Earth Sciences Commons^™

Stratigraphy, Sedimentology, And Depositional Environments Of The Hell Creek Formation (Late Cretaceous) And Adjacent Strata, Glendive Area, Montana, Raymond D. Butler

Theses and Dissertations

The Colgate Member (Fox Hills Formation), Little Beaver Creek, Marmarth, Bacon Creek, Huff, and Pretty Butte Members (Hell Creek Formation), and lower Ludlow Formation in the Glendive area, Montana consist of sandstone, sandy siltstone, shale, and lignite. The Colgate is 24 m thick and consists of mostly sandstone, The Hell Creek Formation (Late Cretaceous) is 120 m thick, The basal member, the Little Beaver Creek, is up to 12 m thick and consists of about half sandstone and half shale. The Marmarth is 24 to 30 m thick and consists of mostly sandstone. The Bacon Creek is 36 m thick …

Surface Geology For Land Use Planning, Minot, North Dakota Area, Garth S. Anderson

Theses and Dissertations

The Minot area includes about 330 square kilometres along both sides of the Souris River in north-central North Dakota. The area can be divided into the flat Souris River floodplain, the steeply sloping sides of the Souris and Des Lacs meltwater channels and larger tributaries, and the gently undulating uplands dissected by small streams. Surficial geologic units include Early Tertiary sand, silt, clay, and sandstone of the Bullion Creek Formation, Pleistocene glacial till, ice contact fluvial deposits, and other fluvial deposits of the Coleharbor Group, and Holocene fluvial and eolian deposits of the Oahe Formation.

Expansion of the Minot metropolitan …

Paleoenvironmental Analysis Of A Late Holocene Deposit : Stanton Site, West-Central North Dakota, David W. Fischer

Theses and Dissertations

The Stanton Site (W1/2NE1/4 sec. 16, T. 144 N., R. 85W.), eastern Mercer County, North Dakota, contains a late Holocene organic deposit in the cutbank of an ephemeral stream on the Missouri Plateau. Strati graphic units of the 104-cm section are, in ascending order: (l) gravel; (2) silty, organic, sandy clay; (3) organic silt; (4) silty, sandy, organic clay; (5) organic silt; (6) sandy, silt, organic clay; and (7) sand. A radiocarbon date of wood from the base of unit 2 indicates initiation of deposition at 325±_115 radiocarbon years B.P.

Abundant well-preserved fossils are present in the organic sediments of …

Applied Geology In The Beulah-Hazen Area, Mercer County, West-Central North Dakota, Gary N. Meyer

Theses and Dissertations

Increased lignite development around the small towns of Beulah and Hazen, North Dakota, will cause rapid growth and necessitate the develop ment of new subdivisions and expansion of present sewage disposal facili ties. A detailed geologic study of a 9 0-square mile area surrounding the two towns was undertaken to provide information valuable to those concerned with proper management of this growth. A surface and near-surface materials map was prepared at a scale of 1:24, 000 showing relative depths and thicknesses of a maximum of three earth materials to a depth of 9 m. Eleven units were mapped at the …

Depositional Environments And Diagenesis Of The Mississippian Bottineau Interval (Lodgepole) In North Dakota, Thomas J. Heck

Theses and Dissertations

Bottineau interval rocks from the North Dakota part of the Williston Basin comprise a single marine transgression/regression cycle, Early Mississippian (lower Scallion subinterval) marine transgression from the restricted depositional environment of the Bakken Formation resulted in normal marine circulation, Six major facies were developed: (1) the central basin, (2) basin flank, (3) open shelf, (4) crinoidal mudstone, (5) gray shale, and (6) restricted shelf. Marine transgression continued until upper Scallion subinter val time, by which time the open shelf facies had already prograded over the gray shale and crinoidal mudstone facies.

Marine regression had begun by middle Bottineau interval (Virden …

Petroleum Potential Of The Tilston Interval (Mississippian) Of Central North Dakota, John P. Himebaugh

Theses and Dissertations

The Tilston interval sediments were deposited on the eastern flank of the Williston basin of North Dakota, Manitoba and Saskatchewan. The interval (Osagian) is composed of a basal carbonate and upper anhy drite in the predominantly carbonate Mississippian Madison Formation. The interval consists of four major facies (subtidal, shoal, tidal flat and supratidal anhydrite), and two geographically restricted facies (lagoonal and elastic) and represents a regressive sequence.

Tilston deposition began with the subtidal facies, deposited on a broad, shallow shelf. As the sea regressed this was followed by deposition of the shoal facies. Further regression resulted in the deposition of …

Paleoecology Of Late Quaternary Molluscan-Ostracod Assemblages From The Norwood Site, Southeastern Minnesota, Kevin L. Malmquist

Theses and Dissertations

Well-preserved fossils, including mollusks, ostracods, beetles and plant remains were extracted from sediments at the Norwood Site in southeastern Minnesota during July, 1977. Stratigraphic units, in ascending order, were: (1) sandy claystone, (2) clayey siltstone, (3) sandy siltstone, and (4) laminated peat. Unit 1 was interpreted to be till or sediment that slumped or flowed into the lake. Unit 2 and the lower part of unit 3 were interpreted to be lacustrine sediments. The upper part of unit 3 was interpreted to be a shoreline deposit. Unit 4 was interpreted to be a terrestrial or marginal lacustrine deposit. Total thickness …

The Geohydrology And Hydrogeochemistry Of The Proposed Garrison Lignite Mine, Kevin Morin

Theses and Dissertations

A local groundwater study is a necessity before the opening of any lignite mine in North Dakota. The study becomes an important reference for the environmental impact during mining and after reclamation.

This report is a groundwater study of the Proposed Garrison Lignite Mine, McLean County, North Dakota. The mineable lignite is in the lower Sentinel Butte Formation (Paleocene). The remainder of the Paleocene material at the proposed mine site is mostly fluvial silty clay deposits with some sand beds. Pleistocene deposits, mostly pebble loam (till), cover the Sentinel Butte at the mine site.

Ninety piezometers in twenty-eight nests were …

Petrology Of The Cenozoic Igneous Rocks Of The Tinton District, Black Hills, South Dakota - Wyoming, John T. Ray

Theses and Dissertations

The Tinton district is located on the northwest flank of the Black Hills uplift, 20 km west of Lead, South Dakota, along the Wyoming South Dakota border. The Tinton or Nigger Hill uplift comprises a central area of domed Precambrian Xstrata with marginal exposures of Paleozoic sedimentary rocks which dip radially outward on all sides. The area was intruded by Cenozoic igneous rocks that include a stock of quartz latite/quartz trachyte porphyry, an alkalic ring dike complex, lamprophyre dikes and intrusive breccia.

Precambrian rocks are represented by a sequence of metapelites thst have been intruded by metabasite and granitic pegmatite …

Magnetic Anomalies Over A Portion Of The Granite Mountains, Central Wyoming, Larry F. Smyers

Theses and Dissertations

Precambrian rocks exposed in the northern Pathfinder Reservoir area, Natrona County, Wyoming, are partially exhumed crystalline rocks of the northwestern portion of the Granite Mountains. These rocks comprise three major types: (1) the oldest metamorphic rocks, which may represent a metamorphosed sedimentary-volcanic terrane, exposed on Black Rock Mountain and in other small areas south and west of Black Rock Mountain; (2) granites, which intrude the metamorphic sequence, and are exposed on the Sweetwater Rocks and areas marginal to Pathfinder Reservoir; and (3) diabase dikes with northeastern trends that intrude both the metamorphic rocks and granites. Exposures of the Precambrian rocks …

Mineralogy And Chemistry Of Clay-Rich Sediments In The Contact Zone Of The Bullion Creek And Sentinel Butte Formations (Paleocene), Billings County, North Dakota, David W. Brekke

Theses and Dissertations

The Bullion Creek and Sentinel Butte Formations (Paleocene) form over 50 percent of the surface and near surface sediments in the North Dakota part of the Williston Basin. These rocks are composed of sandstones, siltstones, claystones, and numerous lignite beds. A distinct surface color change from light colors in the Bullion Creek Formation to dark colors in the Sentinel Butte Formation serves as a boundary marker and is widely exposed in the Little Missouri River badlands. The color boundary is a product of weathering and is not readily apparent in the subsurface. The use of clay mineralogy was investigated as …

Geology Of Igneous Extrusive And Intrusive Rocks In The Sundance Area, Crook County, Wyoming, Earl F. Fashbaugh

Theses and Dissertations

Two major igneous rock types occur in the Sundance, Wyoming area including foyaite of the Bear Lodge Mountain sill and quartz latite of Sundance Mountain and Sugarloaf Mountain. The igneous bodies were mapped on a scale of 1:5000 in an effort to determine petrogenetic relationships between the two rock types.

Sundance Mountain and Sugarloaf Mountain are extrusive in origin. Quartz latite occurs as subparallel units of breccia, tuff, and massive flows without any clear cross-cutting relationships. Fragmental types (breccia and cuff) constitute 41 to 76 percent of the rocks, suggesting that Sundance Mountain is a mixed cone. The quartz latite …

Lexicon Of Bedrock Stratigraphic Names Of North Dakota, Joanne Van Ornum Groenewold

Theses and Dissertations

This lexicon of bedrock stratigraphic names of North Dakota consists of a general definition of each unit as well as the history of stratigraphic nomenclature, An attempt was made to include all units for North Dakota whether formally or informally named, or cur rently being used in the state. The general definition includes name(s) of the unit, age, area of extent, lithology, relationships to other units, characteristic fossils, economic significance, depo sitional environment, type section (1£ one has been proposed), and other remarks that might be significant. The history of strati graphic nomenclature includes a chronological listing of the first …

Paleoecology Of A Late Quaternary Biota At The Mcclusky Canal Site, Central North Dakota, Linda E. Okland

Theses and Dissertations

Abundant and well-preserved Late Quaternary fossils were exposed at the McClusky Canal Site in the Missouri Coteau district of central North Dakota during the late summer and fall of 1976. Strati graphic units, in ascending order, are: (l) pebbly, clayey sand; (2) unlaminated, organic claystone; (3) laminated, organic claystone; (4) pebbly, sandy claystone; (5) laminated, organic claystone; (6) gypsiferous claystone; and (7) silty claystone. Units 1 and 4 are inter preted to be till, and the remainder are lacustrine sediments. Total thickness of the section is 6.0 m.

Radiocarbon dates of 12,595 ± 375 radiocarbon years B.P. (from the boundary …

Heat Flow And Heat Production Studies In North Dakota, Richard Scattoline

Theses and Dissertations

Thirty-one new heat flow determinations in North Dakota range from 0.6 to 1.9 HFU. The majority of heat flow measurements were completed for southwestern North Dakota.

Heat flow measurements were made in both oil and water wells. Heat production data from basement rocks when used in conjunction with nearby heat flow values indicate that only two of six sites may be considered to be similar to Basin and Range type of heat flow. One site occurs in southwestern North Dakota in a region west of 103° W where no heat flow value is less than 1.5 HFU. The other site …

A Geomagnetic Survey Of Pembina, Grand Forks, And Eastern Walsh Counties, North Dakota, Howard E. Okland

Theses and Dissertations

From August, 1977, to March, 1978, total field geomagnetic readings were taken at 948 sites in the following counties in North Dakota: Pembina County, Grand Forks County, and Walsh County east of 98°W. longitude. The field data was contoured by computer using the SYMAP commercial computer program. Nine major and several minor magnetic anomalies were discovered. Trends present on the aeromagnetic map of Minnesota continue westward into North Dakota. Limited bore hole data and the geomagnetic map suggest that the study area is underlain by Precatnbrian rocks of the Superior geologic province. The northernmost trend may indicate a western extension …

Petrology Of Sandstones From The Bullion Creek And Sentinel Butte Formations (Paleocene), Little Missouri Badlands, North Dakota, Mark A. Steiner

Theses and Dissertations

The mineralogy and petrology of sandstones of the Paleocene Bullion Creek and Sentinel Butte Formations were studied from exposures in the Little Missouri River Badlands in Billings, Golden Valley, and McKenzie Counties, North Dakota. Field work was conducted in the summer of 1977. Stratigraphic sections were measured and described from eight localities. Sandstones were sampled at 47 levels, and three samples were collected from each level. Fifty-one samples were collected from the Bullion Creek Formation and 90 from the Sentinel Butte Formation.

Thin-sections were prepared from plastic grain-mount blocks containing disaggregated sand grains, and 200 points per thin-section were counted, …

The Rhame Bed (Slope Formation, Paleocene), A Silcrete And Deep Weathering Profile, In Southwestern North Dakota, Barbara D. Wehrfritz

Theses and Dissertations

The Rhame Bed is a unit at the top of the Slope Formation (for merly part of the "Ludlow Formation") in the Fort Union Group deposited during Paleocene time.

The Rhame Bed was mapped in western Slope County and north central Bowman County. The bed outcrops on the tops of buttes, at the present groJnd surface in large level areas, or in steep slopes. Although the bed is laterally discontinuous, it is a clearly mappable unit.

The Rhame Bed typically consists of two dominant lithologies: siliceous rock and white sediment. The siliceous rock is hard, gray, and made of silt-sized …

Depositional And Paragenetic Controls On Porosity Development, Upper Red River Formation, North Dakota, Kipp W. Carroll

Theses and Dissertations

The upper Red River Formation in North Dakota comprises a subtidal/intertidal facies overlain by three evaporitic sequences of four lithologic units each, labeled "P," "R," and "F" in stratigraphic order. Four porosity zones are recognized in the upper Red River: the subtidal/ intertidal facies forms one porosity zone, and each evaporitic sequence contains another. Each unit in a sequence, as well as the sequence itself, is thinner and less widespread than its preceding counterpart. All strata are laterally continuous across the main part of the Williston basin in North Dakota, but, the porosity zones eventually disappear to the east as …

Stratigraphy And Depositional Setting Of The Carrington Shale Facies (Mississippian) Of The Williston Basin, Peter F. Bjorlie

Theses and Dissertations

The Carrington shale facies is a radioactive illitic lagoonal shale, apparently deposited behind lime mudstone banks (Waulsortian bioherms), along the eastern margin of the Williston basin during Early Mississippian time.

The Scallion subinterval, which is the basal subunit of the Bottineau interval of the Madison Formation in North Dakota, is divisible into six lithologic facies, one of which is the Carrington shale facies. West of the shale facies, on the basin-shelf hinge line, is the lime mudstone facies. Basinward of this facies is the interbedded shale-limestone facies. Stratigraphically above the latter two facies is the sand-silt-shale facies. Overlying a portion …

Geology Of The Flathead Formation (Middle Cambrian) On The Perimeter Of The Bighorn Basin, Beartooth Mountains, And Little Belt Mountains In Wyoming And Montana, Joel A. Degenstein

Theses and Dissertations

The Flathead Formation, which is 4 to 60 metres thick in the middle and northern Rocky Mountains of Wyoming and Montana, contains cross-bedded and parallel-bedded, quartz sandstone. The formation contains marginal-marine and shallow-marine sediment that was deposited unconformably on Precambrian crystalline and sedimentary rock by an eastward-transgressing sea during middle Cambrian time.

This field study of the Flathead Formation on the perimeter of the Bighorn Basin, Beartooth Mountains, and Little Belt Mountains reveals that the formation consists of three intervals. The lower interval contains medium to very coarse, pebbly, cross-bedded sandstone and conglomerate. The middle interval contains medium to coarse, …

Glacial Stratigraphy Of Southeastern North Dakota, Michael Camara

Theses and Dissertations

Seven lithostratigraphic units are recognized in the glacial sediment {till) of southeastern North Dakota. Five of these units are not formally named; eventually most of these units will be correlated with formations in surrounding regions. Two of these units, Gardar and Dahlen, are formations recognized in northeastern North Dakota {Hobbs, 1975). The seven lithostratigraphic units are differentiated and correlated using the percentage of the sand, silt, and clay fractions of the till and using the proportion of igneous and metamorphic rock fragments, limestone and dolomite fragments, and shale fragments in the very-coarse-sand fraction (1 to 2 mm) of the till. …

Western North Dakota Lignite Strip Mining Processes And Resulting Subsurface Characteristics, Laramie M. Winczewski

Theses and Dissertations

Data on subsurface conditions obtained prior to strip mining is useful in planning effective mining and reclamation procedures as well as predicting the subsurface characteristics after reclamation. The redistribution of the overburden sediments is less predictable, however.

Through field observations, the major mining factors controlling subsurface structure and overburden sediment redistribution were determined. These include the geometry of the coal body, pit sequence, pit curvature, overburden thickness and managerial input. At a given location, however, the detailed structures and distribution of sediment types within a waste bank were observed to depend upon the dragline cutting pattern, distance between dragline positions, …

Petrology Of The Alaskites Of The Boulder Batholith, Montana, Kenneth C. Malick

Theses and Dissertations

The Boulder batholith outcrops in the Northern Rookies of western Montana. It is exposed over an area of 5700 km^2 and extends about 112 km along the continental divide from Mullen Pass on the north to 32 km south of Butte. The Boulder batholith represents an invasion of the upper zones of the crust by a large volume of fluid granodioritic quartz monzonitic magma emplaced at the close of a main orogenic episode during late Cretaceous and Paleocene time.

Eight alaskite bodies were chosen for sampling from previous field experience and from geologic maps published by the U.S.O.S. Textural descriptions, …

The Late Cenozoic Geology Of West-Central Minnesota From Moorhead To Park Rapids, Roderic L. Perkins

Theses and Dissertations

Based on lithostratigraphic and geomorphic information, the Quaternary history of an area bounded by the Red River of the North, 95°00' west longitude, 47°00' and 46°45' north latitude in west central Minnesota, includes seven geologic episodes:

Glacial advances and retreats over all or part of the study area occurred during the first six geologic episodes. The glaciers advanced either southward across northern Minnesota, entering the study area from the northeast; or across eastern North Dakota and southwestern Manitoba, entering the study area from the northwest. As a result of these glacial events the sediment of Unit A, Sebeka Formation, New …

Stratigraphy And Paleontology Of The Upper Cretaceous Morden Member (Vermilion River Formation) In The Outcrop Area, Northeastern North Dakota, Fredrick D. Wosick

Theses and Dissertations

The Late Cretaceous Morden Member is the oldest exposed bedrock unit in North Dakota, cropping out in eastern Cavalier County in the northeastern part of the state. The Morden overlies the Greenhorn Formation and underlies the Niobrara Formation. The Canadian Morden Member of the Vermilion River Formation is used in lieu of the Carlile Formation because of the lithologic similarity and proximity to the Morden type area, and the distance from the Carlile Formation type section in southeastern Colorado.

Three principal sections were measured and sampled at 2-meter intervals for microfaunal and lithologic analysis. A single well was used for …

Paleozoology Of Cores From The Tyler Formation (Pennsylvanian) In North Dakota, U.S.A., James C. Grenda

Theses and Dissertations

A well-preserved fauna from the Tyler Formation was studied in cores from 34 wells drilled for oil in Billings, Golden Valley, McKenzie, Slope, and Stark Counties. Forty-four species of invertebrates, eleven form-species of conodonts, at least three types of fish, and at least four genera of plants· are present. Invertebrate species include 1 bryozoan, 15 brachiopods, 14 bivalves, 2 gastropods, 2 cephalopods, 2 annelids, 2 branchiopoda, at least 2 ostracodes, 2 malacostracans, 1 insect, and 1 echinoderm. Chordates include 1 "nonmarine" shark, at least 1 paleoniscoid fish, and 1 possible crossopterygian fish. A new genus and species of eocarid malacostracan …

The Glacial Geology Of Mckenzie County, North Dakota, Clark Fulton

Theses and Dissertations

Fourteen lithostratigraphic units composed of windblown, glacial, lake, slopewash, and stream sediment were distinguished in McKenzie County, The units were mapped using aerial photographs, topographic maps, and soil maps combi11ed with field e:xaminations of sediment outcrops. Eight of the units have been formally named and described in earlier studies. Four of them, however, have not been a"~ previously named and formally described .a.nu assigned names in this study. Two other units are described, but because of their limited exposure, are not assigned a formal lithostratlgraphic name. The oldest sediment exposed in the county was deposited during the Paleocene and the …

Geology Of The Western Portion Of The Dogtooth Pluton, Lake Of The Woods Region, Southwestern Ontario, Richard H. Pilatzke

Theses and Dissertations

A 10 km2 portion of a subsolvus, syntectonic or posttectonic grano dioritic intrusion located about 16 km east of Kenora, Ontario was extensively sampled for study by petrographic modal analysis and trend surface analysis. The Dogtooth pluton, the main intrusive body sampled, is part of a granitic batholith known as the Dryberry dome, which is interpreted to have been intruded into supracrustal volcanic and sedi mentary rocks about 2480 million years ago during the Kenoran Orogeny. The Longbow pluton, which was also sampled, occurs at the west margin of the Dryberry dome in contact with the supracrustal rocks to the …

Foraminiferids Of The Cannonball Formation (Paleocene, Danian) In Western North Dakota, William E. Fenner

Theses and Dissertations

In 1974 and 1975 about 2800 samples (of which 265 contained foraminiferids) of the Cannonball Formation were collected from 60 water test wells and two oil wells in Adams, Bowman, Burleigh, Divide, Dunn, Grant, Mercer, Morton, Oliver, Sioux, and Ward Counties in western North Dakota. Fifty species of benthonic foraminiferids and four species of planktonic foraminiferids were identified including eight textulariines, two milio lines and 44 rotaliines. Taxa reported for the first time from the Can nonball include: Reophax sp. (2 species), Ammobaculites expansus Plummer, Spiroplectammina wilcoxensis Cushman and Ponton, Quinqueloculina plummerae Cushman and Todd, Dentalina eocenica Cushman, Lenticulina alabamensis …