Geobotanical Kansas is covered with a relatively thin layer of sedimentary beds that rest on Precambrian basement rock. The maximum thickness of these beds is 9500 feet in SW Kansas. In Woodson County, on the east side of the study area, the sedimentary cover ranges from 1100 to 1600 feet thick. The general direction of dip in SE Kansas is in a westerly direction at a gentle 25 feet per mile. This is easily recognized on a geologic map of Kansas .
Quaternary alluvium fills the river valleys.
Hardwood forests are found associated with sandstone formations, pastures and grasslands with limestone and shale, and agricultural fields mostly on shales and alluvium. There is also tree growth along streams and rivers. Vegetation Lineaments often appear where an overall change in vegetation occurs. Lineaments are further enhanced where ledge-forming limestones and sandstones meet easily eroded shales, thus creating shadowed areas. At a regional scale, stratigraphic changes can often be detected in processed Landsat images.