Items related to History of Decatur County, Iowa, and Its People (Volume...
Synopsis
This historic book may have numerous typos, missing text or index. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. 1915. Not illustrated. Excerpt: ... CHAPTER XX GEOLOGY OF DECATUR COUNTY The following detailed description of the geology of Decatur County is taken from the Iowa Geological Survey, Vol. VIII, annual report 1897, pages 255 to 314. The survey was made by H. F. Bain. INTRODUCTION Decatur County lies in the southern tier of counties, almost midway between the Mississippi and Missouri rivers. Ringgold bounds it on the west, Clarke on the north, Wayne on the east, and Harrison and Mercer counties, of Missouri, on the south. In area it includes 528 square miles, with some fractional pieces of land, the total being 343,910 acres. The townships run from 67 to 70 north, the southern tier being fractional, and the ranges from 24 to 27 west. The county is, as usual, divided into sixteen civil townships. To the geologist Decatur County is of especial interest, because of the fact that running through it is the heavy limestone which forms the base of the Missourian series and which derives its interest to the economist from the fact that it divides the productive from the unproductive coal measures. This limestone, or assemblage of separate limestones, is known as the Bethany or Bethany Falls limestone, a name first used by Broadhead. In Iowa the exposures have been mainly studied are in the vicinity of Winterset, and to the strata at that point White gave the name of Winterset limestone. The beds outcropping at Bethany, Mo., and Winterset, Ia., have for some time been believed to be identical, and the actual continuity of the two has, in fact, been recently proven. Between the two points mentioned, however, no detailed sections have been published, and it was mainly to supply this lack that the study of Decatur County was taken up at this time. Previous to the present survey White seems to have been the only...
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