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'Ii ~ '.' ~,. '-;",. ~ .. ~. 002J,O,S '" ." J. . :: ....... 14 Kansas State Board of Agriculture at Parkerville and Durham. The interior of the basin then be- comes more flat, progressing downstream to an elevation of 1,080 near the mouth of the Cottonwood river and to 790 at Chetopa. The lowest point in the basin is in the stream bed at the state line where low water is at an elevation of 763 feet above sea level. The boundaries of the valleys in the basin are generally marked by sharp bluffs rising to considerable elevations above the general level of the bottom lands. The valleys are smooth, and along the main stream and principal tributaries vary from one to four miles in width. In addition to the natural slope of the surface in the general direction of flow of the stream, it is characteri~tic of the bottom lands also to slope away from the river. The highest ground in the valley is ordinarily at the river bank and the lowest is be- tween the stream and the bluffs. The banks of the stream have been built up over a long period of time by the deposition of ma- terial carried by overflowing flood water. For this reason, flood water must flow overland until iritercepted by a tributary drainage channel entering the valley before it can return to the river as flood stages recede. .'.- ~~~@~~%~;, '. .-::>: .'_.. '. ...... .... ..',.' -. ... "...~.' :. ".' :..... . :" " . .' '. .,.,,:.... . ......., . . .~- .'-. -.. :'::; '. .' ..\~....: .~.>..:..; .:::': :.. .~:: ~ -'.. .-'. ;....... ...-.-- .:.......;..:.... The Geology ,.:.... .... -.... '-'-.. ,,'- ":...:.> '.'>'~':: .,; ... '.-. ...:.'" . '. '.. .. -::,~.,' _.::J;':;.. f>;,;,t~'t::.i::;n :.~::~..:::~~::d\~~::~i1:;.,:~;} ....: -.:':' : .-.'::.... : .' '. .,~ r_ ..,..-......... .......:.;::.~>"..J.:..:... ........ . ~ .... '.. ./.'.'- :: ...:..:..~.<"'-.:-:. . . ... . .,.'i.\:,~~t:.: ~~( By DR. RAY MONU C. MOORE The Neosho river basin in Kansas is naturally divisible on geo- logical grounds into two parts that conform closely with a division that is logically made from the viewpoint of engineering studies of the Neosho and its tributaries. These parts consist of (1) the Per- mian drainage area, which includes almost all of the territory above the confluence of the Neosho and Cottonwood just east of Emporia, and (2) the Pennsylvanian area, which comprises the remainder of the Neosho watershed in Kansas. The Permian rocks of the headwaters of the Neo~ho drainage eonsist of rather closely spaced layers of light-colored limestone that is mostly resistant to erosion and that, in several beds, con- . tains layers and nodules of hard but brittle flint. The hard rocks make escarpments and they contribute to making the relatively steep gradients of the hcadwaters of tbe Neosho. The common occurrence of flint gives rise to the term "Flint hills." Between the limestone layers are strata consisting chiefly of impervious shale. Limestone outcrops are very common, but the shale is exposed only locally. Almost all of the area is grass-covered. Rainwater seeps into joint cracks and bedding planes of the limestone, moves down- ward and laterally through cavities dissolved in these rocks, and emerges as springs and seeps along hillsides and stream valleys. ....-..1' ;::,:":':'::.<.".c:' ... ..; ~': ..~'.' '. '. '-.'. .. .':- ..:.. .;'. ~. -'.. .,,: ",' -. ..:. --.... ~. - :...~. ~.:~.?~:.;.;:\:~(:.~ . .'./ .:;:.,--.-...::.... . ....... ..;....... :..: . . . ..~. . .,"r..::.'