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In January 2001, natural gas explosions in the central Kansas town of Hutchinson killed two people, destroyed two downtown businesses, and created a series of geyser-like spouts of water and gas. The Kansas Geological Survey was instrumental in determining the source of the gas and remediating the problem. KGS researchers used shallow seismic ...Coronado Heights. Rising more than 300 feet above the Smoky Hill River valley, Coronado Heights is on the southern end of a four-mile chain of hills known as the Smoky Hill Buttes. North of Lindsborg, which is in northern McPherson County, Coronado Heights lies just across the line in Saline County. Capped by hard sandstones of the Dakota ...Of the three types of rock— sedimentary, igneous, and metamorphic —the vast majority at or near the surface in Kansas are sedimentary. Igneous rocks are formed from hot molten magma that pushes up toward the surface from Earth’s interior. Metamorphic rocks are altered from existing rock through heat, pressure, and chemical processes. Explore Northeast Kansas. Northeast Kansas encompasses the Glaciated physiographic region in the north and part of the Osage Cuestas along its southern edge. At sites in this area, you'll find massive quartzite boulders transported from northern states by glaciers, a water stop vital to travelers on the Oregon Trail, scenic drives, and ...GeoKansas. GeoKansas, hosted by the Kansas Geological Survey, is a comprehensive site that describes the geology of the state of Kansas. This site contains a very useful guide to Kansas fossils. Oceans of Kansas. Oceans of Kansas is a site devoted to fossils of Kansas and fossils from the late Cretaceous western interior sea.21 mai 2011 ... 318 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. ON THE GEOLOGY AND PALEONTOLOGY OF. THE CRETACEOUS STRATA OF KANSAS. By EDWARD D. COPE, A. M..Before the surrounding area was settled, Cheyenne Bottoms was an intermittent marshland in a 64-square-mile basin. In the 1950s, the state of Kansas began developing it into a more permanent and stable wetlands and wildlife area. Dikes now divide the marsh into a series of pools, and water is diverted between pools to maintain suitable habitat. Short-legged rhinoceras (Teleoceras) Teleoceras was a rhinoceros that grazed on grass and lived in Kansas during the Miocene Epoch (23 million to 2.6 million years ago) when the climate was wetter and warmer. With short legs and a long massive body, it was shaped more like a hippopotamus than a modern rhinoceros, although it had a smaller head ...The Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism now manages 14,500 acres of unreclaimed land and lakes in southeast Kansas as the Mined Land Wildlife Area. The area includes rugged hills created by strip mining and more than 1,000 lakes that developed in unreclaimed ditches. Gob piles, the piles of discarded coal waste and fractured rock ... Water in Kansas. In most years, precipitation in the form of rain, sleet, or snow is greatest in eastern Kansas and gradually declines toward the west. The wettest spot, on average, gets 45 inches per year and the driest less than 20 inches. As a result, eastern Kansas has more surface water — rivers, creeks, lakes, and wetlands.One method is based on magnitude—the amount of energy released at the earthquake source. The other is based on intensity—how much the ground shakes at a specific location. Although several scales have been developed over the years, the two commonly used today in the United States are the moment magnitude scale, which measures magnitude (M ... When linked to human activities, it is referred to as "induced seismicity." Oil and gas operations, mining activities, geothermal energy production, construction, underground nuclear testing, and impoundment of large reservoirs can all be sources of induced seismicity. Beginning in 2013, Kansas saw an unusual increase in earthquake activity in ...Gastropods are the most diverse and abundant type of mollusks, with nearly 35,000 living and 15,000 fossil species identified so far. The group includes snails, slugs, conchs, whelks, and limpets. Like the familiar snail, most gastropods have a single coiled shell (slugs being a notable exception). A variety of fossil gastropods occur in the ...Of the three types of rock— sedimentary, igneous, and metamorphic —the vast majority at or near the surface in Kansas are sedimentary. Igneous rocks are formed from hot molten magma that pushes up toward the surface from Earth’s interior. Metamorphic rocks are altered from existing rock through heat, pressure, and chemical processes.Coal (which consists chiefly of carbon compounds derived from plants and plant debris that have been compacted into firm, brittle rocks) occurs throughout the Osage Cuestas. It was extensively mined in Osage County. Between 1885 and 1892, Osage County had 118 coal mines, which employed more than 2,200 people and produced almost 400,000 tons of ...The Flint Hills were formed by the erosion of Permian-age limestones and shales. During the early part of the Permian Period (about 299 to 252 million years ago), shallow seas covered much of the state, as they did earlier in the Pennsylvanian subperiod. Unlike the Pennsylvanian limestones found at the surface to the east, many of the ...The Crawford sinkhole, which causes Interstate 70 to sag west of Russell, has been linked to an improperly plugged and abandoned oil well. Because the well was not adequately sealed, groundwater leaked along the well casing into the Hutchinson Salt Member about 1,300 feet below the surface. An underground void was created where the salt ...The petroleum industry is a major contributor to the economy of Kansas. Hundreds of thousands of oil and natural gas wells drilled in the state since the late 19th century have produced more than 6.7 billion barrels of oil and 41.2 trillion cubic feet of natural gas through 2018. Oil and natural gas are both hydrocarbons because they are made ... The Smoky Hills region in north-central Kansas encompasses a range of hills composed largely of sandstone, a second composed largely of limestone, and a third composed largely of chalk. Although visibly different, they are unified by age—all were formed from sediment deposited during the Cretaceous Period, which lasted from 145 to 66 million ...Of all the water on Earth, more than 96% is too salty to drink. Most of that is in the oceans. Surface water—in lakes, rivers, creeks, ponds, and playas and other wetlands—is our most visible source of freshwater, but it …The High Plains Aquifer Atlas, compiled by the Kansas Geological Survey, features more than 70 maps—several animated or interactive—that can be used to investigate such timely topics as changes in groundwater levels and availability of groundwater over time, water use, water rights, and the region's climate conditions. Four animated maps in ...Learn more about earthquakes, sinkholes, landslides, and environmental issues facing Kansas today and the KGS role in addressing them. Discover Kansas’ rich geologic history, unusual and unexpected topography, and natural resource gems in every corner of the state. Maps, oil and water well drills, seismic sensors, and other geologic tools ...

Coronado Heights. Rising more than 300 feet above the Smoky Hill River valley, Coronado Heights is on the southern end of a four-mile chain of hills known as the Smoky Hill Buttes. North of Lindsborg, which is in northern McPherson County, Coronado Heights lies just across the line in Saline County. Capped by hard sandstones of the Dakota ...The second route — the Gyp Hills Scenic Drive — is a 22-mile loop through the heart of the Red Hills region in Barber County. Starting three miles west of Medicine Lodge at the junction of Highway 160 and Gyp Hills Road, the route runs south on Gyp Hills Road, turns west on Scenic Drive, and heads back north toward the highway on Lake City ... A meteorite is a stony or metallic piece of meteor that reached Earth's surface. Meteorites have been found all over the world, and of the 1,671 verified in the United States as of April 2013, 158 came from Kansas (see Meteorites in the United States ). Stones —composed primarily of silicate minerals (compounds consisting of silicon, oxygen ...Big Basin. Big Basin is a large circular depression about one mile across and 100 feet deep that is bisected by U.S. Highway 283/160. Based on the age of the rocks in its walls, geologists estimate the basin formed fairly recently (in geologic time, that is), probably within the last few thousand years. The floor of the basin, about 125 to 150 ...The Oread Limestone, a formation common in eastern Kansas, was named in 1894 by Erasmus Haworth, the first director of the Kansas Geological Survey. He named it after Mount Oread, the hill on which the University of Kansas is located and where the limestone cropped out. The Dakota Formation, a familiar rock unit in central Kansas, got its name ...

4 Images. In eastern Kansas, most water used for drinking, industry, and other purposes comes from surface water sources, mainly larger rivers and lakes. These include the Kansas, Missouri, Cottonwood, and Neosho …Rocks and minerals of the Ozark Plateau. Limestone. Common throughout Kansas, limestone is a sedimentary rock composed mostly of calcite (calcium carbonate, CaCO 3 ). It is formed in marine environments by organic means—that is, from the remains of animals or plants—or by chemical deposition. Many animals and plants (such as oysters, corals ...Point of Rocks is west off of Kansas Highway 27 about 10 miles north of Elkhart. It is in the Cimarron National Grassland managed by the U.S. Forest Service. The grassland encompasses more than 108,000 acres of land left in poor condition after the Dust Bowl of the 1930s and restored by the federal government. Wagon ruts are visible in places.…

Reader Q&A - also see RECOMMENDED ARTICLES & FAQs. The petroleum industry is a major contributor to the economy of Kansa. Possible cause: Water in Kansas. In most years, precipitation in the form of rain, sleet, o.