Depositional History of the Codell Sandstone (Upper Cretaceous) in Kansas

The Codell Sandstone (Upper Cretaceous) in Kansas can be subdivided into three distinct lithofacies, which are referred to as the King Hill, Waldo Hill and Antonino facies. The King HiII facies was deposited during progradation of a regressive, northwest trending barrier-island complex. The regressive complex comprises an upward-coarsening sequence that formed in the inferred beach environments of lower, middle and upper shoreface and foreshore. Trace fossils in the Codell may be referred to the Cruziana ichnofacies. The Cruziana ichnofacies is characteristic of the littoral to shallow sublittoral zone. Overlying the King Hill barrier sequence is the lagoonal Waldo Hill facies consisting of dark gray to brown, silty shales. The regressive complex is overlain by basal, transgressive sandstones of the Antonino facies. The petrology of the Codell Sandstone is a subarkosic wacke. Most of the Codell detritus was derived from cherty Paleozoic limestones, sandstones and shales that bordered the Late Cretaceous Sea to the east. Part of the Codell detritus was also derived from wind-blown, volcanic ash, probably from the Cordilleran region of the western United States.