric pressure (14.4 pounds 

per square inch), plus the weight of a 2,050-foot column of gas (26 

pounds per square inch), and is thus equal to 635.4 pounds per square 

inch.

T, the absolute temperature at the surface, is the mean annual 

temperature at the surface (60° F.) plus the 460° required to convert 

to absolute temperature and is thus equal to 520° Abs.

P, the final pressure at the surface, or the base pressure, is 2 pounds 

per square inch, plus atmospheric pressure, and is thus equal to 16.4 

pounds per square inch.

Tr, the absolute temperature in the reservoir, is equal to the mean 

annual temperature at the surface (60° F.) plus an increase in tern-
238

perature with the depth below the surface of 1° F. for each 60 feet 

in wells of an average depth of 2,050 feet (34° F.), plus the 460° 

required to convert to absolute temperature, and is thus equal to 

554° Abs.

(7, the compressibility factor for the gas, is taken as equal to 0.904 

for reasons given on pages 231-232.

Inserting the figures thus obtained in the formula, we have

T/ 174,240,000X86X0.16X635.4X520 0, nnn nnn nnn v , , V= '- 164X554X09Q4 =96,000,000,000 cubic feet

for the ultimate yield of the Carney field, as compared with the 

estimate of 76,893,012,000 cubic feet obtained by computing the 

yield per pound of drop in pressure.

Rate of decline of pressure in outpost wells in the reservoir south of the fault in the

Carney field

Well

Quinton Oil & Gas Co. No. 1 Daugherty..

Midwestern Oil & Gas Co. No. 1 Tucker. __________ .... ___ .. ....

Midwestern Oil & Gas Co. No. 1 Benedict.. _________ - .... . .

Choctaw Gas Co. No. 1 Henderson.. _____________ .... ____ . ....

Midwestern Oil & Gas Co. No. 1 Colbert _ .............................. ...

Midwestern Oil & Gas Co. No. 2Treckel _ .. ___ . ___ .................

Utilities Production Corporation No. 1 Houston... ..........................

Field average _____ ... __________________ .. ........

Pressure drop

of well per

billion cubic

feet of gas

extracted

from reservoir

(pounds) 

12

8

8

7

8

8

7

10

2

3

2

2

7L£

Approximate

distance of

well from

nearest producing well

at time of

measurement

of pressure

(miles)

X

%

XA1

K

\t

X

%is

1

BLOCKER-FEA.THERSTON GAS FIELD

Development. The Blocker-Featherston gas field, the most westerly 

producing area on the Kinta anticline, is situated in the rolling valley 

floor of Sans Bois Creek. The wells in the west end of the field begin 

in the basal shale portion of the Boggy shale; those in the eastern 

part are located on the top of the Savanna sandstone. The field 

derives its name from the two towns between which it is situated 

Blocker on the west and Featherston on the east.

The discovery of the field is described on page 216. The results

of drilling operations are shown in the following table;
QUINTON-SCIPIO DISTRICT 239

Chronologic drilling schedule of the Blocker-Featherston field, in T. 7 N., R. 17 E.

Date of completion

Mar. 10, 1916 

April 1916

Mar. 17, 1920 

Mar. 17, 1920

Apr. 30,1923 

June 11, 1925 

June 9, 1926 

Oct. 11,1926 

Jan. 2, 1927 

May 15,1927 

July 30,1927

Oct. 7, 1927 

Jan. 13, 1928

Apr. 23,1928 

July 21,1928 

Mar. 18, 1929 

Sept. 10,1933

Company

Choctaw Natural Gas Co. 

.....do .... ......... ....

.....do .................

.....do ............ ......

Costanso Coal & Mining 

Co.

McAlester Gas & Coke Co.

.....do ..................

 .do .................

.....do ............ ......

.....do ..................

Utilities Production Corporation.

d

p

"3 

1

3 

4

1

1 

1 

2 

1 

2 

1 

1

1 

1

1

1 

1 

1

1

Farm

LeFlore (McGaha). 

LeFlore (Burr)., 

 ..do ....

Klug_____ .

Burr............

McFall.. .......

E. M. Featherston. 

M. A. Featherston. 

L. C. Featherston. 

Yoho .......

Approximate location '

NEc NEMSEJ^ .

SEc SWJ^NEJi .....

C NL NWMSWJ^ 

CELNWXSEJi 

NEc NEJiSEMSEc^E^SA^'"

NWc NWJ^SE}^... 

SWc SW^iNWj|... 

C W^NE-hf

c WHSWJ^NWJ^..

NWcSWMNEM---

C NL NEJ4SE&_.. 

SW SW^NEM----- 

CWJ^NE^..

NEcNEJiSWM -

d 

<u 

03

19

20

20 

19 

26

19 

20 

19 

22 

20 

21 

22

22 

21

21 

20 

24 

22

Initial 

measurements

Open flow (M cubic feet)

7,000

8 1, 500 

'1,250

8

3,850 

7,155 

»500 

1,091 

7,300 

2,844 

5,400

350 

1,040

681 

1,522 

2,610 

100

Rock pressure 

(pounds per inch) square 

545 

547 

210 

510

525 

555

530

545

580 

520 

560 

520

1 C, Center; c, corner; NL, EL, north line; east line.

2 Plugged.

» Dry. Total depth, 2,307 feet. 

4 Dry. Total depth, 2,605 feet. 

* No reliable log.

Stratigraphy and structure of rocks not exposed. Gas accumulation 

on the anticline is controlled to a large extent by a pronounced flattening of the plunge of the anticlinal axis, which forms an elongated terrace. Upon this terrace two subsidiary domes with less than 50 feet of 

closure have been formed. The subsurface map (pi. 26) illustrates 

these conditions graphically.

The stratigraphic sequence and the thickness of the penetrated 

formations is shown in the cross section on plate 20. The Hartshorne 

sandstone is much thicker in this field than it is in either the Quinton 

or the Carney field, but this does not result in more productive wells, as 

might be expected. The small yield of the wells may be due to a 

high degree of cementation, resulting in low effective porosity, as 

indicated by drillers' reports of unusually hard sand in this field. This 

condition probably also accounts for the long life of the discovery well, 

which is still producing its quota of gas.

Production. Complete production figures from the field are not 

available, but the data on record are tabulated below.
240 SOUTHERN PART OF OKLAHOMA COAL FIELD

Annual yield of gas from the Blocker-Featherston field, 1923-33, in thousands of

cubic feet

Year

1923. ____

1924.. ........

1925 . ......

1926 . ...

1927 ___ ....

1928 . 

1929.... ..

Metered 

yield

12, 728

107, 277

332, 202

551 272

598, 664

557, 639

Used

for 

drilling 

(estimated)

5,000

5,000

9,000

13, 000

5,000

Lost

during completion of 

wells

(estimated)

7,000

15, 000

2,000

34, 000

6,000

5,000

Total

12,000

12, 728

127, 277

343, 202

617, 664

567, 639

Year

1930 . 

1931.. .

1932 

1933. 

Total ...

Metered 

yield

504,288

495, 747

420, 451

358, 668

3, 938, 936

Used

for 

drilling 

(estimated)

5,000

60, 000

Lost

during completion of 

wells

(estimated)

69, 000

Total

504,288

495, 747

420, 451

363, 668

4, 067, 938

To these figures should be added the gas that was sold to McAlester 

by the Choctaw Natural Gas Co. from the discovery well during the 

years 1916 to 1924, which amounted to about 7 billion cubic feet, if the 

original pressure was 580 pounds per square inch, as it was in the wells 

near Featherston.

For purposes of analysis, the wells in the field have been divided 

into three groups. On the west end of the field the discovery well and 

its three offsets, called the Bassett group, constitute one division; 

in the middle portion the McGaha and L. C. Featherston wells are 

another group; and on the east end the remaining wells form a third. 

(See pi. 26.) The Bassett wells have produced 95 percent of all the 

metered gas from the field. The second group has supplied very little 

gas to the line but has shown a large drop in pressure. The third 

group has produced an insignificant amount of gas and has shown 

very little drop in pressure. The average well-head pressure of these 

groups is shown in the following table:

Numerical-average well-head pressures in the Blocker-Featherston field as of December, 

1916-88, in pounds per square inch

Year

1916 

1925. _ . ....

1926 ......

1927 

1928- _

Group 1, 

Bassett

wells

580? 

545 

395 

(?) 

380 

308

Group 2

McGaha well

520 

535

L. C. Featherston well

545 

505

Group 3, 

other

wells

578

574

Year

1929 _____ .

1930 .........

1931. _ .....

1932 

1933 

Group 1, 

Bassett wells

324

298 

288 

288 

302

Group 2

McOaha 

well

410 

355 

355 

390 

370

L. C.

Featherston 

well

480 

445 

445 

420 

420

Group 3, 

other wells

553 

561 

576 

545 

569

A general idea of the productivity of the Hartshorns sandstone 

in this area can be obtained by a study of the total pressure drop and

total production since 1925- for the Bassett group of wells. During 

this period these wells produced about 3.5 billion cubic feet of gas 

and the pressure dropped from 395 to 302 pounds. The total with-
GCOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 874 PLATE 28

R. 16 E R. (7 E.

EXPLANATION

Gas well

Abandoned gas * « //

Dry ho/e 

ff Abandoned location 

of Uncomp/eied we//

MAP OF THE BLOCKER-FEATHERSTON GAS FIELD.

Contours drawn on top of the Upper Hartshorne coal or an equivalent bed. Contour interval 50 feet. Datum mean sea level. Names on tracts are those of fee owners when wells were drilled. Numbers at left of well symbols are those assigned by lease owners. Italic numbers adjacent to the well symbols show depth below sea level of the- top of the Upper Hartshorne

coal or equivalent bed. The letter C following the italic number indicates that the Upper Hartshorne coal was recorded in the well log.
QUINTON-SCIPIO DISTRICT 241

drawal divided by the total pressure drop gives a yield per pound of 

drop in pressure of 37,600,000 cubic feet. The production prior to 

1926 and subsequent to 1933 can be computed by the use of this 

recovery factor as follows:

Estimates of recovered and recoverable gas from the Bassett group of wells

Year

1916.. ____________ .... _ . _ . . _ 

1926-.. .-.-. . _.. _. -

1926 __ _______ . ______ . ___________

1933 __ __ _ _ _ . __ .

1934 _ _ _

(?)-._ . _ 

Total.................................... __ .

Pressure (pounds per 

square inch)

Average 

for year

580 

395

395 

302

302 

0

Drop during period

} 185 

} 93 

} 302

Recovery 

factor 

(cubic feet per 

pound of drop 

in pressure)

37, 600, 000 

i 37, 600, 000 

37, 600, 000

Gas yield 

(billions of 

cubic feet)

17.0 

3.5 

' 11.4

21.9

1 Computed.

The relatively large figure of 11.4 billion cubic feet, which represents 

the reserves of gas for this group of wells, is due to the fact that this 

group is the only one in the field from which substantial amounts of 

gas have been withdrawn. Although the extent of the reservoir 

from which these wells are drawing is not known, it may be that they 

are being supplied by a relatively large area, which would permit 

large production with only a small drop in pressure. The computed 

recovery of 11.4 billions cannot be attained, however, because the 

wells are operated against a line pressure. The decrease in recovery 

due to this factor will be proportional to the pressure maintained in 

the line.

The decline in pressure of the McGaha well, half a mile east of the 

Bassett group, and of the L. C. Featherston well, half a mile east 

of the McGaha well, is greatly out of proportion to the small yield 

that has been recorded. In the McGaha well the total pressure 

drop since 1927 has been 150 pounds; in the L. C. Featherston well, 

125 pounds. Such a decline would represent a yield of approximately 

5 billion cubic feet for each well, if the recovery factor for the Bassett 

group were applied. This yield is more than 50 times the recorded 

production and suggests either withdrawal of gas from the area beneath the McGaha and Featherston wells as a result of the continuous 

and large withdrawals from the Bassett group of.wells or escape of 

the gas through leaks in the equipment or through low-pressure 

sands that have not been completely cased off. The withdrawal of gas 

from the Bassett, McGaha, and L. C. Featherston wells in the western 

part of the field has had little effect on pressures in the eastern part

149779 38 7
242 SOUTHERN PART OF OKLAHOMA COAL FIELD

of the field, although the L. C. Featherston well is only five-eighths of 

a mile west of the most westerly well in the eastern part of the field. 

No estimate of the reserves of gas for this field is attempted in this 

report, because the limits of the reservoir are too conjectural.

ADDITIONAL GAS AND OIL, POSSIBILITIES OF THE KINTA ANTICLINE

There are possible gas-producing sands below the Hartshorne 

sandstone, in the Atoka and Morrow formations, although the Atoka 

was not productive on the terrace east and northeast of the town of 

Canadian, nor on the west end of the Enterprise anticline. The 

nearest Atoka gas occurs in the vicinity of "Wilburton, 12 miles south 

of Quinton, where gas has been obtained at depths of 3,000 to 4,000 

feet below the Hartshorne sandstone. The porous beds of the Morrow 

formation offer a chance of additional production in this district, for 

they contain gas on anticlines and elsewhere.

The possibility of oil and gas in the older rocks, chiefly in the 

Simpson formation, of the Ordovician system, depends on many 

unknown factors. The least conjectural of these factors are the 

kind and degree of metamorphism of the rocks and the relation of the 

known structure in the younger rocks to the structure of the earlier 

Paleozoic rocks. The metamorphism is intimately connected with 

the history of the Ouachita Mountains. The most definite statement 

that can be made is that the degree of metamorphism of the surface 

rocks does not necessarily indicate a similar degree of alteration in 

the Ordovician rocks. The second factor is complicated by the 

presence of unconformities between the sedimentary systems, but the 

fact that the surface structure of the Kinta, Burning Springs, Flowery 

Mound, and Lilypad Creek anticlines and the terrace north and northeast of Canadian is duplicated in the underlying sedimentary rocks 

at least to a depth of 2,500 feet suggests that similar folds may also 

be found in the still deeper beds. The steepening of the dip of the 

subsurface beds away from the anticlinal axis and also along the 

axis away from the highest parts of the anticlines lends credence to 

this theory. On the other hand, the northwestward thinning of the 

lower Pennsylvanian beds may reduce the northwest dip by such an 

amount that tne folds will nave insufficient closure to retain oil.

As oil is present in the Simpson formation in the counties adjoining

the Quinton-Scipio district on tne nortK and west, and as the existence 

of subsurface folds in this district to depths of at least 2,500 feet is 

known, it would seem that a deep test of the Kinta anticline would

be warranted. The depth at which the Simpson formation would be

encountered on the Kinta anticline cannot be computed with any

degree of accuracy. If there is no major unconformity in the lower

Pennsylvanian beds that would tend to thin the interval and if the 

interval between the Morrow formation and the Simpson formation is
QUINTON-SCIPIO DISTRICT 243

the same as the interval encountered in well 11, then the Simpson 

should be found at 6,500 to 7,000 feet in the Carney field.

BURNING SPRINGS ANTICLINE

Location and drilling. The Burning Springs anticline extends into 

this district in the northern part of T. 6 N., R. 17 E. Attention was 

first directed to it by gas seepages in the beds of some of the creeks 

traversing the anticline. Two shallow test wells (nos. 65 and 66) 

were drilled shortly after 1900 in sec. 9, T. 6 N., R. 17 E. According 

to D. C. Acosta, the first of these wells obtained gas at a depth of 

1,298 feet, the flow amounting to 500,000 to 750,000 cubic feet daily. 

Both drilling and fishing tools were lost in the hole, which was abandoned without plugging. Considerable amounts of gas are still 

escaping from the hole. The second well found no gas whatever at 

the 1,300-foot horizon and was abandoned as a dry hole at a depth 

of 1,876 feet, which must have been only a short distance above the 

Hartshorne sandstone.

About the time of these operations a well (no. 64) was drilled on the 

north flank of the Burning Springs anticline, 2 miles northeast of its 

crest. It was abandoned as a dry hole at a depth of 2,112 feet.

In 1930 the Cities Service Gas Co. drilled two wells (nos. 67 and 

68) through the Hartshorne sandstone. The first well (no. 67), on 

the crest of the anticline in sec. 9, was dry. The second well (no. 68), 

on the south flank of the surface fold in sec. 16, reported a small 

amount of gas. Both wells were plugged and abandoned. No 

further development has taken place on this portion of the anticline.

Stratigraphy and structure of rocks not exposed. The axis of the 

subsurface structure appears to be coincident with the axis of the 

surface anticline (pi. 13), but the rate of dip of the beds is accentuated 

with depth. This is shown by the sea-level altitudes of the tops of 

the formations in wells 64, 67, and 68 (table on p. 209). If the record 

of well 64 is taken at its face value, it gives very striking evidence of 

the steepening of the structure in depth, for the position of the Stigler 

coal in wells 64 and 67 reveals a difference of altitude of 987 feet, as 

compared to one of 350 ± feet in the surface beds.

An interesting stratigraphic feature of the Burning Springs anticline 

is the fact that the McAlester shale is 200 feet thicker than on the 

Kinta anticline, 4 miles north, and 300 feet thicker than on the Flowery 

Mound anticline, 8 miles west. The increase in interval appears to 

take place in the lower shale part of the formation.

The absence of commercial amounts of gas on a fold so pronounced 

as the Burning Springs anticline is difficult to explain, except by the 

assumption of unfavorable sand conditions such as low porosity or 

lenticularity. The Hartshorne sandstone averages 215 feet in thickness, but much of it is shaly and hence unsatisfactory for a gas reser-
244 SOUTHERN PART OF OKLAHOMA COAL FIELD

voir. The character of the sandstone is well illustrated by the following description of the samples taken from the Cities Service wells, 

furnished through the courtesy of that company.

Partial log of Cities Service Gas Co. No. 1 Featherston well, 1,975 feet west and 

668 -feet south from the northeast corner of sec. 9, T. 6 N., R. 17 E.

Top of Hartshorne sandstone. Feet 

Gray micaceous sand___-__-_-_-__-___--________ 1, 980-2, 020

Gray and black shale____------------_-._-_--_-._ 2, 020-2, 030

Coal..__-____--_____-__---------_-----_----_-_- 2,030-2,040

Dark-gray micaecous fine sandy shale____.._-_-_____ 2, 040-2, 070

Gray-white micaceous fine sand; effervesces slowly

when heated -_----_----_-------------_--_.-_ 2,070-2,160

Sand as above, 50 percent; gray micaceous fine sandy

shale, 50 percent______---------__---________-_ 2, 160-2, 170

Top of Atoka formation____-_______ __..._-________ 2, 170

Gray micaceous fine sandy shale___-__-____-_______ 2, 170-2, 320

Partial log of Cities Service Gas Co. No. 1 Hughes well, 660 feet south and 664 f^et 

east from northwest corner of sec. 16, T. 6 N., R. 17 E.

Top of Hartshorne sandstone.

Fine white angular sandstone, dolomitic cement, peet

50 percent; gray sandy shale, 50 percent--..-.-- 1, 975-1, 985

Gray sandy shale._.__.__.--_--_----_-_________ 1, 985-2, 000

Light-gray fine sandstone and medium-gray shale._ 2, 000-2, 025 

Light-gray sandstone and sandy shale, 80 percent;

coal 20 percent.-.-_-------------_-------._. 2, 025-2, 027±

Light-gray micaceous sandstone_______-----_____ 2, 027-2, 032±

Medium-gray shale_.____ ____---______________ 2, 032-2, 055

Medium-gray shale 70 percent; coal 30 percent.__ 2, 055-2, 068±

Medium-gray pyritic sandy shale________________ 2, 068-2, 078±

Medium-gray very sandy shale _________________ 2, 078-2, 085

Fine white angular sandstone slightly dolomitic.._ 2, 085-2, 115

Light-gray to white fine sandstone and gray sandy

shale____.__..._.._----_------_--_-.---.-... 2, 115-2, 180

Red sandstone and red shale, some sandy_..-_._ 2,180-2,195

Top of Atoka formation.__--_-_.______.___.____ 2, 195

Gray sandy shale_-_--___---___--___..._.______ 2, 195-2, 245

Gas possibilities. Although additional drilling may reveal more 

favorable sand bodies and larger amounts of gas, the chances of

obtaining a large gas field from the Hartshorne sandstone on the 

Burning Springs anticline clo not appear very promising. Well 69,

drilled 6 miles northeast on this same structural trend, was also dry. 

No beds of pure sand in the Hartshorne formation were logged in this

well. Tlie formation is recorded as consisting of 220 feet of sHale,

including only 90 feet of sandy shale.

The possibility of finding gas ancl oil at deeper horizons IS dlSCUSSeol

in connection with the description of the Flowery Mound anticline.
QUINTON-SCIPIO DISTRICT 

FLOWERY MOUND ANTICLINE

245

The Flowery Mound anticline, the top of which is situated in sec. 

1, T. 6 N., R. 16 E., and sec. 6, T. 6 N., R. 17 E., furnished the city 

of McAlester with fuel for several years from the Fish Creek well 

(no. 45). The gas came from the Hartshorne sandstone, found between depths of 1,920 and 2,120 feet. The initial flow was estimated 

to be about 1,000,000 cubic feet. The well was plugged and abandoned 

several years ago, but gas is still escaping from the ground for a radius 

of 15 feet about the well. It is not known, however, whether this 

gas is coming from the Hartshorne sandstone or from sands in the 

middle part of the McAlester shale, which are also gas-bearing in 

this locality.

In 1931 Joe Perrine and others tested these McAlester sands in a 

shallow well drilled as an east offset to the Fish Creek well. Estimates 

of the initial volume of gas obtained in this well vary from 500,000 

to 5,000,000 cubic feet. The well was shut in pending the development of a market. An accurate log of the well was not kept, but the 

gas is said to have come from a sand found at a depth of about 1,100 

feet.

Three other wells were drilled near the axis of the Flowery Mound 

anticline. One of these (no. 44) was drilled southwest of its top, 

and the other two (nos. 47 and 48) east and northeast of the top. 

Two different logs of well 44 are available, neither of which is very 

good. Their composite record indicates that the Stigler coal was 

found at 1,240 to 1,248 feet and "gas rock" at 2,700 to 2,710 feet. 

The "gas rock" was the Hartshorne sandstone, but it was apparently 

barren. The record shows that the well was abandoned after having 

drilled but 10 feet of the sand, a depth which ordinarily would be 

inadequate to test its gas possibilities. Well 47 recorded 185 feet of 

continuous Hartshorne sandstone, and well 48 showed 151 feet, but 

the formation produced gas in neither well.

As in the Burning Springs anticline, the axis of the Flowery Mound 

anticline at depth is nearly coincident with the axis at the surface, 

but the dips are higher in the deeper beds. This is shown on plate 13 

and also by the following table:

Differences of altitude of successively deeper slratigraphic horizons on the Flowery

Mound anticline, in feet

Between wells 45 and 48 __ ... ... .. . ...

Observed at 

surface in 

beds of 

Boggy shale 

(approximate)

400 

250 

300

Recorded in well records

Top of 

McAlester 

shale

564? 

219 

492

Top of 

Hartshorne 

sandstone

729 

274 

614

Top of 

Atoka 

formation

196 

499
246 SOUTHERN PART OF OKLAHOMA COAL FIELD

Although no large gas field can be developed in the Hartshorne 

sandstone on the Flowery Mound anticline, wells similar to the Fish 

Creek well may be obtained on the west end of the anticline. However, gas has been marketed or has leaked from the sands in this well 

since 1915, and it is probable that a large area has been drained of its 

gas content. The amount of gas that can be obtained from the 

sands in the McAlester shale is open to question, but well 45 is probably typical of such wells as may be found. The possibility of 

finding oil and gas at horizons below the Hartshorne sandstone on the 

Burning Springs and Flowery Mound anticlines is uncertain, as on the 

Kinta anticline. However, these anticlines are smaller in lateral 

extent than the Kinta anticline and they are more intensely folded, 

hence accumulation would tend to be more localized, and the subsurface structure would be affected less by convergence of overlying 

beds.

LAKE McALESTER ANTICLINE

Only one test well (no. 41) has been drilled on the Lake McAlester 

anticline. It was located close to the surface axis but west of the 

top of the structure. This well passed through 65 feet of sand, sandy 

shale, and shale correlated with the Hartshorne sandstone, but gas in 

commercial quantities was not found. The well was abandoned at a 

total depth of 2,975 feet in the Hartshorne sandstone. The east end 

of the anticline, however, cannot be considered as having been adequately tested by this well.

The possibility of obtaining production from deeper beds on this 

anticline appears to be limited to the Pennsylvanian rocks. The 

interval between the Boggy shale and the Hartshorne sandstone shows 

a thinning of about 300 feet between well 41 and well 34, 5 miles to 

the northwest. Therefore, the chance of finding oil in the Simpson 

formation is considered to be unpromising, because the west component of the convergence of the Pennsylvanian sedimentary rocks 

is greater than the westward closure of the anticline.

LILYPAD CREEK ANTICLINE

The Lilypad Creek anticline, at the west end of Lake McAlester, 

has not produced commercial quantities of gas, although six wells

(nos. 35 to 40) have been drilled at or near its top. One of these wells 

(no. 38) reached a total depth of 4,303 feet, at which it was 1,558 

feet below the base of the Hartshorne sandstone. A thickness of 123 

feet of Hartshorne sandstone was recorded in this well, but it contained no gas. The well was plugged back in order to save a flow of

2 million cubic feet of gas from a sand between 600 and 655 feet,

The gas has been used for additional drilling and for domestic purposes,

and the well is still active. The other wells on the top of the anticline 

were abandoned before they reached the Hartshorne sandstone.
QUINTON-SCIPIO DISTRICT . 247

A deep test well (no. 34), was drilled on the northwest flank of the 

Lilypad Creek anticline, 3 miles from the group of wells on the top of 

the fold. It was abandoned at a total depth of 4,307 feet in the Atoka 

formation. Beds definitely referable to the Hartshorne sandstone 

were not recorded in this well, but a 20-foot limestone, which occurred 

at a depth of 3,190 feet, may represent the Hartshorne.

The failure of the test that was located on the top of the anticline 

and the apparent absence of sand on the northwest flank indicate that 

the chances of finding a prolific gas field in the Hartshorne sandstone 

on this anticline are small. Although the shallow sand at 600 feet 

yielded gas in one well, gas was not found in five other wells drilled 

through it.

The possibilities of finding oil or gas in the rocks below the Pennsylvanian on this anticline are lessened by the fact that the rate of 

northwestward dip, both in the surface rocks and in the Hartshorne 

sandstone, differs so little from the rate of northwestward thinning of 

the underlying Pennsylvanian that in the deeper rocks the anticline may 

be converted into a terrace. The Lake McAlester anticline at depth 

may be an anticline plunging eastward from this terrace. As previously noted, however, the computed effect of the known convergence may be canceled by the presence of unconformities. Such 

unconformities are more likely to be present in the western part of the 

district, which lies somewhat nearer to the margin of the basin of 

deposition, than in the eastern part. As the Atoka formation is 

probably much thinner over the area of the Lilypad Creek anticline, 

a well here could test the possibilities of the rocks below the Pennsylvanian at lesser depths than a well in the eastern part of the district. 

(See footnote 37a, p. 205.)

TERRACE NORTHEAST OF THE TOWN OF CANADIAN

Development. In the vicinity of the town of Canadian 21 wells have 

been drilled in the search for gas and oil. They may be divided into 

two groups one in sees 25, 26, and 36, T. 9 N., R. 16 E., and the other 

in sec. 32, T. 9 N., R.16 E., and sees. 4 and 5, T. 8 N., R. 16 E. Shows 

of gas have been obtained at various depths in most of the wells, but 

only three zones have yielded gas in commercial quantities. The 

shallowest of these is a coal bed in the Boggy shale, which is found at a 

depth of 400 feet in the western group of wells and at about 650 feet 

in the eastern group. A thin limestone is usually recorded a short 

distance above the coal. This succession suggests that the coal is the 

same as the one which, in the surface outcrops, occurs about 200 feet 

above the Secor coal. In well 13, however, there is an interval of only 

88 feet between the limestone-capped coal at a depth of 418 feet and an 

underlying coal bed at a depth of 506 feet. The lower coal can 

reasonably be correlated with the Secor coal, for the decrease of the 

interval above it from 200 feet on the surface outcrops to 88 feet in this
248 SOUTHERN PART OF OKLAHOMA COAL FIELD

well would not be unusual in view of the general northward thinning 

of the beds. The gas found at the horizon of the upper coal comes 

from the top portion of the coal bed. The initial output of these wells 

is small, usually less than half a million cubic feet, and the pressure is 

low. The accumulation of gas in the coal is very irregular, as witnessed by the dry hole (well 18) that was drilled about 20 feet from the 

producer (well 17). The coal is 12 feet lower in well 18 than in well 17. 

The difference in altitude of the coal is not a satisfactory explanation 

of this anomalous production, because in well 15, which is a producer, 

the coal is lower than in well 18. It is possible that there is a fault 

between wells 17 and 18 and that its southward projection would 

account for well 19, a dry hole, in which the coal is 46 feet lower than 

in well 17.

Another coal bed at a depth of 1,400 feet yielded half a million 

cubic feet of gas in well 13 and 2 million cubic feet in well 12. The 

pressure was recorded as being 200 pounds.

The next deeper bed from which gas has been produced occurs at a 

depth of 1,900 feet in well 3. This bed is probably one of the sands in 

the McAlester shale.

The sand that is thought to represent the Hartshorne sandstone, 

which occurred at a depth of 1,000 feet in well 13, yielded 1 million 

cubic feet of gas. The gas was cased off, and the well was drilled to 

the Cromwell (?) sand, found at about 4,500 feet, where a flow of 3 

million cubic feet of gas was reported to have been obtained. This 

well was begun as a deep test, but the tools were lost in the hole, and 

another test (well 12) was started 550 feet north of it.

The drilling of well 12 was carried on over a period of 5 years, 

and it reached a total depth of 5,902 feet. 48 This is the only well 

in the district to test the Viola limestone, the Simpson formation, and 

the top of the Arbuckle limestone, which is the oldest producing zone 

in the State. A partial log of the well is given on page 213. Numerous

shows of gas were found during the course of drilling. An oil show was 

reported from a sand at a depth of 5,340 to 5,420 feet, in the upper 

part of the Simpson formation. The sand was shot with 240 quarts of 

explosive, but commercial production was not obtained. Another oil 

show was said to have been found at a depth of 5,730 feet. The 

temperature of the well at a depth of 5,280 feet was reported to be 

193° F., which would give the unusually high thermal gradient of 

27 feet per degree of temperature. 

Structure. As shown on plate 13, the wells in this vicinity have been

drilled on the northern and northwestern edge of a broad, g6ntly 

sloping structural terrace developed in the rocks of the upper part

of the Boggy shale. On the Upper Hartshorne coal, however, the 

structure as deduced from the study of the well records shows an

« Oil Weekly, March 11,1932, pp. 59-60.
QUINTON-SCIPIO DISTRICT 249

anticline extending east-northeastward in the northwestern part of 

T. 8 N., R. 16 E., and the southern part of T, 9 N., R. 16 E. The 

interval between the Boggy shale and the top of the Atoka formation 

is very thin. This interval in well 11 is 720 feet thinner than it is 

in well 26, which is 11 miles to the east, on the Enterprise anticline, 

and 694 feet thinner than in well 48, which is 10 miles to the southsoutheast, near the west end of the Kinta anticline. The thinning 

may be due to the presence of one or more unconformities between formations, or more likely it is intraformational, for the sequence recorded 

in the wells near Canadian contains numerous coals that can be correlated with the coals of the thicker sections. As there is, however, a 

possibility that the gas-bearing coal and sandstone sequence that has 

been here correlated with the Hartshorne sandstone may in fact be 

McAlester beds overlapping an inlier of Atoka, a question mark has 

been added in the table on page 208 to such figures as only doubtfully 

represent altitudes on the Upper Hartshorne coal in this vicinity. 

Numerous occurrences of gas in the beds above the Atoka formation 

and the gas found in the Cromwell (?) sand accord with the anticlinal 

structure in depth.

Oil and gas possibilities. The presence of gas in the Pennsylvanian 

formations on this anticline, in volumes which are probably representative of those which may be obtained by future drilling, has been 

demonstrated. The oil possibilities in the formations above the 

Cromwell (?) sand are small and in the Cromwell (?) sand itself are 

probably unfavorable, to judge from the dryness of the gas that 

occurred in this sand in wells 11 and 12. The lack of commercial 

production in well 12, although it appears to have been located near 

the top of the anticline, the quartzitic nature of the sands in the 

Simpson formation, and the possibility that the northwestward 

thinning of the Atoka may in depth neutralize the northwest dip on 

the Upper Hartshorne coal greatly reduce the chances of finding oil in 

the Simpson formation. However, the considerable size of the anticline, as shown by the subsurface altitudes of the Upper Hartshorne 

coal, the thinning of the Pennsylvanian formations over the anticline, 

and the shows of gas and oil in well 12 may warrant another test of the 

Ordovician rocks.

SUMMARY OF STRUCTURAL RELATIONS

In general, it may be said that the anticlines shown by contours on 

the Upper Hartshorne coal conform to those in the formations exposed 

at the surface in shape and position but not in the amount of relief. 

So far as information is available, the axial planes of the anticlines are 

vertical, even in those which are asymmetric in form. This is true at 

least to a depth of 2,500 feet, or to the Atoka formation. It is reasonable to suppose, but not necessarily true, that the same relation exists
250 SOUTHERN PART OF OKLAHOMA COAL FIELD

at greater depths, and that the most favorable places to drill deep test 

wells in this district would be close to the axes of the surface anticlines.

The dips in the buried rocks that have been revealed by drilling are 

steeper than the dips at the surface. Such a condition might be the 

result of concentric folding, differential compaction, or the repetition 

of folding at several periods separated by erosion. The steepening 

of the dips on the Upper Hartshorne coal seems to be too great and 

too irregular to be attributed to concentric folding. Differential 

compaction has probably played a part in reducing the amount of 

dip upward in the section, but the variations in thickness of the 

Hartshorne sandstone and overlying formation seem too great to 

attribute to compaction alone. That there has been repetition of 

folding at several periods is indicated by numerous data. The marked 

range in the thickness of the Atoka formation from 950 to 5,000 feet 

(p. 212), the local variations amounting to over 240 feet in the thickness of the Hartshorne sandstone (pp. 211-212), and similar variations 

in the thickness of the McAlester shale (pp. 210-211) indicate instability of the earth's crust during the deposition of the Pennsylvanian sediments. The subsurface faulting of pre-Savanna and post-Hartshorne 

age on the Kinta anticline suggests that the formation of this anticline 

began at least as early as Hartshorne time and that it had several increments of growth during McAlester time. Such a structural history 

would evolve steeper dips in the older rocks than in the younger ones. 

Recurrent movements of this kind along structural trends would favor 

the possibility of finding oil and gas in the deeper beds, because such 

movements tend to increase the steepness of the older folds, and the 

erosional unconformities developed across buried porous strata may 

form favorable seals for reservoirs hi which oil or gas may accumulate.
INDEX

Abstract.................................... 151-152

Accessibility of the district.._________ 157 

Acknowledgments____________... 154-155 

Anticlines, general features of...__... .. 195 

Apex Oil & Gas Co., operations by__ .. 206 

Arbuckle limestone, drilling in...._____ 248

thickness of________________ 213

Atoka formation, depth to.._________ 213

drilling in..........__._..........._ 247

formations older than, subsurface character

of .............................. 213

possible occurrence of.._______.._ 249 

producing sands in, possibility of.. _ 242 

subsurface character of ____..... 212-213

B

Barnes slope mine, no activity at____.._ 197

Bassett wells, production from. ___... 240,241

Blocker Coal & Land Co., operations by..__ 199

Blocker-Featherston field, annual yield from.. 240

development of.____________ 238-239

early history of______________ 216

Hartshorne sandstone in ________ 219

pressure in....______________ 221

production from.__________ 220,239-242 

structure of_______________ 221-222 

subsurface stratigraphy and structure of

239, pis. 20, 26 

wells drilled in........................... 217

Blocker No. 1 mine, coal recorded as mined

from............................ 203-204

Bluejacket sandstone, correlation of____ 188-189 

Boggy shale, character and thickness of.......

157,160-165, pis. 14-19 

coal beds in.............. 161-162,247-248, pi. 19

correlation of.._......_________ 189

fossils in..... ........................ 173-177

comparison of, with other faunas. -. 182-184

localities of..__._________ 190-191

outcrops of...___....._________ 193

producing sand in..___________ 238 

Brooks mine. See McHoma Coal Co. mine. 

Buchanan mine. See McHoma Coal Oo. mine. 

Burning Springs anticline, drilling on____ 243 

features of.________________ 194 

outcrops of coal on___________ 199,200 

possibility of gas on...__________ 244 

subsurface stratigraphy and structure

of.............__....... 243-244,pi.13

Byllesby, drilling by...____.______ 207

Campbell, S. J., et al., operations by..___ 218

Canadian, structure of terrace near. ____ 248-249

terrace near, development of______ 247-248

> Page

Cannaday, drilling by.___ _______- 206

Carboniferous system, formations of.___ 158-168

formations of, age and correlation of.... 187-189

invertebrate paleontology of__.... 169-192

stratigraphic range of fossils in___ 184-187

Carney gas field, annual yield from 235

development of..__._____.___ 232-233

early history of ...................... 216-217

Hartshorne sandstone in.. .- 219 

pressure in.._______ _ 221 

producing sand in..-....... ......... 235-238

production and reserves of 220,235-238, pi. 25. 

structure of .. - 221-222

subsurface stratigraphy and structure of.- 234,

pi. 23 

wells drilled in. ................. 217

Central States Power & Light Corporation,

operations by .. 218 

Charles Glenn strip pit, coal from...__..... 197

Chattanooga shale, thickness of--.- 213 

Cherokee shale, correlation of .... . 188-189

Choctaw Gas Co., operations by 207,217,232-233 

Choctaw Natural Gas Co., operations by 205,

207,216, 224, 239 

Choctaw Oil Co., operations by..__.... 205,207

Choctaw Oil & Gas Co., operations by . 205,206 

Choctoka Oil & Gas Co., operations by...... 206

Cities Service Gas Co., operations by. 207,243

wells of, logs of.._____ .. .- 244

Climate. ....................... ..... 156

Coal, general features of.___ ........_- 196

occurrence of_______ .. .. .. 161- 

162, 210-211, 226, 245, 247-248, pi. 19 

physical and chemical character of 201-204 

Coal beds, description of, by townships 196-201 

Corporation Commission of Oklahoma, decisions of.. 216-217

Costanso Coal & Mining Co., operations by. 207,239 

Cromwell (?) sand, gas from... ...... 248,249

Crowder Coal Co. mine. See Lochmanese 

mine.

D

Des Moines group, fossils and age of _.... 187 

Drainage, features of.-....-.- 155-156 

Drilling, methods and cost of -_____ 222-223

E

Empire Oil & Refining Co., drilling by.__.. 207 

Enterprise anticline, features of- _____- 194

Faults, occurrence of..._.194,226,234, pis. 13,21-24 

Fayette shale, thickness of.... _ 213 

Featherston, L. C., well, production from 240,

241-242

251
252 INDEX

Page

Field work..__.________._____ 153-154 

Fish Creek well, drilling of. ... .... 205

Flowery Mound anticline, outcrops of coal on. 199,

200

features of.___._________ 192-193,194 

producing sands on--.---------.._.-.___ 245-246

subsurface structure of____... 245-246, pi. 13

Fossils, list of, collected in district__.__ 186-187 

stratigraphic range of-...--..--.----.-.- 184-187

G

Garretson mine, coal from.................... 197

Gas. See Natural gas; Oil and gas.

Geography of the district.__..--___ --..__ 155-157

Gerty sand, character, distribution, and

thickness of.. .. 168-169

Gillock Oil Co., operations by......----..... 206

Gipsy Oil Co., operations by..--------.-.-- 205,207

Gladys Belle Oil Co., operations by.......... 216

Glenn, C. E., mine, analyses of coal from.._ 202 

section of coal bed in....--..._.--.-.-- 203

Glimpse, W. A., drilling by.--..------------- 207

H

Hartshorne sandstone, analyses of---------- 218-219

character and thickness of.--------------- 235,

239, 243-244, 246-247

depth to and thickness of ______. __ 219 

drilling in.-----..-_...-_.----.-..__ 247

producing sand in.. _.. 218,

226, 235,240-241, 245-246, 248 

structure of. ._.-..____ 234, pis. 13,23,24 

subsurface character of-------...- 211-212, pi. 20

Heisel pit, coal from.. .... 199,203-204

Hunton limestone (?), thickness of .._.. 213

Kimball mine, no activity at.._.----..--.-- 197 

Kinta anticline, coal on.._ - . 199

features of...-.-...-..- _ .. 194 

gas and oil possibilities of-. ... 205, 242-243 

gasfieldson ... 215-243 

rate of development of._... __ 217 

producing sands on.._.._ ... 218-219

Lake MeAlester anticline, drilling on..-...--- 246 

features of.-.------- -.-----. 194-195

Le Flore pit, coal from___................... 200

Lee, C. M., mine. See Tri-State Coal & Coke

Co. mine. 

Lee strip pit, coal from......... . 199-200

Lehigh coal, occurrence of..... _ .... 210,226

Lilypad Creek anticline, drilling on..... 205,246-247

features of 195

Location of the district...._.-.-.-.---._ 152-153

coal from, analyses of...-.------.-----..-- 202

section of bed of....-.- ...... 203

Lower McAlester coal, occurrence of - 210,226

M

Map, geologic, of the district.... -------- pi. 12

McAlester Coal & Coke Co., gas produced by. 216

Page

McAlester Gas & Coke Co., operations by.. 207,239 

McAlester shale, character and occurrence of.- 157,

158,210-211 

coal in.. ........................ 210-211, 226

possible occurrence of_... ..___-... 249 

producing sand in.. ___.. 210, 218, 245-246,248 

thickness of___............._-...----. 243

McGaha well, production from......... 240,241-242

McHoma Coal Co. mine, coal from.._...... 199

coal from, analyses of.._---------------- 202

section of coal bed in.....---. -.-_----- 203

Mason pit, coal from..____.__.__ 199,203-204 

Melcher, A. F., analyses by_............. 218-219

Mercer, S., drilling by .. . -.-..- 206 

Midway Coal Co., operations by. 199,203-204 

Midwestern Oil & Gas Co., operations by__ 217,

224, 232

wellsof, features of.. . .. 229,234 

Miller (?) mine, no activity at____. __... 197 

Moorefield (?) shale, thickness of.._.__.. 213 

Morrow formation, producing sand in, possibility of..---.-----..- --- 242

section of____. _________ - __ 213

N

Natural gas, analysis of_.---......---.--...- 220

annual yield of... ...... 227,235,240

fields producing, general features of. 215-223 

methods of drilling for.__...._____ 222-223

pressure of ... __.______.___ 221 

production and reserves of ------------- 219-

221, 227-232, 235-238,239-240 

sand producing............. 210, 212, 226, 235, 239

Nottage, D., drilling by _-___-____ 205

O

Oil and gas, history of drilling for..___.. 205-207 

possibility of occurrence of ... 205-207, 249-250 

Oklahoma District Oil Co., operations by.. 207 

Oklahoma Natural Gas Corporation, analysis

by 220

operations by__--------------_----- 206,218

Oklahoma Oil Co., operations by.---__ 205 

Ordovician system, formation of, possible producing sand in....___.__.. 242,249

Paleontology, invertebrate, of the Carboniferous formations.---.._.-.... 169-192 

Panther Mountain synoline, outcrops of coal

in..-._.___ ____ 199

Paraffine & Reliance Oil Co., drilling by. 206 

Paraffine Oil & Gas Co., operations by. .... 206

Pattison & Phillips, operations by __. 206 

Pattison-Phillips No. 1 McDufl well, log of... 213 

Pennsylvania!! series, formations of ----- 157-168

formations of, gas in - ....-.-.- 246, 241

J^crrine, Joe, et al., drilling lr»y_____________.__ 2O7

Pittsburgh Oil & Gas Co., operations by... 216,224

Pollock & Jerome mine. See Tri-State Coal & 

Coke Co. mine.

Population of the district_.___-..-... 156-157 

Public Service Co., operations by ------ 233

Public Service Co. of Oklahoma, operations

by 217-218
INDEX 253

Q Page

Quaternary system, deposits of.... .-_.__-. 169

Quaternary (?) system, sands of.____.-. 168-109 

Quinton gas field, development of.... 223-225.pl. 21

early history oL........................ 216,217

Hartshorne sandstone in ..___.__. 219 

pressure in. -..--.. .-----.---.-..... 221

producing sand in.._-.-__-..__..-_.-__.__ 226 

production and reserves of._...... 220,227-232

reservoir of, area and volume of.--.---.... 230

porosity of.......................... 230-232

structure of- . .- 221-222

subsurface stratigraphy and structure of.. 226,

pis. 20-22 

Quinton Oil & Gas Co., flow in No. 2 Floyd

well of ---------------- 218

operations by.. 216,224-225 

Quinton Belief Oil & Gas Co., operations by.- 207,

216, 224-225, 232 

Quinton Spelter Co., flow in S. Carney No. 1

well of 218

operations by. .-. 207, 216-217, 224-225, 232, 239

R

Rainbow Girls' Camp, features of area near.. 163-164 

Recent alluvium, distribution of ._.___ 169 

Red Bank Oil Co., drilling by.--- - - 207 

Russellville syncline, features of _____ 197

Sans Bois Gas Co., No. 1 Koehler well of,

features of__.___..__-_-.. 230 

operations by ------------------- 216, 232, 239

Savanna sandstone, character and thickness

of . . 157-160 

correlation of. 188-189

fossils in 171-173

comparison of, with other faunas.- 182-184

localities of. . 189-190

producing sand in- . 238

section of------.----- -----------. ----- 160

Secor coal, chemical analyses of--- -------- 202,204

correlation of-- --. ------- --- 247-248

fossil beds in relation to. ..._.__ 173-

175,182,184,189,190-191

horizon marker.._....__-------------- 193

occurrence of ...______. _.. 162, pi. 19 

sections of.---.- ---------------------- 198

stratigraphic position of---------_------ 196

Secor coal beds, description of, by townships, 196-201 

Scuora formation, character and thickness

of . 157,167-168

correlation of....-.-.-..-.-...-.---.------ 189

Shatter, C. B., drilling by-... - 206 

Short farm, drilling on__. . - - 205 

Simpson formation, drilling in.--------------- 248

producing sands in, possibility of 242, 246, 249 

section of-_...._...._............ 213

South Canadian Oil & Gas Co., operations by. 20i 

Southwestern Natural Gas Co., operations

by 217-218

Stigler coal, displacement of 234

occurrence of.._____..._ 210-211,226,24,

Page 

Stratigraphy, features of._ _..._.... 157-169

subsurface____-__-----____.. 208-213

of Burning Springs anticline...__ 243-244 

of Quinton gas field...... 226, pis. 20-22

tructure, features of 192-196,248-249, pis. 12-16 

features of, summary of relations of . 249-250 

subsurface, character of __... 214-

215, 221-222, 226, 243-244, pis. 13, 20-22

tuart shale, character and thickness of._- 157,167

correlation of-.--.--..-----.---.--.----... 189

fossils in..-.--_._. ._. 180-181

comparison of, with other faunas...-. 184 

localities of-..--.._ 192

Sylvan shale, thickness of.-.-..-------------- 213

T

f alawanda syncline, features of___ .. _ 194 

outcrops of coal on._.................... 200

Tate Oil Co., operations by.....__-------- 207

Thurman sandstone, character and thickness

of . .. 157,165-167, pis. 14,15,18 

correlation of.. - ___.__ 189 

fossils in 178-180

comparison of, with other faunas... 183-184 

localities of.-..-...-..--.-..--..- 191-192 

Topography, features of.-----_---------- 155-156

Township descriptions:

T. 6 N., R. 15 E., northern part- 200-201 

T. 6 N., R. 16 E., northern part-.-.-..... 200

T. 6 N., R. 17 E., northern part.._.__ 199 

T. 7 N., R. 15 E ....... 200

T. 7 N., R. 16 ^........................ 199-200

T. 7 N., R. 17 E 199

T. 7 N., R. 18 E., northern part...... . 199

T. 8 N., R. 17 E 197, pi. 19 

T. 8 N., R. 18 E............. 196-198, pis. 16, 19

Transportation, facilities for,....-_..__... 157

Tri-Cities Gas Co., operations by.._.___ 218 

Tri-State Coal & Coke Co. mine, coal from_ 199

U

Upper Hartshorne coal, as horizon marker_ 248-250 

occurrence of-... ____._...__.. 210,226 

Upper McAlester coal, occurrence of 210-211,226 

Utilities Production Corporation, operations

by ---------- 207, 217, 232-233, 239

No. 1M. Carney well of - 234

Vegetation in the district...--------.. 156

Viola limestone, drilling in..............__ 248

Viola limestone, thickness of......._........ 213

W

Weible, N. J., drilling by............. 206,207

Weimer, W. S., drilling by.... _....__ 205 

Western Carbon Black Co., operations by...- 216 

Western Natural Gas Co., operations by....- 206 

Whitley, H. A., drilling by 206 

Williams, J. S., invertebrate paleontology

by ... 169-192 

Windsor Oil & Gas Co., operations by_..-. 207

o