GEOLOGICAL SURVEY CIRCULAR 38

May 1950

CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS 

IN JEWELL COUNTY, KANSAS

By

Frank E. Byrne, Max S. Houston, 

and Melville R. Mudge

PREPARED IN COOPERATION WITH THE

STATE HIGHWAY COMMISSION OF KANSAS

R. C. Keeling, State Highway Engineer

S. E. Horner, Chief Geologist

Prepared as Part of a Program

of the Department of the Interior

for Development of the Missouri River Basin
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Oscar L. Chapman, Secretary

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 

W, E. Wrather, Director

WASHINGTON, D. C.

Free on application to the Director, Geological Survey, Washington 25, D. C.
CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS IN JEWELL COUNTY, KANSAS

«y

Frank E. Byrne, Max S. Houston, and Melville R. Mudge

CONTENTS

Page

Introduction................................ i

Purpose of the investigation............. \

Area covered by the investigation........ i

Geography of the area.................. i

Investigation procedure................. 3

Acknowledgments...................... 3

Characteristics of the outcropping

stratigraphic units........................ 3

General............................... 3

Dakota sandstone...................... 3

Area! distribution................. 3

General description............... 3

Representative measured

section........................ 6

Thickness........................ 6

Construction materials............ 6

Graneros shale........................ 6

Area! distribution........:......'.. 6

General description............... 6

Representative measured

section........................ 6

Thickness........................ 7

Construction materials............ 7

Greenhorn limestone................... 7

Area! distribution................ 7

General description............... 7

Representative measured

sections....................... 8

Thickness....................... 9

Construction materials.. '. ......... 9

Carlile shale.......................... 9

Area! distribution................. 9

General description............... 10

Representative measured

sections....................... 10

Thickness....................... 10

Construction materials............ 10

Fort Hays limestone member of

Niobrara formation.................. 10

Area! distribution................. 10

General description............... 11

Representative measured

section........................ 11

Thickness.....................'... 11

Construction materials............ 11

Smoky Hill chalk member of

Niobrara formation.................. 11

Area! distribution................. 11

General description............... 12

Representative measured

section........................ 12

Thickness........................ 12

Construction materials............ 12

Page

Ogallala formation..................... 12

Areal distribution................. 12

General description............... 12

Representative measured

section........................ 14

Thickness,....................... 14

Construction materials............ 14

Belleville formation................... 14

Areal distribution................ 14

General description............... 14

Representative measured

section........................ 14

Thickness....................... 14

Construction materials............ 14

Sanborn formation..................... 14

Areal distribution................. 14

General description............... 14

Representative measured

section........................ 15

Thickness....................... 15

Construction materials............ 15

Terrace deposits...................... 15

Areal distribution................ 15

General description............... 15

Representative measured

section........................ 16

Thickness....................... 16

Construction materials............ 16

Alluvium............................. 16

Areal distribution................ 16

General description............... 16

Representative measured

section........................ 16

Thickness....................... 16

Construction materials............ 16

Inventory of construction materials........... 16

General............................... 16

Aggregate for concrete................. 17

Engineering and geologic 

characteristics................. 17

Stratigraphic sources and 

performance characteristics. ........................ 17

Belleville formation......... 17

Sanborn formation........... 17

Alluvium................... 17

Road metal........................... 18

Engineering and geologic

characteristics................. 18

Aggregate for concrete....... 18

Limestone gravel............ 18

Crushed rock................ 18

-i-
CONTENTS 

(Continued)

Page

Inventory of construction materials 

Continued.

Road metal--Continued.

Stratigraphic sources and performance characteristics........ 1&

Aggregate for concrete....... 18

Limestone gravel............ 18

Crushed rock................ 18

Dakota sandstone....... 18

Greenhorn limestone. ............... 18

Fort Hays limestone. ............... 18

Smoky Hill chalk....... 19

Ogallala formation...... 19

Mineral filler......................... 19

Engineering and geologic

characteristics................. 19

Stratigraphic sources and performance characteristics........ 19

Sanborn formation........... 19

Terrace deposits............ 19

Volcanic ash.......................... 19

Engineering and geologic

characteristics................. 19

Stratigraphic source and performance characteristics........ 20

Page

Riprap............................... 20

Engineering and geologic

characteristics................ 20

Stratigraphic sources and 

performance characteristics. ........................ 20

Dakota sandstone............ 20

Greenhorn limestone and

Niobrara formation........ 20

Ogallala formation........... 20

Structural stone....................... 20

Engineering and geologic

characteristics................. 20

Stratigraphic sources and 

performance characteristics. ......................... 20

Greenhorn limestone......... 20

Fort Hays limestone 

member of the 

Niobrara formation. ................... 20

Calcareous binder...................... 21

Engineering and geologic

characteristics................. 21

Stratigraphic sources and 

performance characteristics. ......................... 21

ILLUSTRATIONS

Page

Plate 1. Map showing construction materials and geology of Jewell County, Kans.................. In pocket

Figure 1. Index map of Kansas showing areas covered by this report and by other constructionmaterials investigations................................................................ 1

Figure 2. Outcropping stratigraphic units in Jewell County, Kans., and their construction

materials............................................................................... 4

Figure 3. Geologic cross section along the line A-A1 ..........................:....................... 4

Figure 4. Map showing outcrops of rocks tentatively assigned to the Ogallala formation.................... 13

TABLE

Table 1. Summary of materials tests...................................................... Faces page 17

-ii-
INTRODUCTION

Purpose of the investigation

The State Highway Commission of Kansas and the 

United States Geological Survey are cooperating in 

the compilation of a State-wide inventory of construction materials. A field party composed of personnel 

from the two cooperating agencies was sent into 

Jewell County, Kans. , in the summer of 1947 to investigate sources of engineering construction materials. This report of the Jewell County investigation is 

a part of the general inventory and a contribution to 

the geologic mapping and investigation of mineral 

resources being carried on in connection with studies 

of the Missouri River Basin. I/

The primary objective of the investigation was 

that of accumulating all field and laboratory data pertaining to the geologic materials in Jewell County that 

would be of use in the construction of dams, irrigation 

canals, highways, airports, or other engineering 

structures. Additional geologic data are included in 

this report but only to the extent of providing information useful in the development of the prospects 

reported in the inventory or for the location of other 

materials required for future engineering needs.

Area covered by the investigation

Jewell County is in the first tier of Kansas 

counties south of the Nebraska border and in the 

seventh tier east of Colorado. (See fig. 1.) It comprises 25 townships and covers an area of about 900 

square miles. The county is bounded by parallels 

39C 34' and 40° north latitude and meridians 97C 56' and 

98 e 30' west longitude. It is bounded on the east by 

Republic and Cloud Counties, on the south by Mitchell 

and Osborne Counties, on the west by Smith County, 

all in Kansas, and on the north by Webster and 

Nuckolls Counties, Nebr.

Geography of the area

Jewell County is in the Plains Border division 2/ 

of the Great Plains physiographic province only a 

short distance west of the Central Lowlands province. 

Streams flowing east toward the Central Lowlands 

have dissected Jewell County to a region of moderate 

relief. The divides between streams are flat, gently 

rounded, or ridgelike. The area of maximum relief 

is in the east central part of the county and extends 

from White Rock Creek for a distance of 8 miles toward the south. The streams within this area have 

cut steep-sided valleys from 100 to almost 200 feet 

below the divide tops. The south valley walls are 

the steeper; the north walls slope much more gently. 

Stream valleys in other parts of the county are not 

so steep-sided and usually are less than 100 feet 

deep.

The most conspicuous topographic feature of the 

county is the steep escarpment formed by the Fort 

Hays limestone member of the Niobrara formation. 

It extends from the northeast corner southwest

Missouri River Basin, conservation, control, and use of water resources: 

78thCo"" ?H SBRS.. S. doc. 191, 1944.

Frye, J. C., The High Plains-surface in Kansas: Kansas Acad. Scl. 

Trans.. vol. 49, no. 1, pp. 76, 81-82, June 1946.

VONIPHAN

Figure 1. Index map of Kansas showing areas covered by this report and by other construction-materials

investigations.

-1-
across the county. Several large, steep-sided outliers formed by the Fort Hays limestone lie south 

and southeast of the escarpment, rising conspicuously 

above the surrounding plain.

The lowest point in Jewell County, about 1,400 

feet above sea level, is near the southeast corner 

where Buffalo Creek enters the county; the highest 

points are the crests of the divides near the northwest corner, which rise to altitudes of slightly more 

than 1, 900 feet.

All except the southwest quarter of the county 

lies in the drainage basin of the Republican River, 

which rises in Colorado and, flowing generally toward the east, crosses the extreme northeast corner 

of Jewell County. Its largest tributary in the county, 

White Rock Creek, rises in Smith County, flows eastward across the northern part of Jewell County, and 

enters the'Republican River in the northwestern part 

of Republic County. Marsh and Buffalo Creeks are 

somewhat smaller tributaries of the Republican River 

and drain the southeast quarter of the county. Limestone Creek, a tributary of the Solomon River, rises 

in Jewell County and drains its southwest quarter. 

The smaller tributaries exhibit a size relationship 

apparently characteristic of north central Kansas: 

the southward-flowing tributaries generally are appreciably longer but less numerous than those flowing 

toward the north.

Jewell County is served by three railways. The 

main line in Kansas of the Chicago, Rock Island, and 

Pacific Railroad crosses from east to west approximately through the center of the county. Mankato 

(the largest city and the county seat), Esbon, Otego, 

Montrose, and Formoso are located along this railroad. A branch line of the Missouri Pacific Railroad 

starts in Burr Oak, extends toward the southeast 

through Mankato, Jeweil, and Randall, and leaves Lie 

county several miles north of the southeast corner. 

A branch line of the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe 

Railroad crosses the northeastern part of the county, 

and along it are located the cities of Webber and 

Lovewell. There is less than a mile of trackage belonging to a second branch line of the Missouri 

Pacific Railroad in the northeast corner of the county.

U. S. 36, a major east-west transcontinental 

highway of a bituminous-mat type of construction, 

crosses through the center of the county. Several 

State highways serve the county and are either of a 

bituminous-mat type or have been surfaced with loose 

road metal. Kansas Highway 28 enters near the 

southeast corner of the county, extends west to 

Randall, turns north for 2 miles, and then continues 

west to its junction with Kansas Highway 14 at Jewell. 

Kansas Highway 14 enters the county from the south 

and extends through Jewell to its intersection with 

U. S. 36 several miles east of Mankato; it turns east 

with U. S. 36 for about 2 miles, turns north again, 

and extends to the north boundary of the county. 

Kansas Highway 28 is merged with U. S. 36 for a 

distance of about 5 miles west from Mankato, at which 

point Kansas Highway 28 turas north and extends to 

the north boundary of the county. Kansas Highway 

128 starts at a point on the U. S. 36 that is 7 miles 

west of Mankato; it then extends south to the county 

boundary. County and township roads generally 

follow section lines. Some of them are metaled with

materials available locally, whereas others are maintained by grading only.

Investigation procedure

This report is based on field work of the reconnaissance type. The base map was made from a map 

compiled by the Soil Conservation Service of the 

United States Department of Agriculture. The original map scale of 1 inch equals 2 miles was enlarged 

photographically to the scale of 1 inch equals 1 mile, 

and the areal distribution of the stratigraphic units 

that crop out in Jewell County was then mapped in 

the field. The mapped stratigraphic units are those 

recognized as of 1947 by the United States Geological 

Survey 3_/ and the Kansas Geological Survey. 4/ 

Because the principal emphasis of the project is on 

construction materials, geologic problems not critically related to the presentation of information on 

construction materials are considered to be of secondary importance and are ignored insofar as the validity 

of the information presented is not affected.

An effort was made to accumulate all existing data 

pertaining to construction materials in the county. 

These data, together with their sources, are incorporated in this report. In addition, the field party 

collected samples of construction materials not reported previously. The samples were subjected to 

routine laboratory tests in the Road Materials Laboratory of the State Highway Commission in Manhattan 

Kans. A portion of each sample of aggregate material 

was analyzed under a binocular microscope in the 

laboratory of the Department of Geology, Kansas State 

College, and the constituent rock and mineral grains 

were determined. The laboratory tests and mineralogical analyses, together with the information from 

other sources, are presented in table 1, Summary of 

materials tests.

Acknowledgments

Generous assistance in the compilation of data 

pertaining to geology and construction materials by 

the following is appreciated: the State Highway 

Commission of Kansas at Topeka (S. E. Horner, 

chief geologist, R. D. Finney, engineer of materials, 

and associates); the Kansas office of the Ground Water 

Branch, United States Geological Survey (V. C. 

Fishel, district engineer, and A. R. Leonard, geologist); the State Geological Survey of Kansas at 

Lawrence (J. C. Frye, executive director); the 

Jewell County office of the Soil Conservation Service, 

United States Department of Agriculture; and 

Clarence Smith, Jewell County engineer in 1947.

This report, in manuscript form, was reviewed 

critically-by various members of the State Highway 

Commission and by A. R. Leonard and other members 

of the United States Geological Survey. Illustrations 

were prepared by draftsmen of the United States 

Geological Survey. The petrographic determinations 

included in table 1 were'made by C. W. Matthews, 

and the manuscript was typed by Ruth M. Soelter, 

both of the United States Geological Survey.

Wilroorth, U. G., Lexicon of geologic names of the United States: U. S.

Geol. Survey Bull. 896, pta. I and 2, 2,396 pp., 1938. 

Moore, R. C., Frye, J. C., and Jewett, J. M., Tabular description of

outcropping rocks In Kansas: Kansas Geol. Survey Bull. 52, pt. 4,

212 pp., 1944.

-2-
CHARACTERISTICS OF THE OUTCROPPING 

STRATIGRAPHIC UNITS

map, plate 1, includes beds assigned to Dakota (?) 

sandstone.

General

This discussion of the geologic formations cropping 

out in Jewell County emphasizes the areal distribution, 

the general characteristics, and the thickness of each 

stratigraphic unit. One or more representative measured sections are given for each formation or member. 

The measured sections are not necessarily intended to 

be complete but were selected to show typical outcrops 

of a unit in the county. The construction materials in 

each stratigraphic unit are listed. The principal purpose of this part of the report is that of presenting the 

geological information required for the location and 

the effective development of the construction materials 

contained in each stratigraphic unit.

A summary of the data for each unit is presented 

in figure 2, Outcropping stratigraphic units in Jewell 

County, Kans., and the relationships of these stratigraphic units are illustrated in figure 3, Geologic 

cross section along the line A-A1 .

The areal distribution of the local stratigraphic 

units is shown on plate 1, Map showing construction 

materials and geology of Jewell County, Kans. Each 

unit is indicated by an identifying symbol, and its outcrop areas are shown by a distinctive pattern. Railroads, roads, and streams are shown on the map to 

provide a basis for evaluating the accessibility of 

sources of construction materials.

The locations of pits and quarries also are shown 

on plate 1. The symbols indicate whether the pit or 

quarry is or has been operated or is a prospect, the 

type of construction materials available at each site, 

and the quantity of the material (in units of 10,000 

cubic yards) that can be removed under no more than 

moderate overburden (unconsolidated sediments less 

than 6 feet thick). Most of these sources are listed in 

table 1. Materials represented on the map by inclined 

letters have not been tested and are not listed in table 1. 

All materials sources listed in table 1 are numbered 

within each materials classification according to the 

following plan: The numbering starts in the northeasternmost township and continues along the same 

tier to the west boundary of the county; it is continued 

in the next tier south, starting again with the township in the easternmost range and proceeding to the 

west boundary of the county, and so on. Within a 

township the sources are numbered in the same 

sequence as are the sections of the township.

Dakota sandstone

Areal distribution. The Dakota sandstone, of 

Upper Cretaceous age, is the oldest stratigraphic 

unit that crops out in Jewell County. (See pi. 1 and 

fig.' 2.) Its outcrops are restricted to the basal part 

of the south wall of the valley of Buffalo Creek near 

the southeast corner of the county. There is an 

outcrop of a similar sandstone in a small valley 

tributary to that of Buffalo Creek just east of the 

county line (centeV sec. 18, T. 5 S., R. 5 W., Cloud 

County, Kans.). Undoubtedly the Dakota sandstone 

underlies most of the rest of Jewell County, but it 

is concealed by younger stratigraphic units. The

General description. The Dakota sandstone, as 

it is exposed in Jewell County, is a fine-grained, 

rust-brown to light-tan sandstone generally cemented 

by silica deposited in the pores between sand grains. 

There are thin lenses of light-gray clay interbedded 

with the sandstone layers, but these lenses are 

thinner in proportion to the sandstone lenses than in 

other outcrop areas of the Dakota sandstone. The 

sandstone often exhibits cross bedding on weathered 

surfaces, and most of it probably was deposited by 

streams. Some sandstone lenses are very firmly 

cemented, are therefore harder than the remainder 

of the formation, and form more conspicuous outcrops. The cementing substances are calcium carbonate, silica, iron oxide, or some combination of 

them.

The formation crops out as a low terrace on the 

south wall of the valley of Buffalo Creek but largely 

is masked by deposits of unconsolidated sediments. 

The presence of this unit can be detected, however, 

by the characteristic terrace.

It seems probable that the uppermost part of the 

sandstone here described should be assigned to the 

basal part of the next younger formation, the 

Graneros shale. This is indicated by a zone in the 

upper part of the sandstone which is characterized 

by an abundance of fossil shark teeth. Certainly the 

contact between the two formations lies in the upper 

part of the sandstone. In the opinion of the authors, 

most of the sandstone is Dakota because it is too 

thick to be entirely one of the sandstones in the basal 

part of the Graneros shale and because many of the 

sandstone layers are cross-bedded, a phenomenon 

typical of the Dakota but not of the Graneros.

This assignment of the uppermost part of the 

sandstone to the Graneros and the remainder to the 

Dakota is confirmed by thermal analyses of a clay 

zone about 25 feet below the top of the sandstone and 

of a stratigraphically higher clay lens 0. 4 foot thick 

near the top of another outcrop~about 20 feet from the 

measured section. The upper clay was found to be 

illite, the dominant clay mineral in the Graneros 

shale; the lower clay is composed of 80 percent illite 

and 20 percent kaolinite. Kaolinite is characteristically found in the clay lenses of the Dakota sandstone, 

but one would not expect to find it in the Graneros 

shale. 5/

The geologic map of Cloud County compiled by 

Wing 6/ shows the Dakota sandstone dipping beneath 

the land surface at a point about 7 miles east of the 

Jewell County line. The map of Mitchell County compiled by Landes 7/ shows the Dakota sandstone dipping 

underground at a point about 8 miles south of the southeast corner of Jewell County. The outcrop of Dakota 

sandstone in Jewell County probably is the result of 

an anticlinal fold that has raised the sandstone to the 

level of the present land surface in this locality. This

Plummet, N.., and Rotnary, J. F., Stratigraphy of the pre-Greenhacn 

Cretaceous beds of Kansas: Kansas Geol. Survey Bull. 41, pt. 9, 

 p. 346, 1942.

Wing, M. E., Geology of Cloud and Republic Counties, Kansas: 

7 Kansas Geol. Survey Bull. 15, pi. 1, 1930.

Landes, K. K., Geology of Mitchell and Osbcrne Counties, Kansas: 

Kansas Geol. Survey Bull. 16, pi. 2, 1930.
Section

4

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Stratigraphic units

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Formations 

and 

members

Alluvium

Terrace deposits

Sanborn formation

Belleville formation

[c formation Niobrora 

J> 

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Greenhorn

Smoky Hill 

cholk member

Fort Hays limestone member

Coded member

Blue Hill shale 

member

Fairport chalky 

shale member

Pfeifer member

Jetmore member

Hartland-Lincota 

members

Graneros shole

Dakota sandstone

Generalized description

Predominantly light-brown silt with numerous sand 

lenses and some gravel lenses inter bedded.

Upper part, brown to brown-gray silt locally with 

buried soil zone; basal part, silt with thin 

lenses of sand and fine gravel.

Upper part, gray-brown silt locally with buried soil 

zone; tower part, buff or tan silt and interbedded 

lenses of sand and gravel; numerous jenses of 

white or light-gray volcanic ash in basal part.

Cross-bedded tan-gray sand and graveJ composed principally of quartz, feldspar, and igneous 

rocK particles; occasional lenses of silt and cloy.

Light-gray limestone; some sand,gravel,mortar bed

Blue-gray and orange-gray chalky shales interbedded with white or blue-gray massive or 

blocky chalks; forms badlands.

Massive, soft, cream to white chalky limestones 

alternating with thin layers of chalky shales.

Buff to brown sandy siltstone.

Blue-gray, noncalcareous, thin-bedded clay shote; 

contains septarian concretions, forms badlands.

Orange or yellow-brown chalky shales with 

interbedded thin beds of chalk in basal part.

Chalky shales and thin chalky limestones.

Thin aroy chalks and blue-gray calcareous shale.

Groy or dark gray calcareous shales interbedded 

with thin limestones and very thin bentonites.

Dark gray or black noncalcareous day shate;1hin bentonrtre

Brown or tan fine-grained sandstone-, locally quartz itic.

Construction 

materials

Aggregate 

Road metal

Mineral filler 

Road metal

Mineral filler 

Volcanic ash 

Aggregate 

Road metal

Aggregate 

Road metal

Road metal 

Calcareous binder

Structural stone 

Calcareous binder 

Rood metal

Structural stone 

Rood metal

Road meld Riprap 

Structural stone

Figure 2. Outcropping stratigraphic units in Jewell County, Kans., and their construction materials.
To Kns

To 

Kns

Qs

North 

A

SCALE

2 miles

EXPLANATION

o

£

S

o

I

z

Sanborn formation

To

Ogalloio formation

Fort Hays limestone

Contact without erosional 

break

Contact with erosional 

break

Nodular limestone

gravel lenses

Assumed contact without

Shaly chalk erosional break

Assumed contact with Limestone

erosional break

Corlile shale

Fault

Figure 3. Geologic cross section along the line A A' between sees. 27 and 

28, T. 4 S., R. 10 W. and sees. 21 and 22, T. 5 S., R. 10 W.
outcrop of the sandstone is near the center of an area 

of 12 square miles which, according to one of the landowners, is currently leased by an oil company.

Because the separation of the basal sandy phase 

of the Graneros shale from the Dakota sandstone is 

based on rather technical features not easily distinguishable in this field, this sandy phase is mapped 

as Dakota sandstone on plate 1.

Representative measured section.--The following 

section of the Dakota sandstone, including 6 feet 

believed by the authors to be Graneros shale, was 

measured near the base of the south wall of the valley 

of Buffalo Creek in the SE^SWi sec. 12, T. 5 S. , 

R. 6 W. :

Feet

Sanborn formation: Brown silt............... 2. 0+

Dakota (?) sandstone:

Quartzite, fine-grained, massive, 

hard; brown, weathers gray brown; 

firmly cemented; slightly calcareous; 

fossil shark teeth numerous in a 

conglomeratic zone at top; thickness 

ranges from 0. 3 foot to 2 feet, 

usually about.......................

Sandstone, fine-grained, massive, 

soft, poorly cemented; buff, 

weathers light gray.................

Sandstone, fine-grained, massive, 

soft, noncalcareous; light gray,- 

weathers rust gray..................

2.0 

3.0 

1.0

Dakota sandstone:

Sandstone, fine-grained, soft, 

massive, noncalcareous, crossbedded; buff, weathers light 

gray; rust-colored and yellow 

zones in lower part; has been 

quarried as plaster sand............... 15. 6

Covered................................ 1. 5

Sandstone, fine-grained, hard,- 

thin-bedded; brown, weathers 

rust brown; lenticular.................. .4

Sand, loose, fine-grained; buff,

weathers rust brown................... 1. 0

Clay, illite and kaolinite; blue 

gray, weathers light gray; 

limonite-streaked; crops out in 

road ditch............................ .4

Sand, loosely cemented, finegrained; buff to light gray; 

limonite streaks....................... 2. 2

Clay, sandy; blue gray; limonitestained............................... .2

Sand, loosely cemented, finegrained; buff to gray; interbedded . 

thin clay seams and one ironcemented sand lens.................... 5. 6

Clay; blue gray; limonitestained................................ .4

Sand, loosely cemented, finegrained; limonite-stained; 

interbedded thin seams of ' 

clay.................................. .6

Feet

. 1.2 

2.1

, .7

Dakota sandstone Continued.

Sand, loosely cemented, finegrained; limonite-stained..........

Sand, clay, fine-grained; limonitestained. ........'..................

Sand, fine-grained, loosely cemented; 

light gray; rust-yellow limonitic 

zone at top........................

Sandstone, hard; rust brown; auger 

would not penetrate.

Total thickness of Dakota sandstone 

measured (including 6 feet at top 

of section that might be Graneros 

shale)................................ 37.9

Thickness.--The maximum exposed thickness of 

the Dakota sandstone in Jewell County may be stated 

as approximately 25 feet, provided one includes the 

6 feet that may belong to the basal sandy part of the 

Graneros shale. Using a 4-inch soil auger, the field 

party sampled an additional 13 feet before a hard zone 

was encountered and the test hole abandoned. Wells 

drilled in this part of Kansas indicate that the total 

thickness of the Dakota sandstone is slightly more 

than 200 feet; only the upper part of the formation, 

therefore, crops out in Jewell County.

Construction materials. -- 

Road metal. 

Riprap. 

Structural stone.

Graneros shale

Areal distribution. --The Graneros shale of Upper 

Cretaceous age was found cropping out \n only two 

places in the county, both of these in the southeastern 

part. (See pi. 1 and fig. 2.) The better exposure is in 

sec. 23, T. 4 S., R. 6 W., and the other is in sees. 

12, 13, and 14, T. 5 S., R. 6 W. Undoubtedly, other 

occurrences of this stratigraphic unit are concealed 

at shallow depths by younger sediments, and the formation extends under most of the county at increasing 

depths toward the northwest.

General description. The Graneros shale lies 

conformably, without an intervening erosional break, 

above the Dakota sandstone and below the Greenhorn 

limestone. It was deposited in marine water. The 

upper part of the formation is a noncalcareous, darkgray to black, laminated to very thin bedded clay 

shale. Thin interbedded zones of bentonite ranging 

from 0. 1 to 0. 4 foot thick are fairly numerous. The 

fresh surfaces of the bentonite are white to light gray 

but weather orange gray. The lower part of the 

member is composed of noncalcareous, rery thin 

bedded black shales that weather gray. A sandstone 

bed, possibly the basal'part of the Graneros shale, 

has been discussed previously under the Dakota sandstone.

Representative measured section.--The following 

measured section of the Graneros shale is in the lower 

part of a cut bank exposed in the NWf-SWi sec. 23, T. 

4 S., R. 6 W. The upper part of this same cut bank 

is cited as one of the measured sections of the Greenhorn limestone.

-6-
Feet 

Greenhorn limestone......................... 33. 35

Graneros shale:

Shale, clay, noncalcareous, laminated;

very dark gray, weathers light

gray.................................. .5

Bentonite; light gray, weathers orange

gray.................................. .3

Shale, clay, noncalcareous, laminated;

dark gray, weathers light

gray.................................. 1. 3

Bentonite; light gray, weathers orange

gray.................................. .1

Shale, very thin bedded; black,

weathers gray......................... 1. 5

Bentonite; light gray, weathers orange

gray.................................... .4

Shale, noncalcareous, very thin

bedded; black, weathers gray............ 13.0

Base covered. 17. 1

Thickness. The total thickness of the Graneros 

shale in Jewell County is thought to be about 20 feet, 

but individual outcrops are thinner. A test hole drilled 

a short distance southeast of Jewell in 1948 by the 

Kansas Geological Survey penetrated 23 feet of rock 

identified as this formation. 8/

Construction materials. No use of material from 

the Graneros shale was observed in engineering structures in Jewell County. Material from this formation 

might be used in fills and embankments, but because 

of the high content of clay the shoulder slopes should 

be flat.

Greenhorn limestone

Area! distribution. Outcrops of the Greenhorn 

limestone of Upper Cretaceous age (see fig. 2) occur 

in the southeast quarter of Jewell County. This formation is divided into four members: (1) the Lincoln 

limestone (the oldest and stratigraphically the lowest), 

(2) the Hartland shale, (3) the Jetmore chalk, and 

(4) the Pfeifer shale (the youngest and stratigraphically 

the highest); but the first two members, the Lincoln 

limestone and the Hartland shale, are not differentiated in this county. The formation is mapped as a 

single stratigraphic unit on plate 1, although descriptions of the several members will be given to aid in 

field recognition.

The formation crops out most extensively along 

the valley walls of Buffalo Creek from Randall east 

to the county line and in the valleys of tributaries to 

this stream. (See pi. 1.) A second important area 

of outcrop is that at the heads of some of the tributaries to Marsh Creek along the east border of the 

county. Isolated from these two areas is an outcrop 

of the upper part of the formation along the west wall 

of the valley of Limestone Creek in sees. 32 and 33, 

T. 5 S., R. 9 W.' This formation underlies most of 

the county but is concealed beneath younger stratigraphic units for the most part

HValters, K. L., geologist, Kansas Geol. Survey, personal communication.

General description. The Greenhorn limestone, 

a marine deposit, conformably over lies" the Graneros 

shale and is overlain similarly by the Carlile shale. 

An intervening erosional break (unconformity) separates it from still younger stratigraphic units, Sanborn 

formation and terrace'deposits, that may overlie it in 

some localities.

The undifferehtiated Lincoln limestone and 

Hartland shale members consist of beds of shale 

interbedded with numerous thin layers of limestone 

and seams of bentonite. The shale layers are calcareous, laminated, and gray or dark gray. They 

weather to light gray or blue gray. The shales generally are composed of clay-size particles but are silty 

in some zones. The thin limestones are crystalline, 

hard, and rather massive. Their color varies from 

buff through light gray to dark gray, and they weather 

to light gray or buff. These limestone layers are 

less fossiliferous than those in the upper part of the 

formation but locally may contain numerous shark teeth 

and some fossilized vertebrae of bony fish.

There are many thin but persistent interbedded 

seams or layers of bentonite in the undifferentiated 

Lincoln-Hartland members. The bentonite is light 

gray or white when unweathered but weathers to 

orange gray. The swelling phenomenon often associated with bentonite is only poorly developed in the 

bentonites of this unit.

Generally this part of the Greenhorn limestone 

crops out in rather steep sided banks from which some 

of the thicker and more massive crystalline limestones 

project as fairly conspicuous ledges. The most conspicuous of these is a layer 0. 6 foot thick in the basal 

part of the unit. It forms a minor terrace in the valley 

of Buffalo Creek above the one formed by the Dakota 

sandstone.

The Jetmore chalk member is perhaps distinguished 

most readily from the undifferentiated Lincoln lime- 

,stone-Hartland shale-members by its limestone beds 

which are characteristically chalky in contrast to the 

harder, more crystalline limestones of the underlying 

unit. The bulk of the Jetmore chalk member is composed of beds of blue-gray, laminated or very thin 

bedded calcareous shale. They weather to dark gray.

The limestone layers in the Jetmore chalk are 

thinner than the shales with which they are interbedded. 

The limestones are usually chalky and only occasionally 

crystalline; they are rather hard and gray, cream, or 

tan in color. Most of the limestones and some of the 

shales contain numerous shells of Inoceramus, a fossil 

clam.

The top of the Jetmore chalk member is marked by 

a conspicuous, buff-gray, chalky limestone, usually 

about a foot thick, in which there is an abundance of 

shells. For this reason, the bed is known throughout 

north central Kansas as "shell rock. " The unweathered 

limestone is quite soft but case-hardens upon weathering. 

It forms rounded hillside terraces.

The top of the Greenhorn limestone and its uppermost member, the Pfeifer shale, is arbitrarily defined 

as the top of the "Fencepost" limestone bed. This layer 

ranges from 0. 8 foot to 1. 3 feet thick and is tan or buff

-7-
gray, abundantly fossiliferous, and marked by a typical 

rust-colored band in its middle part.

The "Fencepost" limestone forms a conspicuous 

shoulder on many of the hills in the southeastern part 

of the county. It has been used extensively as structural stone throughout the area of its outcrop. Other 

limestone layers in the Pfeifer shale member are quite 

thin, orange to gray, and chalky; they contain numerous 

shells of Inoceramus and other fossil invertebrates. 

Limestone beds in the upper part of the member tend 

to be concretionary. The interbedded layers of calcareous, fossiliferous shale generally are thicker than 

the chalky limestones. The shales vary from tan to 

gray, are chalky, and usually are very thin bedded or 

platy. Thin seams of orange-gray bentonite occur within the shales, and-thin layers of gray, crystalline limestone were noted in the basal part of the member.

Representative measured sections.--The following 

measured sections show the characteristics of the 

several members of the Greenhorn limestone as they 

crop out in Jewell County:

(1) A bank along a tributary to Marsh Creek in the 

NWlSWi sec. 23, T. 4 S., R. 6 W., shows the following section of the undifferentiated Lincoln limestone 

and Hartland shale members:

Feet 

Sanborn formation......................... 5. 0+

Undifferentiated Lincoln limestone and 

Hartland shale members of Greenhorn 

limestone:

Limestone, hard; light gray, weathers

orange buff; limonite-streaked;

numerous fossil fragments............ 0.4

Shale, laminate; buff................... 1. 2

Limestone, hard; light gray, weathers

buff; limonite-streaked;

Inoceramus.......................... .2

Shale, laminated; gray, weathers

buff; thin interbedded calcareous *

layers............................... 2. 2

Shale, calcareous, platy; light

gray, weathers orange gray............ .9

Bentonite; orange....................... .3

Shale, flaky; gray, weathers light

gray; interbedded thin siltstone

layers; Inoceramus, shark

teeth................................. 4.3

Bentonite; light gray, weathers

orange gray........................... .2

Shale, calcareous, flaky; gray,

weathers light blue gray; interbedded thin siltstone layers............ 4. 2

Bentonite; tan gray, weathers

orange gray; thickens and thins

laterally,.......... * ................. .2

Limestone, platy; thin crystalline

layer at top; dark gray,

weathers light gray.................... .6

Shale, laminated; limonite-streaked;

dark gray, weathers light

gray.................................. .2

Bentonite; light gray, weathers

orange gray........................... .1

Undifferentiated Lincoln limestone ana 

Hartland shale members of Greenhorn, 

limestone Continued.

Feet

Shale, flaky; gray, weathers light

gray; interbedded thin siltstone

layers; Inoceramus, shark

teeth.'................................ .8

Bentonite; light gray, weathers 

. orange gray. .......'. i ................. .2

Shale, laminated; buff gray. .............. 1. 7

Bentonite; orange gray. .................. .4

Limestone, chalky, platy; white,

weathers light gray. :.......,.......... .2

Shale, laminated and platy; buff,

weathers orange gray. ................. .6

Limestone, hard, massive; buff,

weathers light gray. ................... .4

Shale, laminated; orange gray,

weathers buff. ......................... 1. 2

Bentonite; light gray, weathers

orange gray. .......................... .3

Shale, calcareous, flaky; gray, '

weathers buff; Inoceramus. ............ .9

Shale, calcareous, flaky; dark

gray, weathers light blue

gray. ................................ 1. 5

Limestone, hard, somewhat crystalline; gray, weathers light gray. ......... .2

Bentonite; orange gray. .................. .1

Shale, flaky; thin layers of crystalline limestone; buff gray. ............... 3. 1

Shale, platy; dark gray, weathers

light blue gray; interbedded thin

seams of bentonite;

Inoceramus .......................

Shale, laminated; black, weathers 

light gray. ....................

Limestone, hard, crystalline; 

dark gray, weathers light 

gray. ........................

Underlain by Graneros shale.

6. 3 

.3

.15

33.35

(2) The following section was measured in a bank 

along a tributary to Marsh Creek in the SWiSWi sec. 

35, T. 3 S., R. 6 W. The bank includes the uppermost part of the Hartland shale member and the full 

thickness of the Jetmore chalk and Pfeifer shale 

members.

Feet

Carlile shale. 6.0+

Pfeifer shale member of Greenhorn 

limestone:

"Fencepost" limestone bed, chalky, 

massive; tan gray with rust-brown 

band in middle part; weathered 

surfaces hard; occasional shell 

fragments.......................

Shale, chalky, very thin bedded; 

tan, weathers buff; some calcareous concretions; thin 

bentonite layer in upper part; 

Inoceramus ............ *........

Limestone, platy, somewhat 

crystalline; orange gray...

1.1

2.0 

. 1

-8-
£feifer shale member--Continued.

Shale, chalky, very thin bedded; 

buff gray.......................

Limestone, somewhat crystalline; gray, weathers 

buff............................

Shale, very thin bedded; tan gray, 

weathers buff gray; thin bentonite 

in lower part...................

Limestone, chalky, fresh surfaces

. soft, weathered surfaces hard; 

orange gray; Inoceramus, 

Prinotropsis (fossil cephaldpod)..

Alternating crystalline limestones 

and limy shales; gray tan; 

Inoceramus abundant............

Feet

. 1 

.9

Total thickness. 15.0

Jetmore chalk member of Greenhorn 

limestone:

"Shell rock" limestone bed, chalky; 

unweathered surfaces soft, 

weathered surfaces hard; lower 

part somewhat platy; buff gray; 

Inoceramus very abundant............. 1.1

Shale, chalky, laminated; light 

gray, weathers buff; interbedded 

thin beds of fossiliferous limestone. .............................. 1.8

Limestone, hard, dense; gray, 

weathers buff; Inoceramus ........... .3

Shale, very thin bedded; dark 

gray; interbedded thin, irregular 

layer of fossiliferous limestone....... .8

Limestone, hard, dense, crystalline; gray, weathers buff; 

Inoceramus......................... .3

Shale, calcareous, platy; gray; 

Inoceramus......................... .9

Limestone, hard, dense, crystalline; gray, weathers buff; 

Inoceramus.......................... .4

Shale, laminated to very thin 

bedded; blue gray; 

Inoceramus......................... .6

Limestone, hard, dense,, crystalline; limonite-streaked in middle 

part; gray; Inoceramus............... .3

Shale, calcareous, very thin bedded 

to platy; blue gray; 

Inoceramus......................... .5

Limestone, chalky, hard; tan, 

weathers buff gray................... .3

Shale, very thin bedded; blue

gray; Inoceramus.................... .4

Limestone, chalky, hard; cream 

color, weathers buff; limonitestreaked; thickens and thins 

laterally............................ .2

Shale, very thin bedded to laminated; 

buff to blue gray, weathers blue 

gray; Inocenamus abundant in 

basal part........................... . .9

Limestone, hard; cream tan, 

weathers buff; fossil fragments........ .5

Jetmore chalk member of Greenhorn 

limestone--Continued.

Shale, laminated to platy; blue 

gray, "weathers light blue 

gray..............

buff gray; Inoceramus...........

Shale, very thin bedded to laminated; blue gray; fossil 

fragments......................

Limestone, hard; blue gray, weathers buff; fossil fragments........

Shale, laminated to very thin 

bedded; blue gray; fossil 

fragments......................

Limestone, somewhat chalky, hard; 

gray, weathers buff; thickens and 

thins laterally; fossil fragments..,

Shale, v^ry thin bedded; blue gray; 

fossil fragments.................

Limestone, somewhat chalky, hard; 

thickens and thins laterally; gray, 

weathers buff; fossil fragments...

Shale, very thin bedded; very thin 

limestone layer in basal part; 

blue gray; fossil fragments.......

Limestone, hard, dense, crystalline; buff gray; limonite-^ 

streaked; fossil fragments.......

Feet

.3

Underlain by Hartland shale member. 12.5

Thickness. The total thickness of the Greenhorn 

limestone in Jewell County is thought to be between 

60 and 70 feet. The full thickness of the Pfeifer shale 

member is 15 feet, that of the Jetmore chalk member 

is 12. 5 feet, and the combined thickness of the 

Hartland shale and Lincoln limestone members is 

probably a little more than 35 feet. Individual outcrops of this formation are seldom more than 15 feet 

thick. The formation appears to thicken toward the 

southwest.

Construction materials. 

Structural stone. 

Road metal.

Carlile shale

Area! distribution. The Carlile shale of Upper 

Cretaceous age (see fig. 2) consists of three members: 

(1) the Fairport chalky shale (the oldest), (2) the Blue 

Hill shale, and (3) the Codell sandstone (the youngest). 

The three members crop out in Jewell County and are 

mapped on plate 1 as a single stratigraphic unit, the 

Carlile shale, because no one of them is especially 

significant as a source of engineering construction 

materials. As aids to field recognition, however, 

general descriptions and representative measured 

sections of the members will be given.

The Carlile shale crops out extensively in all but 

the northwestern part and the northern border area 

of Jewell County, although there are several small 

outcrops along the south wall of the valley of the 

Republican River in the northern border area. The 

formation is exposed below the Fort Hays limestone

-9-
member of the NIobrara formation In almost every 

place where the Fort Hays member crops out. Other 

exposures occur along the valley walls of tributary 

streams In the southeastern part of the county and in 

the southern border area. The Carlile shale has been 

eroded completely from the eastern parts of the valleys 

of Buffalo and Marsh Creeks. It generally is concealed 

beneath younger formations in the northern and northwestern parts of the county.

General description. The lowest member of the 

Carlile shale, the Fairport chalky shale, generally is 

orange brown or yellow brown, calcareous, and 

characterized by numerous thin beds of soft, clayey 

chalk in the basal part. It overlies the Greenhorn 

limestone conformably and is separated and arbitrarily 

distinguished from it by the "Fencepost" limestone bed

at the top of the older unit. The Fairport usually is 

concealed by a younger, overlying formation, the 

Sanborn, and exposures therefore are limited in extent 

in Jewell County. It erodes to form a relatively flat 

plain overlain by a thin veneer of silt of the Sanborn 

formation,

The Blue Hill shale member is far more conspicuous in this county than the Fairport chalky shale. 

It is composed principally of clay-size particles and 

is essentially noncalcareous. Its color, typically, 

is blue gray, but many zones have been conspicuously 

stained by limonite and are rust-colored. Septarian 

concretions, some of which are 2 feet or more in 

diameter, are present at various levels within the 

member. Thin zones of crystals of a variety of 

gypsum (selenite) are reported to occur in the Blue 

Hill shale but were not observed by the field party.

The soft clay shales weather and erode to form a 

badland type of topography. Such badland areas are fountft 

only near outcrops of the overlying Fort Hays limestone 

member of the NIobrara formation, but similar areas 

concealed by the Sanborn formation undoubtedly occur 

in the southern and eastern portions of the county.

The Codell sandstone, the uppermost member of 

the Carlile shale, is a thin, buff to brown, limonitestained, sandy siltstone. It grades into tthe underlying Blue Hill shale member and, to a lesser extent, 

into the overlying Fort Hays limestone member of the 

Niobrara formation. It is usually concealed, except 

along cut banks, by the overlying Fort Hays limestone.

As originally defined by Bass, 9/ the Codell sandstone member includes two sandstones separated by 

a shale. The lower sandstone appears to be absent 

in Jewell County, and the shale is indistinguishable 

from those that compose the Blue Hill shale member. 

For these reasons, the Codell sandstone member, as 

the term is used in this report, is restricted to the 

siltstone immediately below the Fort Hays limestone 

member of the Niobrara formation.

Representative measured sections. --

(1) A cut bank in the NE|SW| sec. 14, T. 4 S., 

R. 9 W., shows the following section of the upper 

part of the Carlile shale:

Feet

Fort Hays limestone member of 

Niobrara formation...................... 10.0+

Codell sandstone member of Carlile shale:

Siltstone, noncalcareous, soft;

rust-colored.......................... 1. 5

Siltstone, noncalcareous, soft;

gray with rust-colored streaks......... .8

Blue Hill shale member of Carlile shale:

Shale, clay, noncalcareous, 

blocky; blue gray...................

Shale, clay, noncalcareous, very 

thin bedded; dark blue with numerous 

rust-colored limonite streaks; septarian concretions scattered throughout basal 40 feet....................

Base covered.

2.0

85.7

90.0

(2) The basal member of the Carlile shale crops 

out in the SE^NEi sec. 14, T. 3 S. , R. 6 W. , as 

follows:

Feet

Sanborn formation: Silt..................... 3. 0+

Fairport chalky shale member of 

Carlile shale:

Shale, chalky; mottled gray and

orange color, weathers gray........... 2. 5

Chalk, clay; alternating gray

and orange-brown bands;

weathers orange...................... 2. 5

Base covered. 5.0

Bass, N. W., Geologic Investigations In western Kansas, pt. 1, Geology 

of Ellls County: Kansas Geol. Survey Bull. 11, p. 28, 1926.

Thickness. The total thickness of the Carlile 

shale in Jewell County is estimated to be between 

250 and 300 feet. The Fairport chalky shale member 

is estimated to be more than 80 feet thick, although 

individual outcrops generally are less than 10 feet 

thick. The Blue Hill shale member forms thicker 

outcrops, some of them 25 or more feet thick, and 

its total thickness is estimated to be about 175 feet. 

The thickness of the Codell sandstone member is 

somewhat variable but averages about a foot.

Construction materials. No materials of especial 

value in engineering construction were found in this 

formation. The shales probably would be satisfactory 

as material for fills and embankments, but the 

shoulder slopes should be flat wherever these shales 

are so used because of the high percentage of clay in 

the formation. The clay content and the consequent 

low bearing strength indicate that this material probably would be unsatisfactory for use in ear them dams.

Fort Hays limestone member of Niobrara formation

Area! distribution. The Fort Hays limestone and 

the Smoky Hill chalk members compose the Niobrara 

formation of Upper Cretaceous age (see fig. 2). The 

two members are mapped as individual units on plate 

1 and will be described separately because the Fort

-10-
Hays limestone is more important than the Smoky 

Hill chalk as a source of construction materials.

The Fort Hays limestone member crops out in a 

wide belt extending from White Rock Creek at the 

east border toward the southwest corner of the county. 

This member at one time undoubtedly underlay the 

entire county but subsequently has been eroded from 

most of the southeastern part and along some of the 

stream courses in the remainder of the county. The 

Fort Hays limestone member is concealed by younger 

formations in the northwestern part of the county.

General description. The Fort Hays limestone 

was deposited in marine waters and is conformable 

with the overlying Smoky Hill chalk member of the 

same formation attd the underlying Codell sandstone 

member of the Carlile shale. The limestone beds 

average about 3 feet in thickness and are chalky, 

soft, massive, and cream to white in color. They 

alternate with thin layers, usually about 0. 2 foot 

thick, of chalky, buff to blue-gray shale. This 

member contains fossilized shells of Inoceramus and 

a fossil oyster (Ostrea) in considerable numbers; it 

is reported to contain fossilized skeletons of vertebrates, although none was found by the field party. 

The Fort Hays limestone forms bluffs 20 to 30 feet 

high, and small streams cutting into the limestone 

have incised steep-sided valleys. The part of the 

member that immediately underlies the land surface 

exhibits a tendency to "shatter" that is, to break 

into flattish fragments 1 inch or 2 inches thick and 

4 or 5 inches long.

Numerous small secondary structures were observed in the Fort Hays limestone and other rocks 

formed during the Cretaceous period (see fig. 2) but 

are not mapped on plate 1 because they are not important in a survey of construction materials. A 

small overthrust of the Smoky Hill chalk onto the 

Fort Hays limestone was observed in the NWiSWi 

sec. 1, T. 2 S., R. 9 W. A small fold (monocline) 

is visible in a road cut in the SWiSW^ sec. 23, T. 

3 S., R. 8 W, the Fort Hays limestone here dipping 

at an angle of approximately 30". In addition, a 

normal fault was encountered in surveying the cross 

section shown in figure 3. The displacement along 

this fault plane appears to be between 35 and 40 feet.

The stratigraphic units of Cretaceous age dip 

generally toward the northwest at the rate of about 

10. feet per mile. As a result of this regional dip 

and a general rise in the land surface toward the west 

and northwest, the oldest Cretaceous units crop out 

in the southeastern part of the county, and belts of 

successively younger units occur toward the northwest.

Representative measured section. The following 

section of the Fort Hays limestone member was 

measured in a quarry in the SWiNWi sec. 10, T. 2 

S., R. 8 W. :

Feet

Smoky Hill chalk member of Niobrara

formation............................... 8.2

Fort Hays limestone member of 

Niobrara formation: 

Limestone, chalky, massive; light 

tan, weathers buff; limonitestained.............................. 1. 6

Fort Hays limestone member of 

Niobrara formation Continued.

Feet

Shale, chalky.......................... .2

Limestone, chalky, soft, blocky;

buff gray; Inoce'ramus, Ostrea......... .7

Shale,, chalky, platy; light blue

gray................................

Limestone, chalky, soft, massive;

buff gray; limonite-stained;

Inoceramus, Ostrea.................. 3.0

Covered............................... 3.5

Limestone, chalky, massive; cream,

weathers buff........................ 3. 5

Shale, chalky.......................... .2

Limestone, chalky, massive; cream

brown, weathers buff; limonitestained.............................. 1. 8

Shale, chalky.......................... .4

Limestone, chalky, massive,

numerous limonite nodules; cream

brown, weathers buff................. 2. 7

Shale, chalky...............;.......... 0.1

Limestone, chalky, massive;

light brown; limonite-stained;

Inoceramus, Ostrea.................. 2. 7

Shale, chalky.......................... .1

Limestone, chalky, massive;

cream, weathers buff................. .6

Shale, chalky.......................... .2

Limestone, chalky, massive;

cream brown, weathers buff;

Inoceramus, Ostrea.................. 3.3

.2

Underlain by Carlile shale. 25.5

Thickness. The thickness of the Fort Hays limestone member varies somewhat in Jewell County. 

The representative measured section indicates a total 

thickness of about 25 feet, but the outcrops along the 

line of the cross section (see fig. 3) indicate a total 

thickness of about 35 feet. This member undoubtedly 

thickens toward the west and southwest, because outcrops more than 50 feet thick have been measured in 

Ellis and Trego Counties, Kans.

Construction materials. The Fort Hays limestone 

has been used as riprap on earthern dams but is unsatisfactory. Numerous such dams have been observed in the field, and in every one the Fort Hays 

limestone had so deteriorated, presumably through 

slaking, freeze-and-thaw, or both, that it served no 

valuable purpose. The uses for which the Fort Hays 

limestone member is considered adequate are:

Structural stone. 

Calcareous binder. 

Road metal.

Smoky Hill chalk member of Niobrara formation

Area! distribution. The Smoky Hill chalk, the 

upper member of the Niobrara formation (see fig. 2), 

crops out extensively over a wide area in Jewell 

County and is absent only in the southeastern part 

and the eastern and southern border areas. (See 

pi. 1.) The most conspicuous outcrops are along 

White Rock Creek and its tributaries. Less extensive outcrops occur in the headward areas of the

-11-
smaller tributaries to Marsh, Buffalo, and Limestone Creeks. The member is present under most 

of the divides in the northwest half of the county but 

is obscured by the younger Ogallala and Sanborn 

formations.

General description.--The Smoky Hill chalk member "conformaBlyOTerires the Fort Hays limestone 

but is overlain unconformably by the Ogallala and 

Sanborn formations. This is the youngest local 

stratigraphic unit deposited in marine waters. It 

consists of layers of laminated or platy, chalky 

shales, blue gray in the lower part of the member 

but becoming orange gray in the upper part, and' 

interbedded thin layers of massive or blocky chalk. 

The chalk beds vary from white through cream to 

blue gray and are quite soft. Fossilized shells of 

Inoceramus and Ostrea are quite abundant in the 

member, and fossilized skeletons of marine vertebrates have been reported in it.

The soft beds that compose the Smoky Hill are 

easily eroded and form areas of badland topography.

Representative measured section. A road cut 

in the SEiSEi sec. 31, T. 1 S. , R. 8 W. , exhibits 

the following section:

Feet

Sanborn formation: Silt..................... 3. 0+

Smoky Hill chalk member of Niobrara 

formation:

Chalk, soft, platy; white,

weathers buff......................... .8

Shale; cream, weathers buff.............. .5

Chalk, soft, platy to blocky;

white, weathers buff; Ostrea........... .9

Shale, chalky, soft, platy; cream,

weathers buff......................... 1.1

Chalk, blocky to massive; cream

color, weathers buff; Ostrea........... 1. 9

Shale, laminated; buff; Ostrea............ 3. 0

Shale, chalky, platy; blue gray;

limonite-stained...................... 1.7

Shale, laminated; buff; fragments

of fossil wood........................ .9

Chalk, platy to blocky, soft;

brown gray, weathers light

gray................................. .3

Chalk, platy, soft; cream color,

weathers buff......................... 1.8

Shale, chalky, soft, platy; blue

gray, weathers light blue

gray; Ostrea, Inoceramus.............. 6. 6

Covered................................ 4. 0

Shale, chalky, platy, soft; brown

gray, weathers buff; Ostrea............ 8. 2

Chalk, platy to blocky, soft; blue

gray, weathers light blue

gray................................. 2. 9

Shale, laminated, soft; brown gray

with orange streaks, weathers

buff; Inoceramus, Ostrea.............. 4. 9

Chalk, platy'to blocky, soft; blue

to buff gray, weathers light

blue gray; Ostrea, Inoceramus......... 2. 4

Base covered. 41.9

Thickness. Individual outcrops of the Smoky Hill 

chalk member range from several feet to as much as 

50 feet in thickness. The total thickness of this 

member in Jewell County is estimated to be about 200 

feet. This is only about the basal third of the full 

thickness of-the formation as it is developed farther 

west in Kansas.

Construction materials. 

Road metal. 

Calcareous binder.

Ogallala formation

Three deposits classified as belonging to the 

Ogallala formation crop out near the crests of some 

of the divides in the southwest corner of the county 

(sees. 16 and 34, T. 4 S., R. 10 W. , and sees. 11 

and 14, T. 5 S., R. 10 W.). Questionable deposits 

of this age crop out most widely in the area a short 

distance north and northeast of Mankato, but there 

are several smaller outcrops south and southwest of 

the city.

Areal distribution. The Ogallala formation of 

Tertiary~age (see fig. 2) is not typically developed 

in Jewell County. Some materials that crop out near 

the tops of divides can be assigned definitely to this 

formation, but on other divides very thin layers of 

apparently similar material can only questionably be 

assigned to this unit. A distinction was made between 

.these two phases of the Ogallala formation in the field 

mapping. Outcrops of undoubted Ogallala formation 

are shown on plate 1, whereas the areas in which the 

questionable material was found are shown in figure 

4. No exhaustive attempt was made to solve this 

problem because its solution would contribute nothing 

of value to a survey of construction materials; the 

Ogallala formation in Jewell County is only a minor 

source of construction materials at best.

General description. In the counties west and 

southwest of Jewel! County, the Ogallala formation 

is a deposit of sand and gravel laid down principally 

by streams draining eastward from the Rocky 

Mountains. In Jewell County, however, this characteristic phase of the formation is poorly developed. 

An outcrop of typical Ogallala material was found in 

the NEiSWi sec. 16,' T. 2 S., R. 8 W. The deposit 

is a fine sand in which pebble-size fragments of igneous rocks are intermixed. Only one outcrop of a 

typical mortar bed of the Ogallala was found in Jewell 

County by the field party, although somewhat similar 

material was observed at other places in the same 

vicinity. The bed crops out in the SWiSWi sec. 16, 

T. 2 S., R. 8 W., and is a hard, light-gray, limecemented, fine-grained sand about a foot thick. 

Mortar beds are much more conspicuous in the 

counties toward the west.

As usually developed in this county, the Ogallala 

formation caps some of the high divides and consists 

of a veneer of dense, hard, calcareous material that 

averages less than 2 feet in thickness. It is white to 

gray in color, and there are occasional'sand grains 

scattered through it. There is a similar hard, dense 

limestone near the top of the Ogallala formation in 

many other areas of western Kansas, and the correlation of this material in Jewell County with the 

Ogallala formation seems acceptable. The part of 

the Ogallala formation mapped in figure 4, however, 

generally is only several inches thick as exposed on 

or near the tops of hills. It too is a hard, dense 

limestone with occasional sand grains scattered 

through it. The material obviously is not a part of 

the Smoky Hill chalk member of the Niobrara, which

-12-
R.IOW.

csi

R.9W. R.8W. R.7W. R.6W.

ro

OJ 

O)

0

CO

CJI

R. 10 W. R.9W. R.8W. R.7W. R.6W.

Scole 

10123 4 miles

Explanation

H Boundaries of townships and ranges, 

h Section lines, 

a/t Line of outcrop.

Figure 4. Map showing outcrops of rocks tentatively assigned to the Ogallala formation.
always underlies the Ogallala formation in Jewel! 

County, and is in no way similar to any other local 

material of younger than Tertiary age.

Representative measured section. No representative section of the Ogallala formation sufficiently 

thick to be measured was found in Jewell County.

Thickness.--The thickness of the Ogallala for ma - 

tion in Jewell County varies from less than a foot to 

a maximum of about 4 feet. The average thickness is 

probably less than 2 feet.

Construction materials. This formation is so thin 

and poorly developed in Jewell County that it has little 

of the construction materials value associated with it 

in other counties of western Kansas. Certainly the 

material is so limited in quantity that economical exploitation is not likely.

Belleville formation

Area! distribution. The Belleville formation of 

Pleistocene age crops out only in the northeastern 

part of the county along the south wall of the valley of 

the Republican River. (See pi. 1 and fig. 2.) Its full 

extent can be determined only by test drilling because 

it is so generally concealed by the overlying Sanborn 

formation.

General description. The Belleville formation 

was named by Wing 10/ from exposures in the vicinity 

of Belleville, Republic County, Kans. As originally 

described, the age of the formation was considered to 

be Tertiary, but subsequent work by Fishel and 

Lohman n/ and others indicates quite conclusively 

that its age is early Pleistocene.

The Belleville formation consists predominantly of 

lenses of cross-bedded sand, composed of quartz and 

feldspar grains, and igneous-rock gravel. Occasional 

lenses of clay, silt, and very fine sand are interbedded 

with the rest of the material, and clay balls 4 to 15 

inches in diameter are present in the formation. The 

color generally is tan or gray. Fragments of fossilized vertebrate skeletons are reported to be fairly 

common.

Mineral analyses (see table 1) show that the sands 

and gravels of the Belleville formation are composed 

predominantly of quartz and feldspar particles. There 

are minor quantities of igneous rock fragments, generally of gravel size, and occasional fragments of 

quartzite were noted in the samples analyzed. Fishel 

and Lohman 12/ believe that the Belleville formation 

was deposite"d~as the result of the damming of the 

Republican River during early Pleistocene times and 

the consequent diversion of the river from its preglacial course toward the northeast to its present 

course south into Kansas. Most of the material in

v/ing, J. E., Geology of Cloud and Republic Counties, Kans.: Kansas 

u Geol. Survey Bull. 15. pp. 19-21, 1930.

Fishel, V. C., and Lohman, S. W., Geology and ground-water resources 

of Republic County and northern Cloud County, Kans.: Kansas Geol. 

 Survey Bull. (In press). 

Fishel, V. C., and Lohman, S. W., op. cit.

the Belleville formation seems to have been eroded 

originally from rocks that crop out far to the west and 

to have been transported by the Republican River to 

this point. The .presence of red and purple quartzite 

pebbles indicates that some of the material was 

brought in by the outwa'sh from Pleistocene glaciers 

lying north and northeast of this area. The upper part 

of the formation tei.<is to become finer-grained and 

may be silty enough locally that it grades into the 

overlying Sanborn formation'without a discernible 

break.

Representative measured section. The sediments 

composing the Belleville formation are so homogeneous that it was not thought necessary to measure a 

section of the formation.

Thickness. - -The full thickness of this stratigraphic 

unit could have been determined only by test drilling. 

Many exposures of the formation are 20 to 30 feet 

thick. Fishel and Lohman 13/ believe that the total 

thickness may be as much as 120 feet in some places. .

Construction materials. -- 

Mixed aggr egate. 

Road metal.

Sanborn formation

Area! distribution. The Sanborn formation of 

Pleistocene and Recent (?) age is the most widely distributed stratigraphic unit cropping out in Jewell 

County. (See pi. 1 and fig. 2.) The formation at one 

time undoubtedly extended over most of the county, 

but subsequently it has been eroded from the courses 

of many of the streams. Its most extensive phase is 

that which caps the tops of the divides as a blanket of 

silt of variable thickness. A second phase is that 

found part way up the walls of some of the larger 

stream valleys in the county, as along the south wall 

of the valley of White Rock Creek east of Reubens. 

Outcrops of this second phase are relatively thin and 

discontinuous. Both phases, because of their similar 

lithologies, are mapped as a single stratigraphic unit.

General description. The Sanborn formation is 

composed of materials deposited by streams, slope 

wash, wind, and the action of gravity. Frye and 

Fent_l4/ have subdivided the formation into members, 

but it was not feasible to attempt the mapping of these 

members in the reconnaissance-type field work on 

which this report is based. Such mapping would have 

required a greatly expanded field program, including 

test drilling. The treatment of the Sanborn formation 

as an undivided unit seems adequate for the purposes 

of an inventory of construction materials.

The formation is composed predominantly of silt, 

but the basal part may contain lenses of sand and 

gravel. The particles cpmposing the gravels are 

largely of local origin. The color of the formation 

varies from buff tan to gray brown.

. . _._!, V. C., and Lohman, S. W., op. cit. 

14Frye, J. C., and Fent, O. S., bate Pleistocene loesses of .central Kansas: 

Kansas Geol. Survey Bull. 70, pt. 3, pp. 41-51, 1947.

-14-
There is a prominent soil profile at the top of 

the formation, and Hibbard, Frye, and Leonard 15/ 

have reported a buried soil zone. The A zone ofThe 

soil profile characteristically is rather thin, ranging 

from 0. 5 foot to 1. 5 feet thick, and is underlain by a 

much thicker B zone. The B zone is characterized 

by the secondary deposition of calcium carbonate by 

downward-percolating waters. The calcium carbonate may be disseminated throughout the zone or locally concentrated within the zone in the form of 

nodular or pipelike concretionary masses. A crude 

columnar structure, the result of the intersection of 

irregular joint planes, is very often developed, especially in the B zone.

That phase of the Sanborn formation present on 

the tops of the divides in Jewell County probably is 

to be correlated with "Terrace No. 6" as defined in 

Nebraska by Condra, Reed, and Gordon, 16/ whereas 

that part of the formation visible on the valley walls 

probably is to be correlated with their "Terrace No. 

5."

Generally the Sanborn formation erodes to form 

a gently undulating surface. The headward parts of 

stream valleys that have been cut into it often exhibit 

a phenomenon known as "catstep erosion, " which 

probably is the result of the sliding of water-saturated 

silt, through gravity, down toward the streams. The 

catsteps are bounded by scarps a foot or two high and 

slump blocks from several feet to about 20 feet wide 

developed along gently sloping valley walls.

Numerous lenses of volcanic ash are present in 

the basal part of the Sanborn formation in the northern part of the county. The ash is composed of 

glasslike shards ejected during the explosive phase 

of a volcanic eruption. Most of the ash beds found in 

Jewell County are relatively pure that is, there is 

little silt, clay, or sand and gravel intermixed with 

them. The color is white or light gray.

Shells of fossil snails (gastropods) are fairly numerous in the Sanborn formation. Fragments of 

fossilized vertebrate skeletons are reported but were 

not found by the field party in Jewell County.

A small deposit of sand and gravel occurs in the 

SWiSWi sec. 16, T. 3 S., R. 8 W., a short distance 

west of Mankato. The sand grades upward into typical 

silt of the Sanborn formation with no indication of an 

intervening unconformity, but a mineral analysis 

(see table 1, fa 3) shows that the sand is similar to 

sand found in the Ogallala and Belleville formations. 

It is possible that this isolated sand and gravel deposit is an erosional remnant of the Belleville formation and that the Belleville formation was once far 

more extensive than its present distribution indicates.

Hibbard, C. W., Frye, J. C., and Leonard, A. B., Reconnaissance of

Pleistocene deposits in north central Kansas: Kansas Geol. Survey

Bull. 52, pt. 1, p. 13, 1944. 

Condra, C. E., Heed1, E. D., and Gordon, E. D., Correlation of the

Pleistocene deposits of Nebraska: Nebraska Geol. Survey Bull, 15,

pp. 48-49, 1947.

On the other hand, the sand may be a channel deposit 

in the Ogallala formation similar to deposits found in 

Smith County, Kans., adjoining Jewell County on the 

west. The exact age of this deposit can be determined 

only by more intensive field exploration than it was 

possible for' this reconnaissance-type survey to allot 

to the problem, but assignment of the deposit to the 

Sanborn formation seems justified by the field evidence now available. '

Representative measured section. The following 

section of the Sanborn formation was measured in a 

road cut in the SWiSE^ sec. 2, T. IS., R. 10 W.:

Soil, silty..........................

Sanborn formation:

Silt; nodules and pipelake concretions of calcium carbonate; 

buff gray; stands in a vertical 

bank..........................

Silt; streaks of calcium carbonate 

throughout; gray, weathers light 

gray..........................

Silt; calcium carbonate disseminated throughout or in the form 

of large nodules; dark buff 

gray..........................

Feet

1.0

7.8 

3.0

7.0

Base covered.

Thickness. Individual exposures of the Sanborn 

formation generally range between 5 and 20 feet thick. 

The maximum thickness of this unit occurs in the 

northwestern part of Jewell County and is estimated 

to be about 100 feet.

Construction materials. 

Mineral filler. 

Volcanic ash. 

Aggregate for concrete. 

Road metal.

Terrace deposits

Areal distribution. Terrace deposits of Recent 

age are conspicuous in the valleys of Buffalo, Limestone, Marsh, and White Rock Creeks. (See pi. 1 

and fig. 2. ) Narrow extensions of the terraces project into the valleys of the larger tributaries. The 

terrace deposits along the Republican River are discontinuous, although a single deposit may cover an 

area of several square miles. The average width of 

the terrace deposits in the valley of White Rock Creek 

is about a mile, and those of Marsh, Buffalo, and 

Limestone Creeks average about 0. 5 mile in width. 

Two or more terraces jare present but are mapped on 

plate 1 as a single stratigraphic unit because their 

lithologic characteristics are similar.

description The terrace deposits unconformably overlie older formations and are composed of materials laid down by present-day streams 

in their earlier gradational cycles. The upper part 

of the terrace deposits is a brown to brown-gray silt.

-15-
A soil profile is developed in the upper part of the 

formation, and there may be a buried soil zone at a 

variable depth below the top. A thick B zone occurs 

below the thin, dark-brown to black A zone1 of the 

profile. Fossilized shells of gastropods are occasionally found. The deposits usually become coarser 

with increasing depth and, in the basal part, grade 

into sand and fine gravel. The sands and the gravels 

are lenticular and are no more than a few feet thick. 

Most of the sediments composing the terrace deposits 

are material from the older, locally outcropping formations that has been reworked by streams in later 

gradational cycles.

Representative measured section. The .terrace 

deposits are so uniformly silty, except for occasional 

sand and gravel lenses in the basal part, that it was 

not thought necessary to measure a section of the 

formation.

Thickness. The thickness of this formation could 

have been determined accurately only by test drilling. 

It is estimated that the terrace deposits in the valley 

of the Republican River may be as much as 50 feet 

thick, that those of White Rock Creek have a maximum 

thickness of about 45 feet, and that those of Buffalo, 

Marsh, and Limestone Creeks are no more than 30 or 

35 feet thick.

Construction materials. 

Mineral filler. 

Road metal.

Alluvium

Areal distribution. The deposits (see fig. 2) 

formed by streams in their present gradational cycles 

are mapped as alluvium on plate L They, with the 

dune sands that locally overlie them, constitute the 

most recent stratigraphic units in Jewell County. 

Alluvium is defined in this report as the material 

underlying the present flood plain of a stream, the 

flood plain being the area adjacent,to the stream 

channel that is covered by water during normal flood 

stage. Alluvium is mapped on plate 1 in the valleys 

of the Republican River and White Rock, Marsh, and 

Buffalo Creeks. Alluvial deposits are present also 

in many of. the smaller valleys in the county but are 

so narrow that they could not be shown on a map scaled 

to 1 inch equals 1 mile. The alluvium in the valley of 

the Republican River averages considerably more than 

a mile in width, but similar deposits in the valleys of 

White Rock,and Buffalo Creeks have an average' width 

of less than 0. 2 mile.

General description.--The alluvium of the Republican River Valley is predominantly silt, but many 

lenses of sand and occasional lenses of gravel are 

included. Flood waters in fairly redent times have 

spread sand widely over the flood plain surface where, 

locally, the wind has reworked it into dunes. The 

dune areas, however, are not sufficiently extensive 

that they can be mapped with any accuracy; hence the 

dunes are not distinguished as a separate stratigraphic 

unit. The alluvial deposits of the other streams in £he 

county also are qdmposed predominantly of silt but 

contain occasional lenses of sand in which there may 

be intermixed local rock fragments of gravel size.

White Rock Creek is rather unusual in that, in 

its present-day gradational cycle, it has incised its 

valley 25 to 30 feet below its previous gradational 

level. Throughout most of the length of this stream 

in Jewell County, the present-day valley is very 

narrow, but it tends to expand somewhat in the eastern border ,area of the county.

Representative measured section. Because of 

the low relief of the alluvhim, it was impossible to 

measure a section representative of this formation.

Thickness. Accurate determinations of thickness 

could not be made in the absence of test-hole data. It 

is estimated that the alluvial deposits of the Republican 

River may reach a maximum thickness of 50 feet and 

that the alluvial deposits of the other streams in the 

county are less than 25 feet thick.

Construction materials. 

Aggregate for concrete. 

Road metal.

INVENTORY OF CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS 

General

The objectives of this inventory of construction 

materials in Jewell County are to establish the bases 

upon which the construction materials are classified 

and to analyze the relations of the various materials 

to the stratigraphic units in which they occur.

Whenever available, laboratory test data have 

been introduced into the report to aid in the evaluation 

of the materials. The information given in table 1 is 

based on standard testing procedures of the State 

Highway Commission of Kansas 17/ and the American 

Association of State Highway Officials. 18/

State Highway Commission of Kansas, Standard specifications for State 

road and bridge construction, 512 pp., 1945.

Gradation {actor, p. 16. 

Stove analysis, pp. 333-334. 

Soundness, pp. 335-336.

18American Association of State Highway Officials, Standard specifications 

for highway materials and methods of sampling and tasting, pt. 2, 5th 

ed., 361 pp., 1947.

Absorption, pp. 251-252.

Compressive strength, pp. 257-258.

Deval abrasion, pp. 235-236.

Liquid limit, pp. 198-201.

Los Angeles abrasion, pp. 237-839.

Plasticity index, pp. 202-204

Specific gravity, pp. 249-250.

Toughness, pp. 240-241.

Weight per cubic foot, pp. 253-254.

-16-
Table 1. Summary of materials tests

(Blank spaces indicate data net available)

of Oossincotion 

material the 

»

i

I

i

1*

i

Limestone

Quart 

zite

Sandstem

S

fat

fo2

fo3

inal

mo2

mo3

mo4

ma5

ma6

ma 7

Igl

l«2

Ig3

Ig4

IBS

Ig6

Ig7

Ig8

Ig9

IglO

kjll

Iol2

mfl

mf2

val

vaZ

vo3

vo4

vo5

II

12

13

14

15

16

ssl

Location

i!

SE

SW

SE

SE

C

SW

NE

SE

NW

NE

SE

SE

C

SE

SW

SE

NW

NW

SW

SW

NW

NW

SE

SE

SE

SW

SE

SW

El/2

NW

SE

NW

1

5

NI/2

NE

SW

NE

NW

NW

NE

SW

NW

NE

SW

NW

NE

SE

C

NW

NE

SE

SE

SW

NW

NW

NW

SE

NE

SW

NW

SW

NW

NW

NE

NE

SW

NW

SW

SW

NW

1

4

2

16

9

9

10

II

16

N

28

£8

36

1

27

8

6

4

19

20

4

7

9

19

24

16

16

32

33

5

10

35

24

33

2

7

12

13

To«mship(S)

1

1

3

1

1

1

1

1

1

2

1

1

2

2

3

4

4

4

4

5

5

5

1

1

1

1

1

1

2

2

3

3

3

4

5

5

5

f

6

7

8

6

6

6

6

6

7

8

7

7

8

to

6

6

8

9

to

8

9

10

6

10

6

6

9

9

9

8

6

8

9

6

6

6

6

Estimated Ojuontity of (m kitmater yards) cubic 

150,000

10,000

spoo

20,000

25,000

150,000

150,000

spoo

150,000

10,000

5,000

spoo

5,000

3,000

spoo

4,000

3,000

3,000

spoo

IO,000

O,OOO

spoo

150,000

150,000

20,000

7,000

5,000

5,000

6,000

10,000

3,OOO

150,000

10,000

3,000

3,000

3,000

4,000

Average 

thickness

|I

5

10

4

12

12

20

25

15

30

to

4

5

5

5

10

4

3

5

5

4

5-7

4

10

IS

15

4

13

3-4

10

10

1

10

1

1

1-2

6

65.

0

0-1

2-6

0-6

0-5

1-5

0-4

4

O-3

2-4

0-2

4

0-5

0-2

0-3

3-5

0-3

2-4

1-3

0-5

0-2

0-3

1-3

1-3

0-5

0-4

0-10

0-4

0-4

0-3

0-6

0-4

0-6

0-4

0-4

0-4

j

Good

do

do

do

do

Fair

Good

Fair

Good

do

do

do

do

do

Fair

Good

da

do

do

do

do

do

do

do

Poor

Good

Poor

Good

Fair

Good

do

do

do

do

do

do

do

Geologic formation 

or member

Alluvium

Dune sand

Sanborn

Belleville

do

do

do

do

do

Sonbom

do

do

do

do

do

do

do

do

do

do

do

do

do

do

do

do

do

do

do

For) Hays

Greenhorn

Fort Hays

do

Greenhorn

do

Dakota

do

Authority for 

'test data

SHCK 

USGS

do

do

do

do

do

SHCK

SHCK

uses

SHCK

SHCK

uses

do

do

do

do

do

SHCK

SHCK

uses

do

do

SHCK

SHCK 

USGS

do

do

do

do

do

do

do

SHCK

SHCK 

USGS

SHCK

OE

SHCK

do

do

SHCK

uses

do

of Datetest

n-47

do

do

do

do

do

12-46

9-47

1-41

9-47

do

do

8-47

11-47

do

1-46

11-47

do

do

1-46

11-47

do

do

8-47

11-47

8-47

11-47

8-47

1-46

9-47

7-35

7-46

1-46

7-35

9-34

11-47

do

Sieve analysis

Percent on

3/4 inch

1

0

0

0

16

0

4

4

1

18

0

21

8

3

1

1

1

8

4

Percent on

inch 3/8 

2

2

2

6

23

2.

6

19

16

38

4

36

25

22

10

10

9

23

19

S

§ * £* d 

z

0

13

12

7

27

29

II

9

36

37

50

18

51

42

42

30

27

29

42

38

0

Percent on

6No. 

0

0

12

64

55

39

84

46

75

15

59

58

62

58

70

67

68

66

64

66

0

3

0

0

0

0

0

s

I °

ii

69

68

95

99

98

98

99

88

97

86

89

95

78

90

81

75

84

91

92

75

72

81

4

15

13

2

II

10

6

passed Percent (wash) ZOO No. 

17.6

13.0

35

0.84

1.34

1.3

0.3

9.1

2.0

12.0

9.0

4.1

20.2

7.6

17.0

23

14.9

7.8

7,4

24

25.6

17.6

81.4

81.0

496

87.8

64X>

686

69

Description of the material2

Fraction

C

F

C

F

C

F

C

F

JC

C

F

C

F

M

B5

75

76

80

60

70

45 

70

55

60

65

85

Feldspars

15

20

20

20

40

30

45

25

40

40

30

to

}|Ii

5

S

tr

tr

6

tr

5

tr

tr

tr

^

F

IS

70

3

to

tr

tr

1

tr

Cerbtmote mtnorols

2

I

5

5

80

20

Wo

i

i

tr

tr

tr

4

s

|||

tr

tr tr

tr

_

Buff .calcareous sin and cloy.

Ton sand ond silt; some intermixed volcanic ash.

Light-gray volcanic osh; seme intermixed fine sond. 

ond silt.

White and light-gray volcanic ash; interbedded thm 

layers of silt.

Light-ton, powdery volcanic ash; some Intermixed 

silt and fine send.

White, powdery volcanic osh; minor amount of fine 

sond.

Light-ton to white volcanic ash; interbedded thin 

layers of fine sond.

Soft, white and tight-yellow, chalky limestone.

Soft, light-yellow te brown limestone.

Chem col composition: SiOg.4.64%; AI^J, 2.61%; Fe^Jj, 3.89%; CoO,50.70%; MgO.0.63%, 

SO3, 0.17% NojOt KjO, 0.25%; undetermined, 0.26%; soluble in HCl, 94.57%.

Light-yellow, chalky limestone.

Light-brown limestone.

Brown fossiliferous limestone. *

Hard, massive, fine-grained, gray to brown, quartzitic 

sandstone.

Fine-groined, lime cemented, light-ton to rust-brown 

sandstone; thin quartzitic zone at top.

Laboratory test data

1!

98.7

tf\A K

102.4

114.8

114.7

113.1

III

HO

99.8

86.0

77.7

54.6

55.6

59.3

61.1

58

ll

2.57

2.59

2.59

2.6!

2.61

2.62

2.62

2.54

BUBO

2.56

2.65

2.56

2.36

235

2.45

2.38

2.11

2.25

2.08

2.04

2.32

2.46

2.53

2.39

1.

080

0.96

2-23

3.91

3.62

3.20

3.94

4.09

4.17

426

463

3.76

4.81

4.29

4.25

4.11

4.03

4.15

Compressive 

strsngth 

ratio

-1

1.00

2.02

1.99

1.40

L09

1.36

0.82

-f

1.18

1.45

1.48

1.37

1.19

LOS

100

-

f 2

Sf

31.8

52.4

48.6

66.7

44.1

81.9

1 

3 Soundness ratio (25 cyctei!

0.99

0.98

0.59

Unsound

0.45

Sound

Sound

0.96

0.75

}

4

|

100

8

1

J

2

1

|

16.3

17.05

15.5

19.4

6.6

3.9

1.65

5.99

Liquid limit

26

17

31

45

37

32

26

28

32

28

Plasticity index

14

6

15

27

22

18

12

14

18

14

Remarks

High percentage of wash.

2 percent ferromognesion minerals; overburden is sttty soil; high percentage 

of wash.

Numerous mica flakes retained on No. 16 sieve; dear in color test; formation 

might be OgoUolo with Sanborn overburden.

Clear in color test.

Oeor in color test.

dear in color test.

Overburden is Sanborn formation; high percentage of wash; coarse particles 

lime-coated; light straw in color test.

a 48 percent of cloy boHs.

High percentages of wash and chalk fragments; 1 percent of day bolls; straw 

in color test.

Overburden is soil zone; high cementation factor.

Overburden is soil zone.

Devol abrasion loss, 15.25 percent.

Location described as junction of Highways US 36 and KI4, 3 to S miles 

east of Mankato.

Devol abrasion loss, 7.1 percent.

Devol abrasion loss, 7.4B percent.

I. SHCK, State Highway Commission of Kansas. SHCK and USGS, sieve analysis and 

laboratory tests by State Highway Commission of Kansas; sample collection and 

description of material by U.S, Geological Survey. CE,Corps of Engineers,US.Army.

Z.C, coarse fraction .retained on No. 4 sieve; F, fine fraction, passed through No. 4 

sieve; Tr, trace.

3. Loss ratio.
It is expected ,that the prospects listed in this report 

will be proved loyt subsequent augering, drilling, or 

test pitting and that the materials themselves will be 

subjected to laboratory testing prior to exploitation 

for specific uses.

Although numerous prospect pits and quarries 

were located in the field, no attempt was made to 

complete an exhaustive survey of all possible sources. 

The purposes of this report are to inventory the 

available construction materials that occur in Jewell 

County and to establish the geologic pattern required 

for the location and development of materials which 

future engineering needs may demand. A certain 

stratigraphic unit may contain one.or more construction materials. K the geologic factors of that occurrence are established, the resultant geologic pattern 

will facilitate the discovery of additional sources.

Aggregate for concrete

Engineering and geologic characteristics. Aggregate for concrete is distinguished as fine aggregate 

and mixed aggregate in table 1 and on plate 1. The 

distinction is an arbitrary one based on the percentage 

of material retained on a standard No. 4 sieve. The 

portion of a sample retained on that sieve is designated as the coarse fraction. The material is classified as a mixed aggregate if the coarse fraction is 5 

percent or more by weight of the whole sample and 

as a fine aggregate if the coarse fraction is less than 

5 percent. Fine and mixed aggregate will be con - 

sidered together because the grading of almost any 

aggregate material may be changed by sweetening or 

by screening to conform to required specifications.

Aggregate for concrete consists of fragments of 

hard, durable minerals or rocks of sand and gravel 

size. The constituent particles are free from adherent coatings that would interfere with the bonding 

of cement with the particles. The presence of the 

following deleterious substances, if in quantities 

thought to be excessive, is noted under "Remarks" in 

table 1: materials passing the No. 200 sieve (wash); 

shaly, soft, or flaky fragments; sticks or other organic debris; clay lumps; and minerals that because 

of their chemical composition may react with the 

cement to the detriment of the concrete.

The materials reported in this classification are 

exposed at the surface or are under unconsolidated 

overburden sufficiently thin that they may be economically developed. Deposits of sand and gravel overlain by thick or consolidated beds usually are not 

included because of the added expense in removing the 

material, nor are relatively inaccessible deposits; 

exceptions to this practice are noted under "Remarks" 

in table I.

The test characteristics of some of the materials 

included in this classification indicate that these 

materials are not suited for use in concrete. The 

same materials, though, might be acceptable for 

other aggregate uses, such as aggregate for bituminous concrete or cover material.

Stratigraphic sources/and performance characteristics. The following stratigraphic units are actual 

or potential sources of aggregate for concrete in 

Jewell County:

(1) Belleville formation. Six samples (ma 1 to 

ma 6) of mixed aggregate were taken.from the Belleville formation and are mapped on plate 1; their test 

characteristics are given in table L This formation 

is the most jmportant potential source of aggregate 

for concrete in Jewell County. All samples were 

sufficiently coarse that they were classified as mixed 

rather than fine aggregate. The mineral and rock 

fragments composing aggregates of the Belleville 

formation are predominantly quartz and feldspar 

particles with only minor quantities of fragments of 

basic igneous rock and quartzite. No one of these 

materials is considered to be chemically deleterious. 

The laboratory test data indicate-that the material is 

acceptable as concrete aggregate, but its performance 

is reported by the county engineer to be inferior. The 

average specific gravity of the samples tested is about 

2. 6, the gradation factor .is about 3. 7, the compression ratio in all samples is well above 1, and the 

material probably is sound because two samples 

tested (ma 1 and ma 4} developed soundness ratios 

of 0. 99 and 0. 98, respectively. The quantity of 

material available in the Belleville formation is 

essentially unlimited, but the supply is localized to 

the northeastern part of the county.

(2) Sanborn formation. One sample classified 

as fine aggregate (fa 3) is mapped as from the Sanborn 

formation but might possibly belong to the Belleville 

or the Ogallala. The question of its geologic age has 

been discussed under the Sanborn formation. Laboratory test data indicate that the material is acceptable as fine aggregate.

In addition to the sample of doubtful age (fa 3), 

only one other aggregate sample was taken from the 

Sanborn formation. The source of the sample (ma 7) 

is mapped on plate 1, and its mineral and test 

characteristics are given in table 1. The mineral 

analysis indicates that material from the Sanborn 

formation probably will contain an excessive percentage of soft chalk fragments of local origin.

Undoubtedly there are other potential sources of 

aggregate material in the basal part of the Sanborn 

formation. Intensive exploration of the basal part, 

exposed where streams have cut into older, underlying formations, probably would be profitable. Because the deposits are channel fills of sand and gravel, 

it is likely that all of them will be limited in quantity.

Recent studies by Plummer and HLadik 19/ suggest 

that the wind-deposited silts and clays in tSe" Sanborn 

formation may be manufactured into a "ceramic slag" 

that is suitable for use as concrete aggregate.

(3) Alluvium. One sample of fine aggregate 

(fa 1) was secured from the alluvium of the Republican 

River. The material is a very fine sand composed 

predominantly of fragments of quartz, but minor 

amounts of feldspar particles are present. Fine, 

aggregate from the alluvium probably is obtainable 

only from the flood plain of the Republican River, 

where it exists in almost unlimited quantities. The 

alluvial deposits of other streams are predominantly 

silt.

19Plunm»r, N., and Hladik, W. B., The manufacture of ceramic railroad 

ballast and constructional aggregates from Kansas clays and slits: 

Kansas Geol. Survey Bull. 76, pt. 4, pp. 87-89, 95, 1948.

-17-
Alluvial sands of the Republican River Valley have 

been reworked by the wind into small, discontinuous 

dunes covering very limited areas. The construction 

materials characteristics of the dune sand (fa 2, table 

1 and pi. 1) essentially duplicate those of the sample 

of alluvium (fa 1).

Road metal

Engineering and geologic characteristics. Road 

metal, known also as surfacing material, crushed 

stone, and aggregate, is defined in this report as any 

material that may be applied to a road to improve the 

performance characteristics of that road. Many 

geologic materials fulfill this requirement, and the 

list of such materials will vary from one area to 

another.

The following materials have been used in Jewell 

County or are available for use as road metal:

(1) Aggregate for concrete.

(2) Limestone gravel. Limestone gravel is defined by the State Highway Commission of Kansas as 

a sedimentary material composed of rounded fragments of local limestone, usually about three-fourths 

of an inch long, incorporated in a matrix of silt-size 

particles. Limestone gravel is used extensively 

throughout north central Kansas as road metal, especially on secondary roads.

(3) Crushed rock. Indurated rocks are available 

in Jewell County for use as crushed stone in road construction or railway ballast, and some of them have 

been so used. The rocks are limestone, a compact, 

massive layer of calcareous material, variable in its 

hardness; quartzite, a massive, compact, hard rock 

in which sand and/or gravel have been firmly silicacemented by the action of percolating ground water; 

and sandstone; a massive rock composed predominantly of sand-size par.ticles of quartz more or less 

firmly cemented by interstitial deposits of calcium 

carbonate, silica, or iron oxide.

The materials included here under crushed rock 

are more specifically listed in table 1 and mapped on 

plate 1 as limestone, quartzite, and sandstone because, 

in addition to their use as road metal, they may be 

used as structural stone and riprap.

Stratigraphic sources and performance characteristics. --

(T) Aggregate for concrete. The materials listed 

in the section on aggregate for concrete have been 

used in the base course of bituminous-mat roads, as 

loose road metal on many light-traffic roads within 

the county, and in other types of road construction. 

Most of the aggregate now being used in road construction is taken from pits in the Belleville formation. 

Previously, however, deposits of sand and gravel in 

the Sanborn formation in the southern part of the 

county had been utilized, as well as material shipped 

in from nearby Kansas counties or from Nebraska.

(2) Limestone gravel. Twelve sources of material 

classified as limestone gravel are mapped on plate 1, 

and the test data of the material are given in table 1 

(Ig 1 to Ig 12). The Sanborn formation was the source 

of all the samples. The limestone gravels occur as

channel deposits in the basal part of the Sanborn formation, usually where that formation unconformably 

overlies the Carlile shale. The limestone particles 

appear to have been eroded from nearby outcrops of 

the Niobrara formation, and the quantity of material 

contained in any one of the deposits is relatively 

limited. The material is acceptable as road metal 

for light-traffic roads, although in some samples 

tested, such as Ig 5 and Ig 6 (table 1), the plasticity 

index may be too high. Additional deposits of limestone gravel undoubtedly occur in the parts of the 

county east and south of the escarpment formed by 

the Fort Hays limestone.

(3) Crushed rock.

(a) Dakota sandstone. The Dakota sandstone 

is a potential source of material for use in road construction. The sandstone might be crushed, if necessary, and used in base-course construction for roads 

of a bituminous-mat type. The test characteristics 

of one sample analyzed (ss 1, table 1) indicate that it 

is satisfactory for this use.

The quartzitic zones in the Dakota sandstone might 

also be used in road construction. The quartzite, if 

crushed and applied to the road in particles less than 

0. 5 inch in maximum dimension, might serve adequately as loose road metal. This use of quartzite 

from the Ogallala formation has been observed on 

light-traffic roads in north central Kansas. The 

crushed quartzite might also be used to sweeten aggregates to the gradings desired for other construction 

uses.

The fact that the Dakota sandstone crops out only 

in a limited area restricts its usefulness; furthermore, 

the quantities of quartzite and sandstone available in 

the Dakota sandstone in Jewell County also are limited.

(b) Greenhorn limestone. The Greenhorn 

limestone has been used as road metal throughout 

most of the area of its outcrop. The usual practice 

is to quarry the thicker limestones near the top of 

the formation, such as those in the Jetmore chalk and 

Pfeifer shale members, and stock-pile the cobblesize fragments of chalky limestone. Weathering by 

slaking and freeze-and-thaw causes the surficial 

portion of each fragment to slough off. The remainder 

is then crushed, mixed with shales from the same 

formation, and applied to the road. The material 

tends to self-cement and to form a traffic-bound 

macadam. Its wet-weather characteristics are good 

and, unlike traffic-bound macadam constructed of 

chalky limestone from the Niobrara formation, it 

shows little tendency toward dry-weather dusting. 

The part of a county road extending 3 miles south of 

Randall has been metaled with crushed Greenhorn 

limestone. Numerous quarries are mapped on plate 

1, and additional sourqes of material from this formation can be located throughout most of the area of 

its outcrop.

(c) Fort Hays limestone member of Niobrara 

formation. The two members of the Niobrara formation, the Fort Hays limestone and Smoky Hill chalk, 

have been used extensively throughout north central 

Kansas as road metal. It has been the practice to 

use the Fort Hays limestone in preference to the 

Smoky Hill chalk wherever material from both of the

-18-
members is available. In either case the rock is 

quarried, crushed, watered down, and rolled. Traffic 

causes it to self-cement to form a macadam that needs 

to be maintained only by blading. The wet-weather 

characteristics of the road generally are quite good if 

the macadam is 8 inches or more thick, but excessive 

saturation may develop a gumbolike quality in the road 

structure. In dry weather each passing vehicle stirs 

up a cloud of fine white dust. Efforts have been made 

to control the dusting tendency of the macadam roads 

constructed of rock from the Niobrara formation, but 

none has been entirely successful. If a bituminous - 

mat wearing course is applied directly to the chalky 

limestone macadam, moisture accumulates at the top 

of the limestone base course and causes it to soften, 

with the result that the road fails. It is possible that 

a seal coat applied to the macadam would prove satisfactory inasmuch as- such a coat would permit the 

evaporation of moisture from the limestone, apparently a necessary condition if road failure is to be 

avoided. Calcium chloride might be applied to such 

roads but is not effective as an antidusting agent unless 

the humidity is 50 percent or higher, a condition rather 

unusual in most parts of Kansas.

Field observation indicates that the best results 

are obtained when a course 8 inches or more thick is 

used. If the thickness is less than 8 inches, the road 

tends to fail by excessive thinning in critical spots. 

An essentially unlimited quantity of chalky limestone 

is available in the Fort Hays member. The county 

highway extending from east to west through Burr Oak 

is only one example of a road in Jewell County constructed of Fort Hays limestone. Numerous operated 

and prospect quarries are mapped on plate 1, but 

additional quarries could be opened at any convenient 

site within the area of outcrop.

(d) Smoky Hill chalk member of Niobrara 

formation. Some use of the Smoky Hill chalk member 

as material for roads of the traffic-bound macadam 

type has been observed in other counties in north 

central Kansas. There is no indication, however, that 

material from this source has been so used in Jewell 

County. The more massive chalk beds in this member 

have about the same characteristics as the chalk beds 

in the Fort Hays limestone member but are not so 

thick. The chalky shales are used together with the 

crushed chalky limestones. Field observation indicates 

that traffic-bound macadam roads constructed of 

material from the Smoky Hill chalk member are fairly 

satisfactory. They do not stand up quite so well in wet 

weather a,s macadam roads constructed of the Fort 

Hays limestone but show less of the dry-weather dusting tendency characteristic of Fort Hays limestone. 

There is an almost unlimited quantity of Smoky Hill 

chalk available throughout the area of its outcrop 

mapped on plate 1, and quarries could be opened at 

any convenient site within that area,

(e) Ogallala formation. The hard, dense, 

nodular limestone, the characteristic expression of 

the Ogallala formation in Jewell County, has been used 

in other north central Kansas counties as loose road 

metal. The material is quarried, crushed, and applied 

to the road in the same way as crushed quartzite. The 

limestone bed is so thin in Jewell County, however, 

that it is doubtful whether it would be economical to 

develop it for use in road construction.

The lenses of sand and gravel characteristic of 

the Ogallala formation in the counties to the west and 

southwest are almost entirely lacking in Jewell County. 

The one deposit noted in the field is so small that its 

development .would not be economical.

Mineral filler

Engineering and geologic, characteristics. 

Material composed predominantly of silt-size mineral 

particles (50 percent or more of which pass the No. 

200 sieve) is classified in this report as mineral filler. 

It has no more than a trace .of sticks or other organic 

debris but may contain minor amounts of fine sand or 

clay. The State Highway Commission of Kansas 

states 20/ that material will qualify for mineral filler 

if laboratory tests indicate a low coefficient of cementation. Deficiencies of the tested samples in this 

characteristic are noted under "Remarks" in table 1. 

Failure of the material to pulverize easily, a factor of 

cementation, increases the difficulty of obtaining its 

uniform distribution throughout the mixture.

Stratigraphic sources and performance characteristics. --

(1) Sanborn formation. Two samples of mineral 

filler (mf 1 and mf 2) taken from the Sanborn formation 

were tested in the Road Materials Laboratory of the 

State Highway Commission; the test data are given in 

table 1. One of these samples (mf 1) apparently was 

taken from the B zone of the soil profile, because the 

cementation factor (100) probably is excessive. The 

other sample (mf 2) was taken from below the B zone, 

and the cementation factor is within acceptable limits. 

The Sanborn formation is the most widespread source 

of mineral filler in Jewell County, and pits could be 

opened in it at any convenient site throughout the area 

of its outcrop. For this reason only a few prospect 

and operated pits are mapped on plate 1. It is recommended that, prior to development of a site, the 

material be laboratory-tested and its cementation 

factor determined. Although silt in the deeper zones 

of the Sanborn formation is less firmly cemented, the 

overburden might prove too thick for economical development.

(2) Terrace deposits. No samples of terrace 

deposits were tested in the laboratory, but this stratigraphic unit is a potential source of mineral filler and 

has been used in other counties of the State for that 

purpose. Because of its lithologic similarity to the 

Sanborn formation, it is probable that the test characteristics of the terrace deposits are similar. A 

sample should be laboratory-tested to determine the 

cementation factor prior to the development of a site.

Volcanic ash

Engineering and geologic character istics. 

Volcanic ash is sometimes classified as mineral filler, 

but in this report it is distinguished as a special type 

of mineral filler because it is suitable for certain uses 

other than those of the usual silty filler. Volcanic ash 

consists predominantly of the fine, glasslike shards

20Hcmer, S. E., chief geologist, tetter doted Jan. 4, 1947.

-19-
ejected during the explosive phase of a volcanic eruption. The material may include silt-size particles of 

other origins and occasional thin seams of gravel and

sand.

Stratigraphic source and performance characteristics. --The Sanborn formation is the only source of 

volcanic ash found by the field party in Jewell County. 

Test data for five samples (va 1 to va 5) are given in 

table 1, and the locations from which the samples were 

taken are mapped on plate 1. Individual deposits of 

volcanic ash are limited" in quantity because the 

material was deposited in lenses. Sieve analyses 

indicate that there might be a minor percentage of silt 

and fine sand intermixed with the ash. The test characteristics show that the samples reported in table 1 

are satisfactory for use in engineering construction.

Numerous lenses of volcanic ash, in addition to 

those sampled, were found by the field party and are 

mapped on plate 1. Intensive exploration of the basal 

part of the Sanborn formation, particularly in the 

northern half of the county, undoubtedly will bring to 

light other sources of this material.

Engineering and geologic characteristics. --Riprap, 

as defined in this report, is any material suitable for 

protecting earthen fills from erosion. To be acceptable for this use the material must be relatively sound 

and free from cracks and other structural defects or 

impurities that would cause it to disintegrate through 

erosion, slaking, or freeze-and-thaw. . It is desirable 

that the material be in blocks having approximately 

rectangular faces 7 inches or more in width and that 

the specific gravity be 2 or higher.

Stratigraphic sources and performance characteristics. --

(1) Dakota sandstone. The test characteristics 

of the rock in the quartzitic zones of the Dakota sandston<5 (q 1, table 1) indicate that this material is adequate for use as riprap on earthen dams-. Its specific 

gravity is sufficiently high, it is sound, and the abrasion loss is not excessive. Unfortunately, however, 

the amount of quartzite in the Dakota sandstone of 

Jewell County is so limited that this formation cannot 

be considered an adequate source of riprap.

(2) Greenhorn limestone and Niobrara formation. 

Several small dams riprapped with chalky limestone 

from the Greenhorn limestone and the Niobrara formation were observed in Jewell County. In each case 

the riprap had deteriorated completely and, after only 

a short interval, had lost its protective value. The 

chalky limestones from both of these units are unsound 

in any water-saturated environment and soon deteriorate by slaking, freeze-and-thaw,'or a combination of 

both. The exploitation of either of these Stratigraphic 

units as a source of riprap is highly inadvisable.

(3) Ogallala formation. ' The hard, dense limestone near the top of the Ogallala formation is a 

possible source of riprap in Jewell County, but because 

of the limited quantity of material available it is not a 

significant source.

Structural stone

Engineering and geologic characteristics. -- 

Structural stone, as defined in this report, is any hard, 

dense rock material that can be quarried and cut to 

desired size and shape. Materials fulfilling these requirements occur in the Greenhorn limestone and in 

the Fort Hays limestone member of the Niobrara formation.

Stratigraphic sources and performance characteristics. --

(1) Greenhorn limestone. The "Fencepost" limestone bed at the top of the Pfeifer shale member of the 

Greenhorn limestone is used extensively as structural 

stone throughout a wide area in north central Kansas, 

even to a considerable distance from the area of its 

outcrop. So many quarries have been opened in this 

bed in Jewell County that only a few of them are 

mapped on plate 1. Additional quarries could be 

opened at any convenient site within the area of outcrop. Typically the rock is quarried only when the 

overburden is less than 2 or 3 feet thick. When heavy 

overburden is encountered, the usual practice is to 

abandon-the site and move to another place where the 

overburden is thinner.

The test characteristics of stone from this bed 

(Is 2, Is 5, and Is 6) are given in table 1. Field observation indicates that the limestone is entirely 

suitable as a structural stone in this area because 

structures built of it stand up very well in the relatively dry climate that prevails in north central Kansas. 

The rust-colored band in the center of the bed gives 

the stone a pleasing appearance that may be enhanced 

further by polishing the external surfaces, as was done 

in the construction of the Jewell County courthouse.

The "shell rock" bed at the top of the Jetmore chalk 

member of the Greenhorn limestone is used as structural stone within the area of its outcrop. The stone, 

however, is not so pleasing in its finished appearance 

as the "Fencepost" limestone, and it is not so widely 

used. No structures built of this stone were observed 

in Jewell County.

(2) Fort Hays limestone member of Niobrara 

for.mation. Several samples of the Fort Hays limestone (Is 1, Is 3, and Is 4) have been tested; the data 

are given in table 1.' The test characteristics of this 

material indicate that it is slightly inferior to the 

"Fencepost" limestone for use as structural stone; 

however, ledges of this member are many times 

thicker than the "Fencepost" limestone bed, and there 

is a far greater quantity of stone available. Some of

-20-
the smaller buildings in Jewell County have been constructed of Fort Hays limestone, although it weathers 

in a less pleasing fashion than the "Fencepost" limestone. Because there are so many outcrops of the 

Fort -Hays limestone member in Jewell County, it was 

not thought necessary to map more than a few of the 

many operated quarries or to locate more than occasional prospective quarry sites.

Calcareous binder

Engineering and geologic characteristics. To be 

classified as calcareous binder, the material must be 

composed essentially of calcium carbonate and must

be soft and easily pulverized. A variety of geologic 

materials is included in this classification.

Stratigraphic sources and performance character - 

istics. The Fort Hays limestone and the Smoky Hill 

chalk members of the Niobrara formation have been 

accepted by the State Highway Commission as sources 

of material suitable for use as calcareous binder. 

Both members contain numerous beds of chalky limestones which are soft, easily pulverized, and free 

from deleterious substances. This material can be 

obtained from all the outcrop areas of the Niobrara 

formation in Jewell County- mapped on plate 1.

-21-
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY CIRCULAR 38 PLATE

Base adapted from map provided by Soil Conservation Service, 

United States Department of Agriculture. MAP SHOWING CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS AND GEOLOGY OF JEWELL COUNTY, KANSAS

Geology by M. S. Houston and M. R. Mudge

PLATE 1

MAP SHOWING

CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS AND GEOLOGY

OF

JEWELL COUNTY, KANSAS 

1949

EXPLANATION

(Predominantly light-brown silt with numerous

sand lenses and some gravel lenses interbedded.

Source or potential source of: aggregate, road

Terrace deposits

(Upper part, brown tn brown-gray silt locally with

buried soil zone: basal part, silt with thin lenses

of sand and fine gravel. Source or potential source

of: mineral filler, road metal)

Sanborn formation

(Upper part, gray-brown silt locally with buried 

soil zonei tower part, buff or tan silt and interbedded lenses of sand and gravel; numerous lenses 

of white or light-gray volcanic ash in basal part. 

Source or potential source of: mineral filler, 

volcanic ash, aggregate, road metal)

Belleville formation

(Cross-bedded, tan-gray sand and gravel composed

principally of quartz, feldspar, and igneous rock

particles; occasional lenses of silt aud clay. Source

or potential source of: aggregate, road metal)

Ogallala formation

(Ltght-gray limestone; some sand, gravel, and

UJ

§ 

a

Niobrara formation

(Kns; Smoky Hill chalk member) 

(Blue-gray and orange-gray chalky shales interbedded with white or blue-gray massive or blacky chalks, 

forms badlands. Source or potential source of: 

road metal, calco-reol>u< binder)

("Knf; Fort Hays limestone member) 

(Massive, soft, cream to white chalky limestones 

alternating with thin layers of chalky shale. 

Source or potential source of: structural stone, 

calcareous binder, road metal)

Carlile shale

(Thin sandy siltstone at top; upper part, blue-gray

thin-bedded clay shale ; lower part, orange-brown

chalky shales and thin chalks)

Greenhorn limestone

(Tan and gray shales interbedded with thin, tangray, chalky limestones and very thin benionites.

Source or potential source of: structural stone,

Graneros shale

(Dark-gray or black noncalcareous clay shale ;

thin bentonites interbedded)

Dakota sandstone

(Brown to tan sandstone, locally quartzitic; thin 

clay lenses interbedded. Source or potential 

source of: road .metal, riprap)

Geologic boundary

Operated pit or quarry

CE 

111

Prospect pit or quarry

L 

Limestone

SS 

Sandstone

Q 

Quartzite

FA 

Fine aggregate

MA 

Mixed aggregate

LG 

Limestone gravel

VA 

Volcanic ash

MF 

Mineral filler

MA 

Inclined letters indicate materials not tested

MA 2

Vertical letters indicate materials listed in 

Table I and their sample numbers.

1.0

Quantity of material available 

(in units of 1O.OOO cubic yards)

Federal (U S) Highway

Other roads, all classes

Railway

City

Section line

+ H

Township corner

Stream, permanent

Stream, intermittent

B

Line of cross-section. Figure 3 (along 

the line between sections 27 and 28, 

. 4 S., R. 1O W. and sections 21 and 22, 

T. 5 S., R. 1O W.)

APPROXIMATE MEAN 

DECLINATION 1847

Scale

4 Miles

1949