A nearly complete skeleton of an elasmosaurid plesiosaur (NJSM 15435) from the Sharon Springs Member (Middle Campanian) of the Pierre Shale, Logan County, Kansas, is associated intimately with fragmentary fish remains and numerous gastroliths. The fish bones and gastroliths were located just behind the pectoral girdle in the abdominal region. Identifiable prey includes Enchodus and other small clupeomorph fishes. An isolated tooth of the anacoracid shark Squalicorax cf. S. pristodontus also was recovered in this area. Ninety-five gastroliths (6.8 kg) were present, with the largest stone measuring 15.1 × 8.5 × 5.7 cm (5.0 × 3.3 × 2.2 in.) and weighing 1.06 kg (2.3 lb.). Many of the gastroliths are composed of pink or gray Sioux Quartzite, which suggests that the source of these stones was about 600 km (475 mi) to the northeast of where the elasmosaur remains were discovered. The association of fragmentary fish remains and gastroliths within the abdomen of NJSM 15435 supports the contention that the stones aided in the breakdown of food in plesiosaurs.

A recent herbarium study of the genus Aristida (Poaceae) revealed that 11 species and four varieties are represented in Kansas. Specimen evidence is presented for two species, A. desmantha Trin. & Rupr. and A. ramosissima Engelm ex A. Gray, reported by earlier Kansas botanists but subsequently excluded from the flora because no vouchers could be located. Keys, habitat and state rarity information, and distribution maps are presented for all Kansas taxa.

Understanding the causes of mortality associated with stocking walleye (Stizostedion vitreum) fry is important for the evaluation and improvement of stocking techniques. Walleye fry (2–3 d old) were exposed to three light intensities (high, 2015.0–2042.0 µmol/m²/s; intermediate, 142.0–186.8 µmol/m²/s; control, 0.0–0.07 µmol/m²/s) for two durations (15 min and 30 min) and mortality was assessed at 15 min, 60 min, and 120 min post-shock. Survival of walleyes from the high intensity, 30-min duration treatment also was examined at 720 min post-shock. Survival ranged from 99.8% to 100% and was not affected significantly by light intensity or exposure time (P = 0.22). Results of this study suggest that light shock is not an important mechanism influencing the short-term survival of walleye fry.

Most unionid mussel surveys in the Neosho River watershed have been conducted in the river and not its tributaries. In the spring and fall of 1996, unionid mussels were surveyed in six tributaries of the lower Neosho River in southeastern Kansas. The streams were: Canville, Hickory, Flatrock, Cherry, Lightning, and Labette creeks. A 100-m baseline was established along the stream bank with 11 perpendicular transacts at 10-m intervals. Live mussels were collected from consecutive square meter quadrats along each transect. Fifteen species were present from 28 of the 40 sites that had live mussels. Pyganodon grandis (giant floater) was the most abundant species, comprising 33% of the total collection, occurring in all six streams and at half the sites. Lasmigona complanata (white heelsplitter) and Ligumia subrostrata (common pond mussel) were second most abundant, each comprising 11.4% of the collection. Lampsilis teres (yellow sandshell) is a species in need of conservation (SINC) in Kansas, occurs at eight sites in five streams and comprised 7.4% of the collection. Cherry Creek had the highest density of mussels (0.185/m²) and P. grandis had the highest density of all species (0.073/m²). Cherry and Labette creeks had the greatest number of species (12 and nine, respectively), whereas Hickory Creek had the fewest (three species). General observations at the streams are consistent with a role for both habitat and water quality in controlling the distribution and abundance of mussels in these tributaries.

Deviations from the normal scute formulae of turtles are thought to result from embryonic mutations, the specific causes of which are unknown. We examined the shells of 127 ornate box turtles (Terrapene ornata) from central and eastern Kansas; 14 (11%) of which had scute anomalies. The frequency of anomalies was greater in central than eastern Kansas. The greater number of scute anomalies in central Kansas may be the result of temperature or moisture stress during egg development or incubation, or the mutagenic effects of excess salinity during those periods.

Blood viscosity and blood parameters were studied in striped bass, Morone saxatilis (Walbaum) under various fish hatchery conditions. Twenty-seven adult striped bass weighing between 1040 g and 1800 g were divided into four groups: (1) healthy fish; (2) short-term hypoxia, fish exposed to oxygen concentrations of 4 mg/L for four hours; (3) simulated transport, exposed to crowding with oxygen concentrations of approximately 8.4 mg/L; and (4) diseased fish, infected with henneguya causing inflammation of the gill surface leading to hypoxemia in these animals. Plasma and apparent (whole) blood viscosity measurements were made using a Wells-Brookfield cone/plate viscometer at ten different shear rates. At packed cell volumes (PCV) of 30% and 40% and at high shear rates (75 s⁻¹ and 150 s⁻¹) the hypoxic group had a significantly higher apparent blood viscosity when compared to healthy fish, likely the result of a significant increase in the total plasma protein concentration in this group. The diseased group had a significantly higher PCV than all other groups resulting in a significant increase in blood viscosity. No significant difference was observed among the four groups in mean cell volume, mean cell hemoglobin, and mean cell hemoglobin concentration. The increase blood viscosity noted in the hypoxic and diseased groups could lead to a decreased blood flow and oxygen delivery to the tissues.

Black walnut and Scotch pine seedlings were planted alternately on a cultivated site and weeds were controlled with one of two thicknesses of a polypropylene fabric weed barrier or herbicide. In the third year, walnut trees were about 60% taller and had 15% greater survival when grown with the woven plastic fabrics. Pine showed no difference in height between treatments, but survival was about 25% less with herbicides. Both barriers seem to be practical for use in tree establishment under environmental conditions of the Great Plains.

Harold Jones' 4-H Geology Project was unique in the history of geologic education in Kansas. Not only did this grass-roots program introduce the young participants, their leaders, and their parents to the basic principles and materials of geology, the program also provided an appreciation of the state's natural resources and the fragility of its natural environment.

Jones undertook the revitalization of the Geology Project in the 4-H program in Kansas in 1968. In short order, he established a three-tier activity program for participants and prepared materials, both written and display, for instruction both of 4-H members and their adult leaders. Between 1968 and his retirement from Kansas State University in 1977, the 4-H Geology Project in Kansas introduced hundreds of young Kansans, their 4-H sponsors and leaders, and their parents to the basic concepts and materials of geology. Although difficult to measure, the insights provided undoubtedly have had a positive influence as the young people have matured and, as citizens of the State of Kansas, have faced such issues as water quality, waste disposal, pollution and contamination, soil erosion, and other environmental and energy problems of a technologically advanced society.

Effects of cattle exclusion on the structure and composition of riparian vegetation were observed in a 2-yr study in southeastern Kansas. The study was conducted within riparian habitats on the 5,263-ha Kansas Army Ammunition Plant in north-central Labette County, Kansas. Three grazed and three ungrazed riparian areas were sampled in 1996 and 1997 to monitor vegetation changes in response to livestock exclusion. Total understory, grass, and litter cover were significantly different between the grazed and ungrazed study sites with mean cover estimates being higher (16.3%, 14%, and 12.1% greater respectively) in the ungrazed sites. A significant difference in the percentage of bare ground was observed between the grazed (24.6%) and ungrazed (12.5%) study sites. No difference in herbaceous vegetation height was detected between study sites in 1996. In 1997, mean herbaceous vegetation height differed significantly from 1996 (study sites combined) and was greater (95.6 cm vs. 65.6 cm) in the ungrazed study sites. Excluding cattle from closed canopy riparian woodlands in southeastern Kansas resulted in a positive short-term response of understory herbaceous vegetation. Our results suggest that riparian fencing may be an effective management tool for restoring understory vegetation in riparian communities grazed by cattle in the eastern Great Plains.

A total of 13 kimberlites have been located in a two-county area in northeastern Kansas along the NNE-trending trace of the Proterozoic Midcontinent Rift System, an aborted rift extending from the Lake Superior region southwestward into Oklahoma.

The Kansas Geological Survey drilled three new kimberlites in 1999. They are the Baldwin Creek and Tuttle kimberlites located in Riley County and the Antioch kimberlite in Marshall County. They were discovered as part of a systematic ground follow-up of private aeromagnetic data (200–400-m-line spacing) collected by Cominco American Inc. in the early 1980's and donated to the Kansas Geological Survey in 1999. Six exposed kimberlites were discovered prior to 1970 and another four in the early 1980's, one of which is exposed at the surface.

Cross-cutting major tectonic elements in NE Kansas are ideal for accommodating the intrusion of kimberlites. The major structural elements are regional NNE-trending, high-angle normal and reverse faults associated with the 1.10 Ga Midcontinent Rift System, and regional, older, high-angle normal and reverse, NW-SE striking, cross-cutting faults which offset portions of the rift. The presence of the rift is identified in regional gravity and magnetic data sets and evidenced in core and cuttings recovered from drill holes that penetrate Precambrian basement. Sedimentary rocks up to about 800 m (3,040 ft) thick and ranging in age from Ordovician to Permian overlie the Proterozoic basement.

Ground magnetic surveys were conducted to model the kimberlites and to define targets for drilling and core recovery. These detailed ground magnetic data show that final emplacement of the kimberlite bodies is controlled by N40°W-striking structures, rather than the NNE-trending structures. Modeling of the magnetic anomalies shows that the contacts between the kimberlite bodies and the country rock are steeply dipping.

The kimberlites are believed to be Late Cretaceous in age (about 90 my) and range in character from crater and diatreme facies in Riley County to possible hypabyssal facies in Marshall County. The three new kimberlites are buried under a shallow soil cover ranging in thickness up to 8 m (26 ft).