GEOLOGY. STRATIGRAPHIC GEOLOGY-STRUCTURAL GEOLOGY-ECONOMIC GEOLOGY. STRATIGRAPHIC GEOLOGY. The formations represented within the area of the Higginsville sheet are clastic or stratified rocks and superficial deposits. The clastic rocks belong to the Carboniferous period, and to the Coal Measure division of that period, of which the lower and middle subdivisions and the Warrensburg sandstone occur at the surface. The superficial deposits belong to the Pleistocene or Quaternary period and include glacial drift, Loess and Alluvium. Diagramatically the classification of the rocks found here may be represented as follows: FIG. 4. Diagram showing the Geological formations exposed in the Higginsville sheet. THE LOWER COAL MEASURES. The Lower Coal Measure rocks are exposed only over a small part of the area described, they being confined to the low-lying portions along the streams, mostly below the 750 ft. contour line. The total superficial area within which these rocks reach the surface is about 53 sq. miles, distributed along the Missouri river, along Davis creek, along Salt creek and along a fork of Tabo creek, as is shown on the map. The line of delimitation here, between this formation and the overlying Middle Coal Measures, is placed at about 70 ft. below the Lexington coal bed, or about 20 ft. below the Mulky coal bed, both of which are included in the latter formation.* The maximum thickness of the formation exposed at the surface here is not much more than 60 ft., and the maximum thickness penetrated at any one point is about 225 ft. This is, however, not the total thickness of the formation here, for the Lower Carboniferous rocks were not reached. The rocks composing the various sections consist of shales, sandstones, clays, limestones and coals. The shales predominate and are frequently arenaceous; sandstones are probably more abundant and limestones less frequent than in the overlying Middle Coal Measures. In the southeastern portion of the sheet a sandstone bed, 10 or more feet in thickness, is taken as the uppermost bed of the Lower Coal Measures. This is, however, not persistent, and the transitions which have been observed of sandstone into shale lead one to the belief that none of the sandstone beds of this formation can be rigidly used for purposes of correlation. † In illustration of the character and succession of the strata of this formation, the following series of sections is given: * In adopting this position for the line of division in the Higginsville sheet, we have followed Swallow's and Broadhead's guidance. (See Report Mo. Geological Survey, 1855, p. 85, and Report 1872, Part II, p. 83 and tables opposite p. 134 and p. 420.) The definition of this line has never been exactly expressed, and the so-called Lower Coal Measure area in this State is, to a certain extent, an unknown quantity. The reasons for this are probably certain errors in correlating exposures which Swallow was led into, which will hereinafter be referred to. Whether the stratigraphic conditions will permit of our carrying the horizon line here adopted across the whole State, can be proved only by the extension of detailed work. If this be found possible, the question will still remain as to whether either the faunal or lithologic characteristics of this assumed subdivis ion of the Coal Measures call for its formal differentiation from the overlying portions of the formation. For the present it is accepted, provisionally and largely from considerations of convenience in describing the great body of Coal Measure strata. † Both Swallow (Op. Cit., p. 86) and Broadhead (Op. Cit., p. 5) described a bed of sandstone, some 75 feet thick, as constituting the uppermost bed of the Lower Coal Measures. The sandstones at Warrensburg, at Higginsville and on Tabo creek they recognize as belonging to this bed. The recent work of the Survey has demonstrated that the sandstones occurring at these localities belong much higher up in the section, as will be explained later, and that their great thicknesses are due to the peculiar conditions of their deposition. The sandstone above referred to by the writer as near the top of the Lower Coal Measures is not to be confounded with these massive deposits. Sections along the Missouri river. The best exposures of these rocks are along the Missouri river bluffs, as displayed in the cross sections A-B-C and D-E-F. About a mile east of the sheet limits, near the middle of section 13, township 51 N., 24 W., Edwin Harrison notes the occurrence of yellow, micaceous, sandy shale about 40 feet above the level of the railway,* which is probably the superior bed of the Lower Coal Measures. The rocks above railway and river level at Waverly are hidden from view by a mantle of Loess over 100 feet thick. The line between the Lower and Middle Coal Measures is placed here at about 50 feet above the railway. About a quarter of a mile above the station is the shaft of the Waverly Coal and Mining Company. The top of the shaft is about 10 feet above the railway and it is 102 feet deep. It is consequently entirely in the Lower Coal Measures. A complete record of this shaft could not be obtained, but the following notes were furnished by the pit-boss: SECTION I. SHAFT OF THE WAVERLY COAL AND MINING COMPANY, A quarter of a mile East of Waverly. Top of shaft about 10 feet above railway level. Interval to top of Lower Coal Measures about 30 feet *This and succeeding references to observations of Mr. Edwin Harrison are taken from carefully prepared manuscript notes which are now on file in the Survey office. These notes were written out by him in the year 1859, when he assisted Dr. J. G. Norwood in the examination of Lafayette county. Dr. B. F. Shumard was associated with Mr. Harrison in this work. The frequency of coal beds here is especially noteworthy, as are, further, the absence of limestone beds and the prevalence of shale near the coal. About a quarter of a mile west of this, near the depot, a trial shaft was put down to a depth of nearly a hundred feet. Of this shaft the following section was obtained from the superintendent: SECTION II. (No. 2 of Section Sheet). TRIAL SHAFT OF THE MIDDLETON COAL COMPANY, On river bank at railway station. Top of shaft about 10 feet below railway level. Interval to top of Lower Coal Measures about 50 feet. 1. Soll and loam 17 4 14. Shale, dark brown, black near bottom with lamine of coal. 15. COAL (Waverly bed, operated).. 10 3 16. Clay... Total thickness.. About half a mile west of the depot, a thin seam of coal, about 9 inches thick, crops out in the railway cut, about 2 feet above the track. This must be a superior bed to any of those cited in the preceding sections. Nearly half a mile beyond the last, at the mouth of Gladdish branch, which empties into the river just west of Waverly, the following section was measured: SECTION III. OUTCROP AT MOUTH OF GLADDISH BRANCH Top of section is about 20 feet above level of railway. Interval to top of Lower Coal Measures about 20 feet. 1. Shale, drab ... The coal of this section we correlate with that last mentioned. At this point another shaft has been sunk to the Waverly coal bed. The top of the shaft is about on a level with the railway, and it is 105 feet deep. (See detail of coal bed on section sheet.) About a mile farther west, at the mouth of the McAffee branch, and nearly half a mile east of the line between sections 16 and 17, a bed of coal, about 9 inches thick, overlair by shales, is again encountered, nearly 10 feet below the railway level. This we also correlate with the coal bed of Section III. Some 600 feet beyond this to the west, the following section was measured: SECTION IV. OUTCROP NEAR MOUTH OF THE M'AFFEE BRANCH. Top of section is about 30 feet above the railway. Interval to top of Lower Coal Measures about 10 feet. Beyond this, along the railway, for a distance of a mile and a balf, to the line between sections 17 and 18, shales are exposed at frequent intervals in the railway cuts, sometimes to a thickness of 25 feet. At a few points, coal smut is noticeable, a few feet above the level of the railway, and this is assignable to a bed overlying the coal of Section III. At the point where the line between sections 17 and 18 reaches the river, the following section was measured in the bluffs: SECTION V. (No. 3 of Section Sheet.) SECTION OF MISSOURI RIVER BLUFF, IN N. E. CORNER OF SECTION 18. |