Earth Sciences Commons^™

Groundwater-Lake Interactions, Wood Lake, Benson County, North Dakota, Lori J. Ferguson

Theses and Dissertations

Wood Lake is a kettle lake within the McHenry end moraine (late Wisconsinan) in eastern Benson County, North Dakota. It is part of the Devils Lake interior basin, near the drainage divide between the Devils Lake basin and the Big Coulee - Sheyenne River drainage. The moraine deposits, part of the Coleharbor Group, are composed of complexly interfingering lenses of gravel, sand, silt, and clay within the till.

Water levels in piezometers around Wood Lake indicate groundwater flows from the southwest into the west side of the lake and out of the lake along the east shore, toward the northeast. …

Stratigraphy Of The Inyan Kara Formation (Lower Cretaceous) In The Vicinity Of The Nesson Anticline, Northwestern North Dakota, Brad L. Wartman

Theses and Dissertations

The Lower Cretaceous Inyan Kara Formation, at the base of the Dakota Group, consists of sandstone, siltstone, shale, and coal. The stratigraphy of the Inyan Kara and facies relationships within the formation and with the underlying Swift and overlying Skull Creek Formations in the vicinity of the Nesson Anticline, northwestern North Dakota, were evaluated using 11 cross-sections, 163 borehole geophysical logs, and 1 well core.

The Inyan Kara can be differentiated on well logs into three members. The basal member, "A", consists of sandstone, siltstone, shale, and coal. It is about 200 feet (60 m) to 400 feet (122 m) …

Depositional Environments And Diagenesis, Interlake Formation (Silurian), Williston Basin, North Dakota, Charles L. Lobue

Theses and Dissertations

The Interlake Formation is a succession of Silurian carbonates of large areal extent found in the Williston Basin. The Interlake attains a maximum thickness of about 1,100 feet in western North Dakota and thins to an erosional edge in eastern North Dakota,

The main purpose of this study was to interpret the depositional and diagenetic history of the Interlake Formation. Approximately 2,400 feet of Interlake core and 300 thin sections were studied, The Interlake was then divided into twelve lithotypes representing deposition in low-energy sublittoral, high-energy sublittoral, littoral, and supralittoral epeiric sea environments. In addition, paleosols are present,

Rocks that …

Glacial Stratigraphy Of Northwestern Cass County, North Dakota, Sharon K. Falcone

Theses and Dissertations

Field mapping, construction of cross-sections, and laboratory analyses of field samples were used to map, describe, and correlate the Late Wisconsinan glacial sediments of northwestern Cass County, North Dakota and to interpret the glacial history of the area.

The surficial geology of the area was interpreted as: 1) collapsed glacial sediment, 2) glacial sediment draped over pre-existing glaciolacustrine topography, 3) proglacia1 lake sediment, 4) wave-eroded glacial and lake sediments and 5) recent river sediment. Landforms within each of these areas include eskers, abandoned or overfit river channels, transverse ridges, ice thrust masses, kettles and beach deposits.

Seven lithostratigraphic units were …

The Effect Of Oil-And-Gas Well Drilling Fluids On Shallow Groundwater In Western North Dakota, Edward C. Murphy

Theses and Dissertations

Upon completion of an oil-and-gas well in North Dakota the drilling fluid is buried in the reserve pit at the site. Reclamation of the drill site is expedited by digging a series of trenches which radiate out from the reserve pit, The majority of buried drilling fluid is ultimately contained within these 5-7 metre deep trenches. These fluids are commonly salt-based, i.e. they contain a con centration of 300,000±20,000 ppm NaCl. In addition, these drilling fluids also contain additives including toxic trace-metal compounds.

Four reclaimed oil~and-gas well sites were chosen for study in western North Dakota. The ages of these …

Quaternary Geology Of The Knife River Indian Villages National Historic Site, John Reiten

Theses and Dissertations

The archeology of the Knife River Indian Villages National Historic Site is being studied by the University of North Dakota Anthropology Department. The age of the near surface sediment and depositional history of Quaternary sediments are useful to archeologists involved in locating and interpreting the cultural resources of this area.

There are eight river terraces within a 300 square kilometre area surrounding the Knife River Indian Villages National Historic Site, near Stanton, North Dakota. , The terraces are former river floodplains that have been preserved above the present floodplain. The elevation above river level of the Pleistocene terraces are listed: …

A Survey Of 24 Elements In North Dakota Lignite (Fort Union Group, Paleocene) And Possible Geologic Implications, Susan A. Zimmer-Dauphinee

Theses and Dissertations

Calystone, carbonaceous shale, lignitic shale, and lignite samples were collected from western North Dakota for element analysis during May 1978, April 1979, and August 1979. Lignite was collected from the Sentinel Butte Formatlon--Hagel Bed (Oliver and McClean Counties), Beulah-Zap Bed (Mercer County), Lehigh Bed (Stark County)-- and from the Bullion Creek Formation--Harmon Bed (Bowman County). Claystone samples were also collected from clay partings present in the Hagel Bed and Harmon Bed. Control samples were collected from an outcrop of the marine lower middle Cannonball Formation (carbonaceous shale) south of Mandan, North Dakota and from an outcrop of the brackish oyster …

The Effect Of Waste Stabilization Pond Seepage On Groundwater Quality Of Shallow Aquifers In Eastern North Dakota, David J. Brown

Theses and Dissertations

The use of stabilization ponds to dispose of municipal wastes has become popular with many North Dakota cities. When managed properly they are an efficient and economical method of waste disposal and may not adversely affect groundwater quality. In order to achieve efficient treatment, the ponds must be built in sediment that has permeability low enough to inhibit excessive percolation of wastewater into the subsurface. Some North Dakota cities have not met this basic requirement in the construction of their ponds. As a result, insufficiently treated pond liquids are allowed to reach the water table, potentially contaminating groundwater supplies. Three …

Therometry And Barometry Of Precambrian Orthogneisses And Related Rocks From The Minnesota River Valley, Southwestern Minnesota, Paula J. Leier

Undergraduate Theses and Senior Projects

Granulite facies metamorphism is reported to have occurred in the Granite Falls-Montivideo area of the Minnesota River Valley and a broader view of the valley is taken to determine the extent of granulite facies metamorphism. Pressures and temperatures of metamorphism were determined using two geothermometers and one geobarometer. Based upon two-feldspar and garnet-biotite thermometers, temperature of metamorphism is approximated at 600 °c. Metamorphic pressures based on the reaction cordierite= garnet+ quartz + sillimanite were probably between 4 and 6 Kbars. Based on barometry and thermometry, it is suggested the Algoman o rogeny (2600 m.y. ago) was at least upper amphibolite …

Petrology And Alteration In The Core Of The Bear Lodge Tertiary Intrusive Complex, Bear Lodge Mountains, Crook County, Wyoming, Michael Wilkinson

Theses and Dissertations

The Bear Lodge complex is an elongate, dome-shape uplift about 8.5 km long by 4 km wide, 10 km northwest of Sundance, Wyoming. The study area is centered about Warren Peaks and includes approximately 23 km2. The igneous intrusive core of the complex is mostly alkali trachyte but latite is abundant in the southern portion of the complex. Phonolite, pseudoleucite trachyte porphyry, and carbonatite dikes cut across the core. Precambrian granitic rocks and lower Paleozoic sedi mentary rocks flank the intrusion and occur as xenoliths.

The latite is relatively unaltered and consists mostly of oligo clase, andesine, alkali feldspar, salite, …

Petrology, Geochemistry And Economic Geology Of Selected Gold Claims In Rocks Of The Wasekwan Lake Area, Lynn Lake District, Manitoba, Canada, Douglas Scott Kenaley

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this investigation was to map and study, both at regional and detailed scales, the units encountered within seven gold claims that were staked by Sherritt-Gordon Mines Limited of Lynn Lake, Manitoba. The claims are located in the wasekwan Lake area, approximately 12. 8 km southeast of Lynn Lake. Regional mapping was conducted at a scale of 1:12000 over a 6.4 km2 area and detailed mapping of potentially economic areas was conducted at a scale of 1:240. Whole-rock geochemistry, microprobe, optical and X-ray diffraction procedures were employed to describe and characterize the rocks. The Aphebian rock units of …

Carbonate Bodies Within The Basal Swift Formation (Jurassic) Of Northwestern North Dakota, Tina M. Langtry

Theses and Dissertations

The carbonate bodies of the basal Swift Formation (Upper Jurassic) occur as anomalous deflections on a relatively uniform mechanical well log section. The areal distribution, stratigraphic relationships, and genesis of the carbonate bodies were determined by using the gamma ray log, the spontaneous-potential log, the resistivity log suite, and megascopic and microscopic core analysis.

The carbonate bodies of the basal Swift Formation are coarsening upward sequences composed of predominantly sand-sized, recrystallized mollusk grains. These grains were transported by strong bottom cur rents across the irregular sea floor of the shallow epicontinental Jurassic sea, and were deposited under agitated water conditions …

Depositional Environment And Diagenesis, Birdbear Formation (Upper Devonian) Williston Basin, North Dakota, Peter T. Loeffler

Theses and Dissertations

The Birdbear Formation is a subsurface unit that is present throughout North Dakota except where truncated by post-depositional erosion. An angular unconformity is present between the Birdbear and younger strata in areas where the Three Forks Formation does not overlie the Birdbear. An isopach map of the Birdbear, constructed from drill-hole log data, indicates that the formation generally thickens gradually from the erosional limit to a maximum of 119 feet north of the center of the Basin. A structure map o~ the top of the Birdbear shows a basin that reaches 9000 feet below sea level.

The Birdbear is predominantly …

Glacial Geology And Stratigraphy Of Southeastern Pierce And Southwestern Benson Counties, North Dakota, Arthur W. Schnacke Jr.

Theses and Dissertations

The study area includes 220 square miles in southeastern Pierce and southwestern Benson Counties, North Dakota (T. 152 N. through T. 154 N., R. 70 W. through R. 73 W.).

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Field mapping and subsequent analyses were attempted to differentiate the drifts of the Leeds and Souris lobes, to determine the sequence and duration of events during and subsequent to glaciation, and to aid in correlating the drifts. Landforms of the area include: ice marginal ridges, ground moraine, proglacial plains, abandoned river channels, and sand dunes.

In the laboratory, very coarse sand lithology percentages, till fabric, texture, and gross lithology …

Depositional Environments And Sandstone Diagenesis In The Tyler Formation (Pennsylvanian), Southwestern North Dakota, Stephen D. Sturm

Theses and Dissertations

The Tyler Formation, of Early Pennsylvanian age, in southwestern North Dakota may be divided into upper and lower units, reflecting both a change in lithology and depositional environments. The lower unit is dominated by varicolored, noncalcareous shales and mudstones, siltstones, thin coal beds, and medium-grained sandstones. The upper unit in the areas of the Square Butte to Fryburg fields may be divided into a lower subunit, dominated by dark gray to grayish-black, argillaceous limestones and calcareous shales, and an upper subunit dominated by grayish-red, anhydritic limestones, varicolored to reddish-brown, calcareous shales, and locally, thin anhydrite. In the area of the …

Analysis Of Petroleum Source Rocks Of The Bakken Formation (Devonian And Mississippian) In North Dakota, Rick L. Webster

Theses and Dissertations

The Bakken Formation of North Dakota consists of upper and lower, black, organic-rich shales separated by a calcareous siltstone middle member. The formation is a relatively thin unit (maximum thickness of 145 feet) with the lower shale .attaining a maximum thickness of 50 feet and the upper shale a maximum thickness of 23 feet. The shales are hard, siliceous, pyritic, fissile, and noncalcareous. They contain abundant conodonts and tasmanites and have planar laminations accented by pyrite. The upper and lower shales were apparently deposited in an offshore, marine, anoxic environment where anoxic conditions may have been caused by silling of …

Paleocene Coal-Bearing Sediments Of The Williston Basin, North Dakota : An Interaction Between Fluvial Systems And An Intracratonic Basin, Laramie M. Winczewski

Theses and Dissertations

Outcrop and test hole data for 225 sites in a 33,700-km² area of southwestern North Dakota were examined. Seven sedimentation intervals were identified for the Paleocene Bullion Creek and Sentinel Butte Formations. The intervals extend from the top of the Harmon coal (lower Bullion Creek) to the top of the Twin Buttes coal (upper Sentinel Butte). Each interval consists of medium and fine elastics underlying a persistent lignite coal, or some other lithology at the stratigraphic position of the coal. Clastics are finer-grained upwards within intervals and within both formations to the upper Sentinel Butte.

Sand-rich zones align northwest-southeast, …

Depositional Environments And Diagenesis Of The Ratcliffe Interval, Madison Group (Mississippian), Williston Basin, North Dakota, Diane M. Catt

Theses and Dissertations

The Ratcliffe interval in North Dakota is a log marker-defined unit in the Williston Basin. It is Mississippian in age and crosscuts the lower Charles and upper Mission Canyon Formations of the Madison Group. Study of cross-sections, well core, and thinsections show that the Ratcliffe is comprised of six major facies: 1) brachiopod-bryozoan-echinoderm wackestone/packstone, 2) peloid packstone/wackestone, 3) oolite-peloid packstone, 4) laminated mudstone, 5) quartz siltstone packstone, and 6) anhydrite-dolomite mudstone. These facies were deposited in a regressive setting.

The initial deposition consisted mainly of marine limestones. The environment gradually became more restricted and deposition of large amounts of anhydrite …

Stratigraphy And Depositional Environments Of The Wilcox Group (Paleocene) At The Oxbow Mine Site, Northwestern Louisiana, Richard E. Halle

Theses and Dissertations

The stratigraphy, structure, and depositional environments of the Naborton, Do let Hills, and part of the Cow Bayou Formations (Wilcox Group, Paleocene) at the Oxbow Mine site, Red River, De Soto, and Natchitoches Parishes,. Louisiana, were evaluated from a study of four continuous cores and 466 geophysical logs.

Overlying 40 feet {12 m) of silty Porters Creek shale is the Naborton Formation composed of 130-195 feet (40-59 m) of sand, silt, clay, and lignite. There are three lignites in this formation and their average total thickness is 13.5 feet (4. l m), or about 10% of the formation thickness. The …

The Geology And Environment Of Deposition Of The Kinneman Creek Interval, Sentinel Butte Formation (Paleocene), North Dakota, Katherine J. Logan

Theses and Dissertations

To date, most environmental reconstructions of lignite bearing formations in western North Dakota have been done on a formational scale. The objective of this study was to investigate one of the non-lignite intervals, the Kinneman Creek Interval, directly above the strati graphically lowest lignite in the Paleocene Sentinel Butte Formation. The Kinneman Creek Interval has been recognized in the Sentinel Butte Formation throughout most of western North Dakota.

The field area is located in west-central North Dakota in Mercer, Oliver, and McLean Counties and is bisected by the Missouri River. Excellent exposures are provided in the highwalls of Baukol-Noonan, North …

Stratigraphy And Sedimentology Of The Sentinel Butte Formation (Paleocene) Near Lost Bridge, Dunn County, West-Central North Dakota, Bradley D. Nesemeier

Theses and Dissertations

The Sentinel Butte Formation (Paleocene) near Lost Bridge, Dunn County, west-central North Dakota, is 190 meters thick, and is charac terized by four main lithologies: sand, silt, clay, and lignite. The study interval is ISO meters thick, and lies between the basal sand of the formation and the Bullion Butte lignite bed, neither of which are exposed in the immediate study area. Sand, gray to yellow, makes up about 3S% of the interval studied. It occurs in tabular beds 2-18 meters thick. It is fine to very-fine, angular, and composed largely of quartz, feldspar, rock fragments, with minor amounts of …

Petrology Of The Cenozoic Phonolites And Related Rocks Of The Houston Creek Area, Bear Lodge Mountains, Wyoming, Frederick S. O’Toole

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to map and study the characteristics and origin of the Cenozoic phonolites and related rocks of the Houston Creek area, located on the southwestern flank of the Bear Lodge Mountains, 10 km northwest of Sundance, Wyoming. Mapping was conducted on a 2 1:10,000 scale over a 16 km area. Microprobe, optical, and x-ray diffraction procedures were employed to observe and describe petrographic and chemical characteristics of the rocks.

The Cenozoic igneous rocks of the Houston Creek area are classified as phonolite, phonolite porphyry, trachyte porphyry, sodalite-bearing phonolite and altered felsite. These hypabyssal rock types …

Geology And Petrology Of The Devils Tower, Missouri Buttes, And Barlow Canyon Area, Crook County, Wyoming, Don L. Halvorson

Theses and Dissertations

Field and laboratory investigations were employed to detmine the mode of emplacement and a petrogenetic model for three igneous localities in Crook County, Wyoming: the Devils Tower, the Missouri Buttes, and the Barlow Canyon area.

X-ray fluorescence, microprobe data, and optimal analyses iden tify the Missouri Buttes rock as foid-bearing alkali trachyte and anal cime phonolite and the Devils Tower and Barlow Canyon rocks as analcime phonolite.

Associated alloclastic breccia with a crystal-charged volcanic glass matrix, surrounding depressions representing collapse of igneous material back into the vent, striking similarity to known volcante necks, and the occurrence of other extrusive volcan1S11\ …

Kaolinitic Weathering Zone On Precambrian Basement Rocks, Red River Valley, Eastern North Dakota And Northwestern Minnesota, Lynne Irvine Kelley

Theses and Dissertations

A suite of 26 drill cores recovered from the Red River Valley Drilling Project has provided new information on the Precambrian basement of eastern North Dakota and northwestern Minnesota. Basement rocks in this area consist of intermediate to felsic coarse-grained massive or gneissic rocks, and intermediate to mafic metavolcanic and metasedimentary schists. The Precambrian rocks of the region are interpreted to be a buried extension of the Superior Province of the Canadian Shield, and are divided into terranes of granitic rock and mafic schist, on the basis of drill-hole samples, patterns seen in Superior Province rocks which crop out to …

Distribution And Origin Of Elongate Sandstone Concretions, Bullion Creek And Slope Formations (Paleocene), Adams County, North Dakota, Michael W. Parsons

Theses and Dissertations

Rectilinear patterns in sandstone are visible on aerial photo graphs of Adams County, North Dakota. These patterns result from the differential erosion of elongate, calcareous, sandstone concretions that have formed in fluvial channel sand units.

The distribution and orientation of the elongate concretions were mapped from aerial photographs. The concretions have a strongly east-west orientation. Averages of paleocurrent measurements of the associated sand and sandstone are also easterly.

The elongate concretions occur slightly above and below the Rhame bed (a white marker zone at the top of the Slope Formation), in sand units at the base of the Bullion Creek …

Authigenic Kaolinite In The Bear Den Member (Paleocene) Of The Golden Valley Formation, In Southwestern North Dakota, Gordon H. Prichard

Theses and Dissertations

The Golden Valley Formation of North Dakota crops out in isolated remnants over a large area of southwestern North Dakota. The formation has two members, the lower Bear Den Member, which is characterized by kaolin and bright colors and the upper Camels Butte Member, which is characterized by micaceous sand and clay.

Two different theories, either in place weathering or detrital deposition, have developed as to the origin of the kaolinite in the lower member. Early workers suggest that the kaolinite of the member is detrital in origin for the following reasons:

1. No unconformity is present at the top …

Postglacial Ostracod Distribution And Paleoecology, Devils Lake Basin, Northeastern North Dakota, James B. Van Alstine

Theses and Dissertations

Sediment cores were taken from Main Bay and Creel Bay of Devils Lake (in 1975 and 1976) and East Devils Lake (in 1978), within the Devils Lake basin, and from Red Willow Lake (in 1979), a control lake outside of the Devils Lake basin, northeastern North Dakota. The cores were sampled, for the recovery of the ostracods, at 10-cm intervals. Fifteen species of ostracods were present in the studied cores: 8 candonids, 1 cyclocyprid, 3 cyprids, and 3 limnocytherids. Two distinct faunas are recognized. The Devils Lake-East Devils Lake fauna consists of Candona lactea, C. rawsoni, Cyprinotus glaucus, Potamocypris smaragdina, …

Petrology Of The Cenozoic Igneous Rocks Of The Lytle Creek Area, Bear Lodge Mountains, Wyoming, Stanely F. White

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to map and study the petrology of the Cenozoic igneous rocks that crop out in the Lytle Creek area located in the southwestern Bear Lodge Mountains of northeastern Wyoming. Petro graphic and chemical data is used to interpret the Cenozoic phonolite trachyte rock association.

Cenozoic igneous activity in the Lytle Creek area appears to have been a response to the Laramide orogeny 80-40 m.y. B.P. The majority of the rocks were emplaced as laccoliths and sills at the Pahasapa Formation-Minnelusa Formation contact or at the Spearfish Formation Sundance Formation contact. Porphyritic volcanic textures are …

Molluscan Paleontology Of The Pliocene Peace Valley "Beds" And Ridge Route "Formation" (Ridge Basin Group), Ridge Basin, Southern California, Daniel R. Young

Theses and Dissertations

The Ridge Basin, 90 km northwest of Los Angeles, California, lies within the San Gabriel, San Andreas, Liebre, and Clearwater fault zones. The basin is an elongated, wedge-shaped, intermontane, Miocene-Pliocene basin filled with about 12 000 m of marine, lacustrine, fluvial, and alluvial sediment. More than half of the thickness of the Ridge Route "formation" and about one fifth of the Peace Valley "beds" was examined for molluscs along the northeastern side of the basin and more than 600 m of section were measured.

The nonmarine molluscs of the Ridge Route "formation" and Peace Valley "beds" consist of ten species: …

Periglacial Landforms And Processes In The Southern Kenai Mountains, Alaska, Palmer K. Bailey

Theses and Dissertations

The distribution and characteristics of periglacial landforms in the southern Kenai Mountains, Alaska, were investigated during the summer of 1979. The principal area of study was a 1300-metre high mountain mass which stood as a nunatak during the last general glaciation. Periglacial features in the area include gelifluction lobes, nivation hollows, cryoplanation terraces, tors, a string bog, and various for111S of patterned ground such as sorted circles, sorted polygons, earth hummocks, sorted steps, sorted stripes, and small ice-wedge polygons.

Ground temperature measurements indicate that permafrost recently existed in the area but is no longer present. The sorted polygons, cryoplsnation terraces, …