Because the usefulness of conodonts as guide fossils has been demonstrated in the type Mississippian section, a pilot study was established by the State Geological Survey of Kansas to determine if rock cores, previously correlated primarily on the basis of lithologic features and assigned to the Meramecian Stage in western Kansas, contained sufficient conodonts to make age determinations possible.

Conodonts of the Meramecian Stage of the Mississippian System (7 species, 6 genera) were collected from the Warsaw, Salem, St. Louis, and Ste. Genevieve Limestones from the subsurface of western Kansas. Specimens studied and collected from 455 samples taken from 376 feet of limestone cores were recovered from 6 wells in Haskell, Scott, Logan, Gove, Lane, and Ness Counties, Kansas. Comparison of the Meramecian strata in western Kansas with the standard section through the use of conodonts as a tool of correlation seems to be feasible and seems to substantiate previously established lithologic correlations. Four conodont species recovered in this pilot study shows sufficient restrictions to have probable stratigraphic significance to the Meramecian.

THOMAS L. THOMPSON

Thomas L. Thompson completed the Bachelor of Science and Masters of Science degrees at the University of Kansas in 1960 and 1962, respectively. While a graduate student at the University of Kansas, he was employed part-time in the Oil and Gas Division of the Kansas Geological Survey. Presently, he is a candidate for the PhD and an assistant in the Department of Geology at The State University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa.

EDWIN D. GOEBEL

Edwin D. Goebel graduated from Augustana College in 1949 with an A.B. in Geology. He completed a Masters of Science degree in 1951 from The State University of Iowa, and has been employed at the State Geological Survey of Kansas as Head of the Oil and Gas Division since 1951. He is presently a candidate for the PhD degree in Geology at The University of Kansas.

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