Cherokee rocks in an area of approximately 14,000 sq mi of north-central Oklahoma were investigated utilizing 1,850 mechanical logs and 110 sample logs. Correlations were established from stratigraphic profiles, constructed so as to form a control network throughout the area.

The Cherokee "genetic sequence" of strata can be defined at its base by a regional unconformity and at its top by the base of the Oswego or Fort Scott Limestone. The Oswego disappears southward into the Calvin Formation and the top of this latter unit (although slightly higher in the section) was used for the top of the sequence in the southeastern part of the area. Based on marker beds the sequence was subdivided into 6 "genetic increments" of strata--Gilcrease, Booch, Bartlesville, Red Fork, Skinner, and Prue-Calvin. These were named, in ascending order, for a prominent sandstone body therein. Isopach maps were constructed for each increment. These showed a general thickening toward the Cherokee, Arkoma, and Anadarko basins, and also indicated that an old drainage system was develop d on the underlying eroded surface which flowed into these basins. Isolith maps were constructed for the sandstone bodies within each increment. These showed a general elongated and branching pattern that trends into the Arkoma basin.

It is concluded that the Cherokee sequence was an onlapping, cyclical unit that was deposited on an eroded, stream-dissected surface formed on southeasterly and southwesterly tilted older rocks, and that the sandstone bodies constituted a part of a sediment dispersal system that contributed to the alluviation of parts of the Cherokee, Arkoma, and Anadarko basins.

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