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User:IveGoneAway/sandbox/Fort Hays Limestone Member

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Fort Hays Limestone For a time it was referred to as Hays Limestone It is recognizsed for formation of high bluffs and escarpments around the bounds of the High Plains of the United States. It has been a major source of limestone used in the manufacture of cement in the mid-continent. In the Front Range, it forms a secondary Hogback or flat irons on the East face of the Dakota Hogback . Historically, it has been suitable as a building stone in the dryer climate where it happens to outcrop; however, even in the dryer High Plains it is known to deteriorate when when used in foundations in contact with the ground .

?? miles of the Ft Hays hogback north of Long???? was remove through cement manufact and? mining of the underlying coal.

This limestone was widely used for manufacture of portland cement. Historic abandoned cement works include

Inoceramus deformis is an index fossil for the ... it is abundant in Fort Hays Limestone and its presence readily confirms the use of that stone in a building.


Stratigraphy and Depositional Environment of Smoky Hill Chalk Member, Niobrara Chalk (Upper Cretaceous) of the Type Area, Western Kansas

by Donald E. Hattin

Department of Geology, Indiana University

Originally published in 1982 as Kansas Geological Survey Bulletin 225.

History of Stratigraphic Nomenclature

Principal macroinvertebrate species of the Fort Hays Member are large, bowl-shaped inoceramids, which are invariably encrusted, at least in part, by crowded specimens of Pseudoperna congesta. The oysterPycnodonte aucella (Roemer) occurs in the lower 8.6 m (28 ft) of the Hackberry Creek section (Loc. 1). Inoceramus deformis Meek ranges approximately from 1.1 m to 8.6 m (3.6-28 ft) above the base of the Fort Hays. Inoceramus (Cremnoceramus) inconstans Woods? ranges approximately from 7.9 to 14.9 m (25.9-48.8 ft) above the base at Locality 1. In the same section Inoceramus (Cremnoceramus) browni Cragin occurs in the interval 9.6 to 14.9 m (31.5-48.8 ft) above the base of the Fort Hays. In the interval from the uppermost occurrence of I. (Cremnoceramus) browni to the uppermost bed of the Fort Hays, fragmentary remains of bowl-shaped inoceramids are relatively sparse, and positive identification of the species represented has not been accomplished. The uppermost bed of the Fort Hays contains well-preserved articulated specimens referred tentatively to Inoceramus (Volviceramus) koeneni Miiller.

Gallery of Natural Monumemnts

Excellent roadside veiwing of the Ft. Hays Limestone is found on the Highway 183 approches to the Saline River. A number of historical buildings in Hays are constructed of Ft. Hays Limestone. The use of this limestone is indicated by a lighter and even shade than the common Fencepost Limestone buildings, blocks larger than 10 inches, and visible fragments of

The FHL can be recognized by its white to yellow color, use of larger blocks, and the presence of the thick-shelled bowl shaped I. deformis Didinct from the other common Kansas limestone used in construction: The Fencepost limestone tends to have the orange or rest tint and one or two stripes and shows abundant I. labadies. Common large-block limestones that are now commonly use instead of the poorer FHL include Silverdale and Cottonwood Limestone -- these are not native to the Smoky Hills, are white to buff or very light grey, and show late-Permian fusilinids and brachiopods.

The Fort Hays Limestone member of the Niobrara Chalk also has been quarried for structural stone, although it is not as weatherresistant as the "Fencepost" Limestone bed. Stone from the Fort Hays has also been crushed for road material, has been used in the manufacture of putty and Portland cement, a 


U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY MINERALS YEARBOOK—2003 https://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/state/2003/costmyb03.pdf

Source: Colorado Geological Survey/U.S. Geological Survey (2003) 

​THE MINERAL INDUSTRY OF COLORADO This chapter has been prepared under a Memorandum of Understanding between the U.S. Geological Survey and the Colorado Geological Survey for collecting information on all nonfuel minerals.

Cement.—The Portland Plant near Florence is operated by Holcim (US), Inc. Cement is produced using the dry method in its processing plant, which has a capacity of 1.7 million metric tons per year. In 2003, the plant produced slightly more than 1.1 Mt of cement, employed about 180 people, and has not lost production time to accidents in 500 days. The majority of its product is used in the metropolitan Denver area and throughout Colorado; some cement is also distributed to western Kansas and Nebraska. Limestone from the Fort Hays Member of the Niobrara Formation of Upper Cretaceous age is mined by Holcim as the principal raw ingredient for its cement. The Codell Sandstone, also of Cretaceous age, is mined for use as a silica additive. Portland and masonry cement are produced at the CEMEX mine and processing plant near Lyons in Boulder County. The plant uses the dry-processing method and employs about 100 people. Cement production in 2003 was 467,000 t, most of which was used in the greater metropolitan Denver area. Cement ingredients (limestone and shale) are mined locally from the Niobrara Formation and the overlying Pierre Shale ​​

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