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Estimates Of Maximum Past Overburden For The Pierre Shale, Hayes Area, South Dakota, Thomas L. Rice

Science and Mathematics Faculty Publications

The Pierre Shale of the Northern Great Plains area of the United State is an Upper Cretaceous shale which was deposited in a marine environment. Geotechnically, the shale has been classified as an overconsolidated clay-shale. In South Dakota the Pierre Shale crops out extensively in the central and western portions of the state.

In this study an investigation was conducted for the purpose of clarifying and examining the existence of a discrepancy between geotechnically and geologically derived estimates of maximum past overburden for the Pierre Shale at Hayes, South Dakota.

The geological determination involved examining the topographic high points of …