Earth Sciences Commons^™

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, …

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 …

Stratigraphy Of The Lower Tertiary And Upper Cretaceous (?) Continental Strata In The Canyon Range, Juab County, Utah, James M. Stolle

Theses and Dissertations

The Canyon Range Formation (informal new name), formerly mapped as the Indianola Group within the Canyon Range, is divisible into two distinct, mappable units, A and B. Unit A is nearly all conglomerate strata, and conglomerate texture and sedimentary structures suggest an alluvial fan depositional environment. Precambrian and basal Cambrian quartzite clasts represent the erosional debris from the allochthonous Canyon Range thrust. Unit B is composed of interbedded fluvial sandstone and conglomerates with lacustrine limestones, commonly micritic and/or oncolitic. Conglomerate clasts indicate a Paleozoic carbonate provenance. Unit A, previously mapped as the Indianola, underlies Unit B and correlates with the …

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 …