Test-Hole Exploration for Light-Firing Clay in Cloud and Ellsworth Counties, Kansas

Abstract

In two areas in Kansas (Ellsworth County, sec. 25, T. 15 S., R. 7 W., and Cloud County, sec. 12, T. 8 S., R. 2 W.) the Dakota Formation was systematically drilled to determine the availability of light-color-burning clay. Beds of light-burning clay lack continuity in Cloud County in the upper part of the Dakota; however, in the Ellsworth County area the lower part of the formation contains well-defined, continuous layers of light-burning clay. The lack of continuity of one and the well-defined continuity of the other is not confined to the test localities but extends over areas of several square miles. These conditions are not typical of clays in these two stratigraphic positions, but they illustrate the extreme variations in extent and continuity of beds that can be expected in the commercial exploitation of clays in either the upper or lower beds of the formation. Both test areas have clay deposits suitable for structural clay products.