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Geologic Unit: Florena
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Map showing publication footprint
  • Usage in publication:
    • Florena shales
  • Modifications:
    • Original reference
  • Dominant lithology:
    • Shale
  • AAPG geologic province:
    • Nemaha anticline
Publication:

Prosser, C.S., 1902, Revised classification of the upper Paleozoic formations of Kansas: Journal of Geology, v. 10, no. 7, p. 703-737., See also "Modern classifications of the Permian rocks of Kansas and Nebraska," compiled by M.G. Wilmarth, Secretary of Committee on Geologic Names, USGS unpub. corr. chart, Oct. 1936, 1 sheet


Summary:

Pg. 712. Florena shales. Yellowish fossiliferous shales, heretofore called "Cottonwood shales" (preoccupied). Thickness of 13 feet near Strong, Chase County, Kansas, decreasing to 2 or 3 feet in the northern part of state. Underlies Neosho member and forms lower part of Garrison formation in Council Grove stage. Overlies Cottonwood limestone [called "Alma" in early part of article; name Alma replaced with Cottonwood at conclusion of article]. Age is late Paleozoic.
Named from exposures in quarries near Florena, Marshall Co., eastern KS.

Source: US geologic names lexicon (USGS Bull. 896, p. 743); GNC KS-NE Permian Corr. Chart, Oct. 1936; supplemental information from GNU records (USGS DDS-6; Denver GNULEX).


Map showing publication footprint
  • Usage in publication:
    • Florena shale member
  • Modifications:
    • Revised
  • AAPG geologic province:
    • Forest City basin
Publication:

Condra, G.E., 1935, Geologic cross-section, Forest City, Missouri to south of Du Bois, Nebraska: Nebraska Geological Survey Paper, no. 8, 23 p., Issued late in 1935. See also USGS unpub. corr. charts of Pennsylvanian and Permian rocks of KS and NE, compiled by M.G. Wilmarth, Secretary of Committee on Geologic Names, Oct. 1936


Summary:

Pg. 7; [see also Condra and Busby 1933 entry under Beattie]. Florena shale, middle member of Beattie limestone formation of Council Grove group. Olive colored at top, middle and base light gray with much calcitic material and quite fossiliferous (abundant CHONETES GRANULIFER). Thickness 5 to 10 feet. Overlies Cottonwood limestone member and underlies Morrill limestone member. Age is Permian. [This classification was followed by R.C. Moore, 1936 (Kansas Geol. Survey Bull., no. 22).]

Source: Publication; GNC KS-NE Permian Corr. Chart, Oct. 1936.


Map showing publication footprint
  • Usage in publication:
    • Florena shale member*
  • Modifications:
    • Overview
  • AAPG geologic province:
    • Nemaha anticline
Publication:

Wilmarth, M.G., 1935, [Selected Geologic Names Committee remarks (ca. 1930-1935) on Carboniferous and Permian rocks of the Midcontinent], IN Wilmarth, M.G., 1938, Lexicon of geologic names of the United States (including Alaska): U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin, 896, pts. 1-2, 2396 p., See also Wilmarth, M.G., compiler, USGS unpub. corr. charts of Missouri (Mar. 1930); Iowa (Apr. 1930); Texas (Sept. 1930); Oklahoma (Jan. 1931, Feb. 1931); Kansas and Nebraska (Oct. 1936)


Summary:

Florena shale member of Garrison shale of Council Grove group. Adopted by the USGS as lower member of Garrison formation. Underlies Neosho shale member of Garrison and overlies Cottonwood limestone. Recognized in eastern Kansas and southeastern Nebraska. Named from exposures in quarries near Florena, Marshall Co., eastern KS.
See also under Beattie formation and under †Garrison shale, which R.C. Moore discarded in 1936 [Kansas Geol. Survey Bull., no. 22, p. 50, 251].

Source: US geologic names lexicon (USGS Bull. 896, p. 743); GNC KS-NE Permian Corr. Chart, Oct. 1936.


Map showing publication footprint
  • Usage in publication:
    • Florena shale member
  • Modifications:
    • Overview
  • AAPG geologic province:
    • Nemaha anticline
Publication:

Moore, R.C., Frye, J.C., Jewett, J.M., Lee, Wallace, and O'Connor, H.G., 1951, The Kansas rock column: Kansas Geological Survey Bulletin, no. 89, 132 p.


Summary:

Pg. 47. Florena shale member, middle member of Beattie limestone. Underlies Morrill limestone member; overlies Cottonwood limestone member. Consists of highly fossiliferous gray shale containing thin limestone beds in southern Kansas. Thickness 3 to 18 feet. Age is Early Permian (Wolfcamp).

Source: US geologic names lexicon (USGS Bull. 1200, p. 1376).


Map showing publication footprint
  • Usage in publication:
    • Florena Shale Member*
  • Modifications:
    • Areal extent
    • Biostratigraphic dating
  • AAPG geologic province:
    • Nemaha anticline
Publication:

Mudge, M.R., and Yochelson, E.L., 1962, Stratigraphy and paleontology of the uppermost Pennsylvanian and lowermost Permian rocks in Kansas, with sections on paleontology by R.C. Douglass, Helen Duncan, H.L. Strimple, Mackenzie Gordon, Jr., and D.H. Dunkle: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper, 323, 213 p. [Available online from the USGS PubsWarehouse: http://pubs.er.usgs.gov/pubs/pp/pp323]


Summary:

Pg. 3 (fig. 1), 53, tbl. 1, pl. 5. Florena shale member, middle member of Beattie limestone of Council Grove group. Underlies Morrill limestone member; overlies Cottonwood limestone member. Subdivided into two zones, following Condra and Upp (1931, Nebraska Geol. Survey Bull., 2nd ser., no. 6, p. 17). The lower zone, generally the basal 2 or 3 feet of the member, is tan to gray, clayey to silty, and locally very fossiliferous. Locally, toward the south, are lenses of limestone. The lower part of this zone very likely represents a transitional zone from the Cottonwood into the Florena. The upper zone is as much as two-thirds of the Florena. It is generally gray to olive-drab blocky clay shale locally containing a sparse fauna. In most exposures it is nonfossiliferous, and contains secondary calcite filling fractures and geodes. In general, the Florena shale member thickens southward. Thickness 8 to 15 feet in Chase County (Moore and others, 1951, Kansas Geol. Survey [Report], v. 11, p. 13) and 2 feet in Marshall County (Walters, 1954, Kansas Geol. Survey Bull., no. 106, p. 47). Most characteristic fossil in this member is CHONETES GRANULIFER, which is more abundant than any other fossil. Distribution of fossils collected from the Florena is given in table 1 (sheet 2). Fossils include: fusulinids, coelenterates, echinoderms, bryozoans, brachiopods, pelecypods, gastropods, scaphopods, cephalopods, trilobites. Paleontology section provides detailed discussions of species (p. 55-97). Age is Early Permian. Report includes measured sections (see nos. 236, 252, 288, 298, and 329), correlation diagrams, fossil distribution charts. [Report submitted for publication before release of 1961 ACSN code, recommending capitalization of formal names.]

Source: Publication.


Map showing publication footprint
  • Usage in publication:
    • Florena Shale Member
  • Modifications:
    • Overview
  • AAPG geologic province:
    • Nemaha anticline
Publication:

Zeller, D.E. (editor), 1968, The stratigraphic succession in Kansas: Kansas Geological Survey Bulletin, no. 189, 81 p. [Available online from the Kansas Geological Survey: http://www.kgs.ku.edu/Publications/Bulletins/189]


Summary:

(Paleozoic Era; Permian System by H.G. O'Connor, D.E. Zeller, C.K. Bayne, J.M Jewett, and Ada Swineford, p. 47.) Florena Shale Member of Beattie Limestone of Council Grove Group. A highly fossiliferous calcareous, gray to tannish-gray shale containing thin nodular limestone beds. Occurs in southeastern Kansas. From southern Wabaunsee County to northern Greenwood County, includes dolomitic shale. CHONETES GRANULIFER is abundant. In southern outcrops the variety of fossils is greater than in the north. The fauna contains numerous species of pelecypods and brachiopods, and well-preserved specimens of a small trilobite are common locally. Thickness about 3 to 18 feet. Overlies Cottonwood Limestone Member and underlies Morrill Limestone Member, also of Beattie Limestone. Age is Early Permian (Gearyan of O'Connor, 1963, AAPG Bull., v. 47, p. 1873-1877).

Source: Publication.


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Asterisk (*) indicates published by U.S. Geological Survey authors.

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