ISSN : 0546 - 500 1 GEOLOGY O F RENVILLE AND WARD COUNTIES NORTH DAKOTA by John P . Blueml e BULLETIN 50 - PART 1 NORTH DAKOTA INDUSTRIAL COMMISSIO N GEOLOGICAL SURVEY DIVISIO N COUNTY GROUNDWATER STUDIES 11 - PART 1 NORTH DAKOTA STATE WATER COMMISSIO N Prepared by the North Dakota Geological Surve y in cooperation with the North Dakota State Water Commission, the United States Geological Survey, and Renville and Ward Counties Water Management District s Printed by Quality Printing Service 1989 CONTENTS Page ABSTRACT v i INTRODUCTION 1 Purpose 1 Previous Work 1 Methods of Study 2 Acknowledgments 3 Regional Topography and Geology 3 STRATIGRAPHY 6 General Statement 6 Cretaceous and Tertiary Rocks 8 Configuration of the Bedrock Surface 1 0 Pleistocene Sediment 1 2 Glacial Stratigraphy 1 7 Snow School Formation 20 Blue Hill Deposits 20 Younger Glacial Deposits 2 2 Holocene Sediment 24 GEOMORPHOLOGY 26 General Description 2 6 Glacial Landforms 28 Collapsed Glacial Topography 28 Waterworn Topography 32 Sllopewash-Eroded Topography 33 Glacial Lake Landforms 33 Fluvial Landforms 3 5 Spillways 3 5 Overridden Fluvial Deposits 39 Other Glaciofluvial Deposits 39 Eskers and Kames 409 PLEISTOCENE FOSSILS 40 GEOLOGIC HISTORY 41 iii CONTENTS--continued Page ECONOMIC GEOLOGY 52 Lignite 52 Gravel and Sand 53 Hydrocarbons 53 Potash 54 Halite 54 REFERENCES 56 ILLUSTRATION S Figure Page 1. Physiographic map of North Dakota showing the location of Renvill e and Ward Counties 5 2. Stratigraphic column for Renvill e and Ward Counties 7 3. Subglacial geology and topograph y of Renville and Ward Counties 1 1 4. Thickness of the Coleharbor Grou p deposits in Renville and War d Counties 1 3 5. Ice-movement directions and ou t margins of glacial advances 1 8 6. Surface till units in Renville an d Ward Counties 1 9 7. Generalized map of the landform types in Renville and Ward Counties 27 iv I LLUSTRATIONS--continued Figure Pag e 8. Diagrams showing how circular dis - integration ridges form in areas o f collapsed glacial topography 3 1 9. Area affected by catastrophic floods 36 10. Maximum extent of Late Wisconsina n ice in Renville and Ward Counties . 43 11. Readvance of the Late Wisconsina n glacier 44 12. Recession of the glacier 45 13. Recession of the glacier 46 14. Readvance and shearing in the glacier 47 15. Final withdrawal of the glacier 48 16. Flooding and the formation o f glacial Lake Souris 49 Table Page 1 . Very coarse sand percentages 1 5 Plate 1 . Geologic map of Renville and Ward Counties (in pocket) v ABSTRAC T Renville and Ward Counties, located in north-centra l North Dakota on the northeast side of the Williston Basin , are underlain by as much as 11,000 feet of Paleozoic , Mesozoic, and Cenozoic rocks that dip gently to th e southwest . The uppermost Paleocene rocks, the Cannon - ball, Bullion Creek, and possibly the Sentinel Butt e Formations, lie directly beneath the Pleistocene glacia l deposits, which overlie most parts of the two counties . Isolated exposures of the Bullion Creek and Cannonbal l Formations occur in the Des Lacs and Souris Rive r valleys . The glacial deposits in the two-county area range from 0 to 800 feet thick and average about 165 feet thick . Renville County and about a third of Ward County are located on the Glaciated Plains, an area of undulating to flat topography . The southwestern two-thirds of Ward County lies within the Missouri Coteau and Coteau Slop e part of the Great Plains . This area is characterized b y high-relief collapsed hummocky topography . Associated landforms include numerous ice-contact deposits, lak e plains, and collapsed fluvial plains . Surficial deposits throughout the two counties are predominantly till an d glaciofluvial deposits, but lake sediments, colluvium, an d recent alluvium and landslide deposits are also present . The most important economic resources in Renvill e and Ward Counties, other than soil and water, are lignite , sand and gravel, and petroleum . Although no potash o r halite are currently being produced, beds of these materials do underlie the area . vi INTRODUCTIO N Purpose This report is published by the North Dakota Geological Survey in cooperation with the North Dakot a State Water Commission, the United States Geologica l Survey, the Renville County Board of Commissioners, an d the Ward County Water Management District . It is one of a series of county reports on the geology and ground - water resources of North Dakota . The main purposes of these studies are : (1) to provide geologic maps of th e areas ; (2) to locate and define aquifers ; (3) to determine the location and extent of mineral resources in th e counties ; and (4) to interpret the geologic history of th e areas . This volume describes the geology of Renville an d Warcl Counties . Readers interested in groundwater shoul d refer to Part II of this bulletin (Pettyjohn, 1968), which includes detailed basic data on the groundwater, and Par t III (Pettyjohn and Hutchinson, 1971), which is a descrip- tion and evaluation of the groundwater resources o f Renville and Ward Counties . Parts of this report that are primarily descriptiv e include the discussions of the topography, rock, an d sediment in Renville and Ward Counties . This information is intended for use by anyone interested in the physica l nature of the materials underlying the area . Such peopl e may be water-well drillers or hydrologists concerned abou t the distribution of sediments that have potential t o produce usable groundwater ; state and county water managers ; consultants to water users ; water users in th e development of groundwater supplies for municipal , domestic, livestock, irrigation, industrial, and other uses ; civil engineers and contractors interested in such thing s as the gross characteristics of foundation materials a t possible construction sites, criteria for selection an d evaluation of waste disposal sites, and the locations of possible sources of borrow material for concrete aggre- gate ; industrial concerns looking for possible sources o f economic minerals ; residents interested in knowing more about the area ; and geologists interested in the physica l evidence for the geologic interpretations . Previous Work Parts of Renville and Ward Counties were studied b y Upham (1895) during his study of glacial Lake Souris . Wilder and Wood (1902) and Wood (1902) made early studies of lignite in the area ; Leonard (1916) and Tod d (1923) investigated the drainage systems of northwester n North Dakota, an area that included Renville and War d Counties . An early study of the geology and groundwate r resources of the two counties was made by Simpso n (1929) . Alden (1932) described the glacial deposits of th e area ; Andrews (1939) published a generalized geologic ma p of southwestern Ward County and evaluated the lignit e resources of the region . The glacial history of North Dakota and the Souris River Lobe were described b y Lemke (1958) and Lemke and Colton (1958) . An exposure of two drift sheets in Ward County was described b y Lemke and Kaye (1958) . Lemke (1960) provided a com- prehensive report on the geology of Renville and War d Counties (except for the Missouri Coteau area) . Colton and others (1963) mapped the general glacial features of North Dakota and, later, Clayton and others (1980 ) provided a considerably more detailed map of the geolog y of North Dakota . Pettyjohn (1967a, 1967b) described th e stagnant ice features and stratigraphy of multiple-layere d glacial deposits on the Missouri Coteau . Kehew presente d evidence for Late Wisconsinan catastrophic flooding in the Souris River area, including parts of Renville and War d Counties (Kehew, 1979, 1982 ; Kehew and Clayton, 1983) . Akin (1947, 1951), Jensen (1962), Armstrong (1963) , Randich (1963), Schmid (1963), LaRocque and other s (1963a, 1963b), Froelich (1964), Pettyjohn and Hill s (1965), and Pettyjohn (1967c) described the geology o f small areas of the counties or provided basic data relate d to groundwater supplies . Kehew (1983) described th e geology and geotechnical conditions in the Minot area . Several of the nearby county studies in the presen t series of county geologic studies have been completed . Bluemle (1971, 1982, 1985) reported on the geology o f McLean, McHenry, and Bottineau Counties . Clayton (1972) described the geology of Mountrail County, and Freer s (1973) described the geology of Burke County . Methods of Stud y Fieldwork for the geologic study of Renville and War d Counties was accomplished over a long period of time b y several people . Wayne Pettyjohn mapped the geology o f the southwestern part of Ward County during the summe r of 1965 . Alan Kehew mapped the 16 townships in th e northeastern quarter of Ward County in the early 1980s . 2 John Bluemle spent part of the field season in 1987 checking the geology of Renville County and parts of Ward County . Field mapping was done on aerial photographs (scal e 1 :20,000) and county road maps (1 :126,720) . Test hole s drilled during the early part of the study were logged b y Larry Froelich and Alain Kahail of the North Dakota Stat e Water Commission . Dan Walker and Randy Rickfor d operated the North Dakota Geological Survey auger durin g the test drilling . Garth Anderson provided data from hi s mapping and drilling in the Minot area (results include d in Kehew, 1983) . Unpublished geological and groundwate r data were provided by the North Dakota State Wate r Commission . Test-hole logs and engineering lab test data were provided by the North Dakota State Highwa y Department, the U .S . Army Corps of Engineers, and Soi l Exploration Company . Grain-size analyses were made i n the Hydrologic Laboratory ; fossil wood was identified b y the Paleontology and Stratigraphy Branch, and th e carbon-14 age determinations were made by the Isotop e Geology Laboratory--all of the U .S .