Morton County Research Articles

Spatially and temporally explicit life cycle global warming, eutrophication, and acidification impacts from corn production in the U.S. Midwest

Abstract The demand for biobased products, such as food, fuel, and chemicals, has been continuously increasing. Meanwhile, agricultural production, serving as the primary stage of biobased products, is one of the largest contributors to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and nutrient releases. Environmental impacts of agricultural production influenced by farming practices, soil properties, and climate conditions, are often site-specific and time dependent. Although assessing spatially and temporally explicit environmental releases and impacts are required to inform a sustainable trajectory for agricultural production, such analyses are largely lacking. This study provides site-specific analysis of on-farm and supply chain emissions from corn production to demonstrate the spatio-temporal variability of environmental impacts in the U.S. Midwest states. Using process-based life cycle assessment (LCA) and the physically-based Environmental Policy Integrated Climate (EPIC) agroecosystem model, we estimated county-level life cycle environmental release inventories from corn production in 12 U.S. Midwest states for the period of 2000–2008. Based on the Tool for Reduction and Assessment of Chemicals and Other Environmental Impacts (TRACI) impact assessment model, we quantified the corresponding life cycle global warming (GW), eutrophication (EU) and acidification (AD) impacts of corn. The results show that life cycle GW, EU and AD of corn production varied by factors of 4.2, 83.7 and 10.6, respectively, across the Midwest counties over the nine-year span (2000–2008). Life cycle GW impacts of producing 1 kg of corn ranged from −6.4 in Franklin County, Illinois to 20.2 kg CO2-eq. in Perkins County, South Dakota. The life cycle EU impacts also spanned over a wide range of 0.99 g in Morton County, Kansas to 82.9 g N-eq. in Leelanau County, Michigan, whereas life cycle AD impacts ranged from 1.3 in Clermont County, Ohio to 100.7 g SO2-eq. in Perkins County, South Dakota. Moreover, trade-offs existed among life cycle GW, EU and AD impact categories for corn production. The spatial variation analyses showed that key contributors were the different soil types, precipitation, elevation and the amounts of fertilizers applied. These findings provided critical insight into spatio-temporal variations of life cycle environmental impacts of corn production and identified spatial hotspots and top contributors for improving environmental performances of corn production.

Classification of Red Beds at Point of Rocks, Morton County, Kansas

The age of red beds exposed below the bluff-capping Ogallala Formation at Point of Rocks in Morton County, Kansas, has been disputed since they were first recognized in the late 1800s. Over the years, nearly 25 maps and reports have variously classified the strata as Cretaceous, Jurassic, Triassic, or Permian, creating an interesting history of speculation and stratigraphic nomenclature. Many of the interpretations relied on the indirect method of comparing lithologies to similar exposures in surrounding states, but none were in-depth studies. Until recently, the Kansas Geological Survey has considered the rocks to be Jurassic based on Zeller (1968), the currently recognized stratigraphic guide and chart for Kansas. A comprehensive study by Smith et al. (2015)--using outcrop descriptions, subsurface information, and detrital zircon data--constrained the age of the red beds at Point of Rocks, assigning them to the Guadalupian Big Basin Formation, the uppermost Permian unit in Kansas.

Enigmatic Red Beds Exposed at Point of Rocks, Cimarron National Grassland, Morton County, Kansas

Point of Rocks, a high-relief bluff overlooking the Cimarron River valley in Morton County, Kansas, is capped by distinct white beds of Neogene Ogallala Formation calcrete that overlie red beds of shale, siltstone, and sandstone. These unfossiliferous red beds are currently assigned to the Jurassic System; however, their age has long been debated due to a lack of marker beds, index fossils, and nearby correlative outcrops. As a result, geologists over the years have assigned the rocks to systems ranging from the Permian to the Cretaceous. In this study, four stratigraphic sections were measured in the red beds and three bulk samples were collected to determine the uranium-lead age distributions of detrital zircon (DZ) populations. Red-bed strata composed of fissile shale and sandstone are interpreted as alluvial overbank deposits, while dominantly trough cross-bedded and planar-laminated sandstones are interpreted as tidally influenced fluvial deposits. Detrital zircon age peaks can be grouped into at least seven subpopulations with a youngest single zircon age of 263.8 ± 12.1 Ma, a more conservative age of 293.0 ± 6.95 Ma based on the youngest grouping of three grain ages overlapping at 2σ, and a complete absence of Mesozoic age zircons. In addition, copper oxides along partings and fractures suggest that the red beds once hosted copper sulfides, a common constituent of regional Permian-Triassic red beds. The DZ data--in conjunction with the identification of the Permian Day Creek Dolomite marker bed in logs of nearby drilling tests--strongly suggest that the enigmatic red beds cropping out at the base of Point of Rocks should be assigned to the Guadalupian Big Basin Formation, the uppermost Permian unit in Kansas.

Paleoochna tiffneyigen. et sp. nov. (Ochnaceae) from the Late Paleocene Almont/Beicegel Creek Flora, North Dakota, USA

Premise of research. Paleoochna tiffneyi gen. et sp. nov. is described from late Paleocene fossil fruits from Almont (Morton County) and Beicegel Creek (McKenzie County), North Dakota. On the basis of distinctive anatomical and morphological features, these fruits demonstrate strong taxonomic affinities to Ochna and other members of the family Ochnaceae but are distinct at the generic level.Methodology. Fossil fruits were studied with a combination of transmitted and reflected light microscopy from fractured surfaces and with scanning electron microscopy. Extant fruits were sectioned by freehand sectioning with a razor blade and studied with reflected and transmitted light microscopy.Pivotal results. The study documents the first known occurrence of Ochnaceae fruits in the fossil record. They occur as late Paleocene specimens from the Williston Basin of the Western Interior of North America. Specimens are anatomically preserved and provide critical morphological details of systematic value. Like many of t...

Sharing a mentor: What leadership is about

In 1974 I entered a space that would become a journey filled with people who touch the lives of others in very special ways. One exceptional person was a woman who greeted me on my first day of work with warm and caring eyes. Her name was Laurel. I was a novice graduate nurse, and she had been promoted recently to the director of patient care for the medical floor; so my first job as a nurse began with a supervisor who emulated this noble profession. Laurel Ione Suchy was born of Bohemian descent on a farm in Mandan, Morton County, North Dakota. Ever since Laurel could remember, her dream was to become a nurse. Growing up the eldest in a family of 4, Laurel always preferred to be outdoors tending to cattle, working the field, and shocking hay. From time to time, she helped create a dress or a blouse on the family Singer sewing machine. The North Dakota prairie and farming kindled a kind of hardiness, a sense of stability, and a deep connection with the earth.

An Assessment of Fish Communities in the Cimarron River in Morton County, Kansas, during Restored Streamflow

In the latter half of 1997 and early part of 1998, the Cimarron River in Morton County, Kansas flowed continuously for nine months. At the request of the United States Forest Service (USFS), Cimarron National Grasslands, quantitative surveys of the fish community were conducted in May and July of 1998 to assess the initial impacts of temporarily restored streamflow on the fish community and the status of USFS Region 2 sensitive species. Ten species of fishes were collected in our study compared to 11 species listed in earlier surveys. Five previously reported species, including three species protected in Kansas, were not collected in our survey. Four nonindigenous species that were not reported in earlier surveys were collected. One new distributional record within Kansas was documented in 1998.

Abstract: Subsurface Structure and Sequence Stratigraphy of the Western Margin of the Hugoton Embayment, Morton County, Kansas 

In low-relief basins mapping the subtle structural and stratigraphic features required for effective exploration and production of hydrocarbons can be difficult. The Hugoton Embayment, containing the giant Hugoton and Panoma gas fields, is an example of such a basin. We have used digital wireline logs and a new approach, termed pseudoseismic, to map subtle structural and stratigraphic features on the western edge of the Hugoton Embayment in Morton County, Kansas. Mapped were four previously poorly constrained faults and low-relief structural noses plunging into basin. Eight Wolfcampian sequences also were defined and mapped. The extreme landward position of these sequences has influenced their geometries and results in a modified sequence-stratigraphic model for the Wolfcampian rocks of southwestern Kansas. The sequence model places nonmarine-dominated strata in the latehighstand systems tract. Pinchouts of marine-dominated reservoir-prone lithologies within the Wolfcampian sequences, coupled with structural features, seem to be controlling factors on production from the Hugoton and Panoma gas fields. These stratigraphic and structure problems are not unique to the Hugoton Embayment. The approaches and results could have widespread application in other basins and mature exploration provinces.

Abstract: Sequence Stratigraphy of the Upper Kearny Formation (Morrowan Series, Lower Pennsylvanian System), for the Santa Fe Trail, Cimarron Valley, and Stirrup fields, Morton County, Kansas 

Abstract: Sequence Stratigraphy of the Upper Kearny Formation (Morrowan Series, Lower Pennsylvanian System), for the Santa Fe Trail, Cimarron Valley, and Stirrup fields, Morton County, Kansas 

First Complete Clutch Record for the Central Plains Milk Snake (Lampropeltis triangulum gentilis) in Kansas

Iverson (1975) reported a female of the central plains milk snake (Lampropeltis triangulum gentilis) from Russell County, Kansas, which laid 5 eggs on 27 June 1972. Two of the 5 eggs hatched on 12-14 August, an incubation period of 46-48 days. The 2 hatchlings had total lengths of 215 and 235 mm. Iverson (1977) reported on another specimen of this snake, also from Russell County, Kansas, that laid 5 eggs on 29-30 June 1976. The 5 eggs hatched 42-44 days later. No measurements of the young were given. Smith (1977) reported a female of this snake which laid 4 eggs on 15 July 1976. Two of the 4 eggs hatched between 29 August and 1 September 1976, an incubation of 46-48 days. The two neonates had total lengths of 175 and 186 mm. Tennant (1984) listed a clutch number of 5 to 9, an incubation period of 65 days, and a total length range for neonates of 6 to 8'/2 inches (154 to 217 mm) for this subspecies. Fitch (1985) reported that this subspecies of the milk snake (based on Colorado and Nebraska specimens) had a clutch number of 4 to 12 (mean 5.5). In summary, the central plains milk snake has been reported throughout its range to have a clutch number of 4 to 12, an incubation period of 42 to 65 days, and total lengths at hatching of 154 to 235 mm. On 31 May 1987 a gravid female Lampropeltis triangulum gentilis was collected by Kelly J. Irwin in Section 21, T34S, R43W, Cimarron National Grasslands, Morton County, Kansas. The female deposited 4 eggs on 3 July 1987. The eggs were buried in 4 inches of moist sphagnum moss within a covered glass gallon jar. Temperature surrounding the jar was maintained between 85 and 880 F during incubation. On 4 September the 4 eggs hatched, an incubation time of 63 days. After hatching, the female parent (KU 208117) and four neonates (KU 208118-121) were sacrificed and measured. The female parent measured 533 mm total length (460 mm SVL). The single male and 3 female neonates had a total length range of 218 to 220 mm (mean 218.75) and an SVL range of 188 to 190 mm (mean 189.25).

Miscellaneous Summer Records of Birds from Southwestern Kansas

Two summers (1978 and 1979) of field research on nongame wildlife in southwestern Kansas have established several new records for both breeding and migratory species of birds. New breeding records were established for the ferruginous hawk (Buteo regalis), lesser prairie chicken (Tympanuchus pallidicinctus), great-tailed grackle (Quiscalus mexicanus), and the field sparrow (Spizella pusilla) from Morton County; the American avocet (Recurvirostra americana) from Seward and Kearny counties; and the Cassin's sparrow (Aimophila cassinii) from Meade County. Species showing increased summer movements and breeding activities include the curvebilled thrasher (Toxostoma curvirostre), great-tailed grackle, and the Brewers sparrow (Spizella breweri) from Morton County. Sightings of rare species include the ladder-backed woodpecker (Dendrocopos scalaris), northern parula warbler (Parula americana), Blackburnian warbler (Dendroica fusca), and the chestnut-sided warbler (Dendroica pensylvanica) from Morton County; and the rose-breasted grosbeak (Pheucticus ludovicianus) from Grant County. While some species show distributional increases (e.g. great-tailed grackle) others have shown a decline in this region (e.g. ladder-backed woodpecker). Still not enough is known about other species (e.g. rose-breasted grosbeak, field sparrow) to understand their distributional patterns in southwestern Kansas. Several studies describe the status and distribution of summer birds in southwestern Kansas (Rising, 1974; Ely and Thompson, 1971; Graber and Graber, 1951). Recent fieldwork in this region has nevertheless resulted in several new breeding and distributional records. During the summers of 1978 and 1979, while employed by the Kansas Fish and Game Commission, I conducted a nongame research project to 1 Present address: 2924 Lakeside Drive, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73120. This content downloaded from 157.55.39.22 on Sat, 16 Jul 2016 05:08:02 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms 110 TRANSACTIONS OF THE KANSAS ACADEMY OF SCIENCES determine the status and distribution of some rare and peripheral species of birds in southwestern Kansas. This resulted in new breeding records for the curve-billed thrasher, great-tailed grackle, Brewers sparrow, ferruginous hawk, lesser prairie chicken, and American avocet. Other records for species such as the rose-breasted grosbeak, Cassin's sparrow, and the field sparrow serve to help understand their distributions in this region. Included here are records for such species as the ladder-backed woodpecker, northern parula warbler, Blackburnian warbler, and chestnut-sided warbler which are considered rare in southwestern Kansas. The following species deserve close attention by field ornithologists in the future. Ferruginous Hawk. This hawk is an uncommon summer resident in western Kansas with most of the breeding records coming from counties north of the Arkansas River (Johnston, 1964). On 4 June 1979 a nest with two half grown nestlings was discovered in Morton County in far southwestern Kansas. The nest was 10 ft. up in a small stand of trees (Morus) surrounded by Sand sagebrush (Artemisia filifolia)-grasslands. This constitutes the first breeding record of this hawk for Morton County. Lesser Prairie Chicken. This species is reported to be fairly common in the southwestern counties of Morton, Meade, and Ford but actual breeding records from this region are few (Rising, 1974). Two nests of this species were found 2/2 mi. SE of Wilburton, Morton County, in an area of sandhills covered with sagebrush, forbs, and sparse grasses. One nest, discovered on 18 May 1979, was placed beneath a sagebrush on the ground concealed by tufts of new grass. It held 12 eggs. On 1 June 1979 this nest held 12 recently hatched nestlings no more than a few hours old. A nest discovered on 26 May 1979 contained 13 eggs and was placed only 200 yards from the first

The Status of Bufo debilis and Opheodrys vernalis in Kansas

The distributional history of Bufo debilis insidior Garman and Opheodrys vernalis blanchardi Grobman in Kansas is examined. Several records of each species are eliminated from the state. While the presence of B. debilis in the state is considered valid, the presence of 0. vernalis in Kansas is questionable. The distributional status of several of the rarer species of reptiles and amphibians in Kansas is not clearly understood (Rundquist and Collins, 1977; Rundquist, 1977; Collins, 1974). Recent information has been obtained that may further elucidate the status of two species (Bufo debilis and Opheodrys vernalis) in the state, and is presented below. Museum designations for specimens are as follows: Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia (ANSP), California Academy of Science (CAS), Kansas State University (KSC), University of Kansas (KU), Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard (MCZ), University of Michigan (UMMZ). Bufo debilis insidior Girard Western Green Toad Smith (1932) published the first extensive account on Bufo debilis in Kansas. He listed records for Greeley, Grant, Hamilton, Logan, Morton, and Barber counties. These records were further substantiated in an unpublished distributional work by Brumwell (ca. 1933). The Barber and Hamilton county records were based on literature records by Cragin (1894). Cragin evidently preserved no specimens of this species from Kansas. His comments are as follows, 'The species was observed a few days later in great abundance and activity (during rainy weather) in Morton county, Kansas, and the southern part of Hamilton county. I have also collected a single specimen in the western part of Barber county, Kansas, also. Two of Smith's records were based on specimens that no longer exist. He based the Greeley County record on 'K.U., 1 spec. This specimen cannot be located in the herpetological collection or catalogue at the Museum of Natural History at the University of Kansas. The Logan County record is based on KSC 50This content downloaded from 157.55.39.27 on Wed, 07 Sep 2016 05:55:07 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms TRANSACTIONS OF THE KANSAS ACADEMY OF SCIENCES 55. The collection at Kansas State University, Manhattan (formerly Kansas State College), no longer exists (J. T. Collins, pers. comm.). Collins (1974) lists records for Morton, Grant, Greeley, and Logan counties. Preserved specimens of B. d. insidior exist for Morton, Grant, and Logan counties. A specimen in the collection at the California Academy of Science (CAS 17266) formerly listed as B. d. insidior is actually an example of Bufo w. woodhousei. Although Collins listed a Greeley County record, this was due to a printing error, as he had previously identified that specimen (CAS 17266) as B. woodhousei. The Logan County record is based on one specimen in the University of Michigan collection (UMMZ 67442), not the KSU collection as previously reported. The exact locality and collector of this specimen are unknown. Thus, three valid county records for this toad are available from the state: Logan, Grant, and Morton counties. It is possible that the western green toad does occur in Hamilton and Greeley counties, but until voucher specimens from these counties are found, they should be considered valid rec-

Vascular Plants of Morton County, Kansas

The purpose of this study, carried out in 1961 and 1962, was to compile as complete a list of the vascular plants of the county as possible. Many collections have been made in the county previous to this study, but only a few have been reported. Carleton (1890-95) reported on five collections, and Hitchcock (1897) cited plants collected by Thompson in 1893. Gates (1940) reported 186 collections of non-cultivated vascular plants from Morton County.

Additional Fox Records for Kansas

The paucity of fox records for Western Kansas indicates that their geographical distribution in the state is poorly known. Three records have recently been added to the vertebrate collection of the Museum of the High Plains, Division of Biological Sciences, Fort Hays Kansas State College. are a Red Fox, Vulpes fulva fulva (Desmarest), skull, No. 827; a male Swift Fox, Vulpes velox velox (Say), skin and skull, No. 1262; and a male Gray Fox, Urocyon cinereoargenteus ocythous (Bangs), skin and skull, No. 1817. A Red Fox was found dead on 4 March 1963 in Ellis County, 1/2 mile south, 1 mile east of Hays. During the winter of 1962-1963 sight records of this species along Big Creek near Hays were reported to us. Other records of the Red Fox in Western Kansas are reported by Anderson and Nelson (1958). are of a male from 5 miles south, 7 miles west of Friend, Finney County obtained 27 March 1955, and of a female obtained 18 April 1956 from 7 miles north of Fowler, Meade County. Their report states that, These records . . . indicate that the species may occur throughout Our specimen and the sightings indicate that the Red Fox may be found in western Kansas where its proper habitat is present. A captive male Swift Fox was brought to us on 4 June 1963. The animal was collected by Mr. Leon Schumacher of Hays at the west edge of Ulysses in Grant County. He recalled that the fox was captured near the end of July or the first of August, 1962. To our knowledge this is the only preserved Swift Fox from Kansas since 1955, when a male from 4 miles north of St. John, Stafford County, a female from 8 miles north of Elkhart, Morton County (Anderson and Nelson, 1958), and a male from 31/2 miles northeast of Quinter, Gove County (Martin and Sternberg, 1955) were recorded. The Swift Fox was at one time considered to be extinct in Kansas (Baker, 1889; Bunker, 1940; Cockrum, 1952), but the above records indicate the species still to be present in western Kansas. On 19 November 1963 a male Gray Fox was captured at Lincoln, Lincoln County by Mr. Leon Hopkins in a garage. He reported that the

Morrow Rocks of Western Kansas and Panhandle Counties of Oklahoma: ABSTRACT

The Morrow rocks of Western Kansas and the Oklahoma Panhandle have a maximum thickness of 700 feet and pinch northeast on the flank of the Anadarko basin. Sands within the Morrow series occur in two basic intervals designated as upper and lower. Upper sands are very lenticular but usually produce where present. They account for production in the Camrick pool, Texas County, Oklahoma; Light pool, Beaver County, Oklahoma; Interstate pool, Morton County, Kansas; and the Leslie pool, Meade County, Kansas. Lower sands produce in the Mocane pool, Beaver County, Oklahoma; Keyes pool, Cimarron County, Oklahoma; and the Sparks pool, Stanton County, Kansas. Morrow sands produce more than half of the area's crude oil and a large percentage of the pre-Permian gas. Production from the 60 pools in the area is from simple anticlinal to complex stratigraphic traps. Common completion practice is through casing with fracture treatment following a light-mud acid wash. Some excellent quality sands are completed natural. Wells sufficient to test the Morrow range in depth from 4,600 to 8,500 feet. Well costs average $10 per foot dry and $15 per foot completed. Reservoirs range from 3 to 90 feet in thickness, resulting in non-commercial to excellent wells with fast payout (less than 1 year). Average porosity is 14%; average connate water saturation is 25% with instances of 40% in commercial wells. Reserves in place End_Page 214------------------------------ range from 300-750 MCF per acre foot and 400-750 barrels per acre foot. Reservoir engineering studies of the character and behavior of some Morrow sands indicate that they should be capable of permitting efficient sweep out under secondary recovery. Subsurface geology and imaginative thinking are essential to the exploration approach of the Morrow. Gravity and seismic methods are being used with success. This area is in the early stages of development, and many reserves remain to be found. End_of_Article - Last_Page 215------------

Grass Establishment and Development Studies in Morton County, Kansas

A high percentage of the farm and range land of Morton County, Kansas, was seriously damaged by drouth and wind erosion in the early thirties. The federal government purchased 102,000 acres of that land to be revegetated to grass largely for grazing use. In this revegetation work many problems have been encountered in finding adapted grasses and in determining the best methods for their establishment. Very little experimental work had been done previously in grass reseeding in southwestern Kansas. This study is concerned with the results obtained from a series of seedings made during the period 1941-1945, inclusive, on the three most important problem areas of the county.

Regional Stratigraphy of Mid-Continent

Regional Stratigraphy of Mid-Continent

Permian Redbeds of Kansas

The Permian redbeds of Kansas are re-studied in detail with reference to Cragin's type sections and original classification, to which correlations have been made for more than 40 years, this paper enlarging on an unpublished paper, Lower Red-Beds of abstracted in the Bulletin of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists, Vol. 21, No. 12 (December, 1937), pp. 1557-58. The Cimarron series includes all of the Permian redbeds overlying the salt-bearing and gypsum-bearing gray of the Wellington formation. From the base upward, the names and thicknesses of the subdivisions are given. The two lowermost units, the Estheria-bearing Ninnescah shale, 425 feet thick, and the Stone Corral dolomite-anhydrite, 0-6 feet thick (although much thicker in subsurface), have been excluded from Cragin's the latter being here restricted to two higher members: the Chikaskia 145 feet thick, and the Kingman 80 feet thick. The basal part of the Ninnescah becomes the Garber sandstone in Oklahoma, while its upper part plus the Chikaskia are the equivalent of the type of Oklahoma. The Kingman sandstone has been mis-correlated often with the Oklahoma Duncan, a much higher formation. Cragin's Plain measures, 275 feet thick and in few places well exposed, has been mis-called Hennessey in Oklahoma where exposed beneath typical Duncan sandstone. The Cedar Hills 180 feet thick, is correlated with the true Duncan of Oklahoma, while the selenite-veined Flower-pot shales, 190 feet thick, have been called Chickasha in Oklahoma. The name Nippewalla is suggested for the group of formations lying between the Stone Corral and Blaine evaporites. Cragin's Cave Creek is identical with the Blaine formation of Oklahoma, is 84 feet thick, and is divided upward into four beds of gypsum: Medicine Lodge; Nescatunga, a bed in Cragin's clay; Shimer (Lovedale of Noel Evans); and Haskew. Where these gypsums are well developed, only 15 feet of Cragin's Dog Creek separate them from the Whitehorse sandstone. At Dog Creek, the type locality, however, with the three upper beds absent because of solution, the separating clays to the base of the Jenkins have been included in the 53 feet of Dog Creek shales, the highest unit of Cragin's Salt Fork division of the Cimarron series. From the base upward, the Kiger division begins with the Whitehorse a formation 265 feet thick, the name replacing Cragin's Red Bluff (pre-occupied and dropped). It falls into four natural subdivisions or members: Marlow 110 End_Page 1751------------------------------ feet thick; Relay Creek dolomites with their included veined sandy shales, 22 feet thick; an even-bedded 100 feet thick; and a red shale member, 38 feet thick, with local thin dolomites at middle and base, the last two being equivalent to the Rush Springs-Cloud Chief of Oklahoma, although Cloud Chief gypsums are not recognized in Kansas. No channel-sands of the type Verden or type Whitehorse facies of the Marlow have been noted in Kansas, although calcareous, cross-bedded sandstones are found associated with the Relay Creek dolomites. Capping the Whitehorse commonly in a bold scarp, is the Creek of Cragin, a single bed of dense, in many places cherty, dolomite 2 feet thick. This bed in turn is overlain by gray and red (Hackberry shales of Cragin, name pre-occupied, dropped) and Big Basin sandstone, totalling 65 feet, previously combined under the latter name, which are probably correlative with the lower beds of the Quartermaster formation (restricted) of Oklahoma, these beds terminating the Kansas redbed exposures, with the possible exception of a small exposure in Morton County, not studied by the writer, which is mapped as Triassic by the Kansas State Geological Survey. Possible horizons of unconformity have been studied critically, the evidence indicating nothing greater than local disconformity, the more pronounced stratigraphic abnormalities ordinarily due to removal of soluble beds by ground waters, resulting in slumpage and collapse-brecciation of the overburden, a condition to be expected of beds in contact with the major dolomite-anhydrite formations, which are the Stone Corral, the Blaine-Dog Creek, and the Day Creek. The excellence of these evaporite formations as key horizons in redbed stratigraphy is emphasized in contrast to the variable lithology of the intervening red siltstones and their included lenses of rounded, frosted, orange-polished or micaceous sandstones, on which scant dependence can be placed, as shown on subsurface cross se tions. A cross section depicts a progressive wedging-out of the various members of the Wellington and Harper formations westward against the Sierra Grande arch of eastern Colorado, where beds of approximate Salt Plain age rest on beds near the top of the Pennsylvanian (Wabaunsee) as accepted by the Kansas Geological Survey, the one real unconformity of regional significance discovered.

The Reliability of Past Rural Assessments in Morton County, North Dakota, Measured by Soil Productivity Ratings

Soil Science Society of America JournalVolume 2, Issue C p. 495-498 Article The Reliability of Past Rural Assessments in Morton County, North Dakota, Measured by Soil Productivity Ratings† Edward H. Tyner, Edward H. TynerSearch for more papers by this authorHarry A. Steele, Harry A. Steele Professor of Soils, North Dakota Agricultural College, Fargo, North Dakota; and Regional Supervisor, Land Utilization Division Region VII, Farm Security Administration, Lincoln, Nebraska, respectively.Search for more papers by this author Edward H. Tyner, Edward H. TynerSearch for more papers by this authorHarry A. Steele, Harry A. Steele Professor of Soils, North Dakota Agricultural College, Fargo, North Dakota; and Regional Supervisor, Land Utilization Division Region VII, Farm Security Administration, Lincoln, Nebraska, respectively.Search for more papers by this author First published: 01 January 1938 https://doi.org/10.2136/sssaj1938.036159950002000C0078x ‡ As set forth by the Bureau of Chemistry and Soils, the term “productivity rating” refers to the ratio of the average yield of a specific crop on a particular soil type as compared to a national standard yield which carries a rating of 100; e.g., the standard yield for wheat on a national basis is twenty-five bushels per acre. As used in this paper, the concept of the term “soil productivity rating” differs from that set up by the Bureau of Chemistry and Soils in that no specific crop is considered in setting up the productivity rating; and in that the ratings given the various soil types apply only to the soils of the county in question; and in that the influence of factors such as distance to market and water on net income derived from lands of varying quality are considered. In other words, the concept of “productivity rating” as used in this paper refers to the productivity as measured by potential net income per acre. AboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditWechat Volume2, IssueC1938Pages 495-498 RelatedInformation

List of reptiles and batrachians of Morton County, Kansas, reporting species new to the state fauna

List of reptiles and batrachians of Morton County, Kansas, reporting species new to the state fauna