Current Research in Earth Sciences, a peer-reviewed publication of the Kansas Geological Survey, began publication in 1993 as Current Research on Kansas Geology. The name was changed in 1995 to reflect the broader scope of the bulletin. The journal ceased publication in 2018 and was replaced by Midcontinent Geoscience in 2020.
Mississippian Stratigraphic Nomenclature Revisions in Kansas, Evan K. Franseen, Robert S. Sawin, W. Lynn Watney, Ronald R. West, Anthony L. Layzell, and Greg A. Ludvigson
This paper reviews proposed Mississippian nomenclature changes in Kansas and outlines the changes to Zeller (1968) that have been adopted by the Kansas Geological Survey. The Sedalia Dolomite is changed to the Sedalia Formation and the Northview Shale is changed to Northview Formation due to lateral lithology changes. The Short Creek Oolite Member as originally defined and described by Smith and Siebenthal (1907) at the type section in Kansas is reinstated. The Cowley Formation as originally defined and described by Lee (1940) in Kansas is reinstated. The Ste. Genevieve Limestone is placed as the basal formation of the Chesteran Stage.
Quaternary Stratigraphy and Stratigraphic Nomenclature Revisions in Kansas, Anthony L. Layzell, Robert S. Sawin, Rolfe D. Mandel, Greg A. Ludvigson, Evan K. Franseen, Ronald R. West, and W. Lynn Watney
This paper outlines Quaternary nomenclature changes to Zeller (1968) that have been adopted by the Kansas Geological Survey (KGS). The KGS formally recognizes two series/epochs for the Quaternary: the Holocene and Pleistocene. Pleistocene stage/age names Kansan, Aftonian, Nebraskan, and Yarmouthian are abandoned and replaced with the broader term "pre-Illinoian." Formation names Bignell, Peoria, Gilman Canyon, and Loveland are maintained for loess units. Formation names for the following alluvial lithostratigraphic units are abandoned: Crete, Sappa, Grand Island, Fullerton, and Holdrege. The Severance Formation is adopted as a new lithostratigraphic unit for thick packages of late Pleistocene alluvium and colluvium in Kansas. The DeForest Formation is accepted as a valid lithostratigraphic unit for deposits of fine-grained Holocene alluvium in Kansas. Formation names Iowa Point, Nickerson, and Cedar Bluffs for glacial tills and Atchison and David City for glaciofluvial deposits are abandoned. The Afton and Yarmouth Soils are abandoned as pedostratigraphic units, whereas the Sangamon Geosol and Brady Geosol are maintained.
Classification of Red Beds at Point of Rocks, Morton County, Kansas: A Historical Review, Robert S. Sawin
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.
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