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The Geomorphology and Geologic History of Cheyenne Bottoms
Central Kansas
by Shawn Salley
Introduction
The large topographic basin located in Barton County is a vast change from the
surrounding topography. Cheyenne Bottoms is a large structurally controlled,
internally drained wetland (Latta, 1950; Bayne, 1977). The surface drainage of
the Bottoms is internally drained with attempts of recent management practices
to channalize the sheetflow drainage pattern. Two creeks, Blood Creek and Deception
Creek, enter the basin and provide the natural surface flow to the bottoms. These
creeks have characteristics of inland deltas and have many abandoned channels
that show their past drainage. Two management areas exist in the Bottoms, the
Cheyenne Bottoms Wildlife Area (CBWA) managed by the state, and the Nature Conservancy.
The CBWA has taken an active management practice which moves water between pools
between dikes and canals built in the 1950's. The Nature Conservancy uses a
passive management practice trying to rely on the natural drainage of the basin
and has taken action to revert back to the pre-developed drainage. This
report will focus on reconstructing drainage of the upper portions of the
Cheyenne Bottoms Basin and presenting a geologic interpretation
Study Area
The Cheyenne Bottoms is a shallow marsh located in northern Barton County of central Kansas. It is a basin
surrounded by steep valley walls of Cretaceous bedrock which overlies Permian
salt evaporate beds. The basin lies at the margin between the Smokey Hill's
River and the Arkansas River. Evidence of Pleistocene alluvium between the two
drainage divides links the two drainage basins and is key to understanding the
history of the basin. The basin itself is approximately 10 kilometers (6 miles)
in width and 8 miles (8miles) wide and encompasses an area of approximately 170
square km. The flats of the Bottoms has little relief but shows
distinct evidence of geomorphic zones.
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Surficial
Geology of Cheyenne Bottoms of northern Barton County, Kansas
(modified from Fent, 1950) |
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