STATE Geological Survey Of North Dakota Sixth Biennial Report A. C. LEONARD, Ph. D., State Geologist BISMARCK Published For The State Geological Survey 1912 CONTENTS Page Geological Board .................................................................................. Geological Corps .......................................................................................... Table of. Contents .................................................................................. List of illustrations ...................................................................... Administration Report .............................................................. Geology of South-Central North Dakota ............................................. By A. G. Leonard hysiography of the Devil's-Stump Lake Region, North Dakota.......____ 101 By Howard E. Simpson. TRUSTEES OF THE STATE UNIVERSITY CONSTITUTING TUE GEOLOGICAL BOARD. HON. TRACY R. BANGS HON. VICTOR WARDRO HON. R K. SPOONHEIM HON. H. T. HELGESEN JUDGE N. C. YOUNG GEOLOGICAL CORPS A. G. LEONARD ------------------------------------- STATE GEOLO HOWARD E. SIMPSON ---------------- ASSISTANT STATE GEOLO E. J. BABCOCK ....................................................................... CHEM E. F. CHANDLER ......................................... IIYDROGRAP G. F. RUEDIGER ----------------------- COMPOSITION OF SURFACE UNDERGROUND WATERS M. A. BRANNON ------------------------------------------- BIOLO E. T. YOUNG ............................................... ZOOLO T. R. ATKINSON ..................................... CONSULTING ENGIN W. H. CLARK 1 R. L. SUTHERLAND W. R. HOLGATE ........................................ FIELD ASSISTA . II. GREENLEAF F. B. FARROW LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Plates. I. Bluff on Missouri River showing Lance beds. IL Fig. 1. The broad flat of the Southeast Branch of Little Heart River. Fig. 2. Morainic hills stretching across the valley of the Southeast branch. III. Fig. 1 Morainic hill in the flat valley train of the Southeast Branch. Fig. 2. Gap made by the Southeast Branch in the moraine across its valley. IV. Fox Hills sandstone on Cannon Ball River. V. Fig. 1. Contact of Fox Hills sandstone and Lance formation. Fig. 2. Bluff composed of Lance beds on the Missouri River. VI. Fig. 1. One of the Twin Buttes, eight miles south of Bismarck. Fig. 2. Outwash material at the base of the Twin Buttes. VII. Fig. I. Glacial drift resting upon eroded surface of the Lance formation. Fig. 2. Pleistocene sand resting upon the eroded surface of the Lance formation. VIII. Fig. 1. Northern Pacific bridge over the Missouri River. Fig. 2. Boulder covered morainic hill. IX. Geological map of South-Central North Dakota. X. Physiographic map of North Dakota. XI. Map of Devils-Stump Lake region. XII. Fig. 1. Morainic topography south of Mission Bay, Devils Lake. Fig. 2. Morainic topography showing gentle swells and shallow pans. XIII. Devils Lake from. Chautauqua grounds. XIV. Abandoned beaches on the Chautauqua road. XV. Fig. 1. Natural sea wall of boulders formed by ice. Fig. 2. Chautauqua Point, Devils Lake. XVI. Fig. 1. Rock Pile Island from the spit on south shore. Fig. 2. The eastern shore of Rock Pile Island. XVII. Fig. 1. Boulder pavement on north shore of Bird Island. Fig. 2. Abandoned sea wall on Rocky Island. LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.—Continued. XVIII. Fig. 1. Beach of Pierre shale in Fort Totten Bay. Fig. 2. Old Tolna outlet of Stump Lake. XIX. Old stumps on shore of Stump Lake. XX. Fig. 1. Mission Lake, Mission Bay and Devils Lake. Fig. 2. Court Lake. XXI. Fig. 1. ' Section of beach in gravel pit.. Fig. 2. Re-cut shore cliffs, east side Creel Bay. Figures. 1. Diagram showing relation of lakes and wells to ground water table. 2. Devils Lake artesian well section. 3. Diagram showing relation of drift to bed rock. 4. Diagram showing relation of residual soil to bed rock. 5. Map of North America showing glaciation. 6. Cross section of cliff and wave-cut terrace. 7. Cross section of a beach. R, Section of shore of Devils Lake showing cliffs and beaches. ADMIN i STRATIVE REPORT ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT University, N. D., Dec. 1, 1910. To the President of the Board of Trustees of the University of North Dakota. SIR: I beg to submit herewith my report on the work of the North Dakota Geological Survey during the years 1909 and 1910. During the first four or five months of 1909 much of the time of the State Geologist was occupied in the preparation Of the material for the Fifth Biennial Report and in supervising the printing of the volume. Early in April some time was spent in Bismarck reading a portion of the proof, and the printing of the report was practically completed by the end of May, though it was not bound and ready for distribution until the middle of the summer. The report, which forms a volume of 278 pages with several maps and many illustrations, contains chapters on the geology and coal deposits of southwestern .North Dakota, the geological formations of the northeastern part of the state with particular reference to cement materials, the manufacture of hydraulic cement, the Bottineau gas field, good roads and road materials, and the geological history of North Dakota. During the summer of 1909 work was carried on in the region included in the topographic map of the United States Geological Survey known as the Bismarck quadrangle. The area covered lies about equally on the west and cast sides of the Missouri river, in Morton and Burleigh counties, but includes a small portion of Emmons County and a few square miles of Oliver County. The North Dakota and the United States geological surveys co- operated in the work on the Bismarck quadrangle, the Federal Survey bearing half the expense. By this arrangement the State Geologist and his party, composed of W. H. Clark and R. L. Sutherland, were able to spend the entire season in the field and accomplished nearly twice as much work as could have been done without this cooperative agreement. The different geological formations were carefully investigated and mapped, and the entire region was studied in considerable detail. The results of the field work will be published as a geologic folio by the United States Geological Survey and the material will also be available for the Sixth Biennial Report of the State Geological Survey. The Bismarck area is of special interest since in it are found two formations which have a wide distribution in the Great Plains 10 ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT region and the age of Which has long been in doubt. The fossils collected in both these formations will assist in determining the age of the beds. Early in June, 1910, I attended a conference of state geologists which was held in Washington at the invitation of the Director of the United States Geological Survey. This conference was called for the purpose of discussing the work of the State and Federal surveys, to arrange to cooperate as far as possible, and to become acquainted with the methods and plans adopted by the various organizations represented. The meeting also afforded an opportunity for conferring with the government geologists regarding the problems in the region, and exchanging views and opinions regarding them. Upon my return from Washington I spent several days in l3ottineau County studying the gas wells of that region. There are between fifteen and twenty producing wells ranging in depth from 150 to 200 feet. The gas occurs in a sand bed at the base of the drift, and its source is probably the Cretaceous shales on which the sand rests. Eight of the wells are located about nine miles south of Westhope, and from five of them it is piped into town and used by 120 consumers. The rock pressure varies from 55 to 65 pounds and the flow from one well was 3,200,000 cubic feet in 24 hours, the gas escaping with a loud roaring noise. Three wells have been drilled five miles east of Lansford and supply gas to that town. A report on natural gas in North Dakota has been prepared for the United States Greologieal Survey and will be published as one of the papers in a bulletin which is now in press. During the summer of 1910 the field work of the previous year on the Bismarck quadrangle was extended so as to include all of Morton and portions of adjoining counties, the party being composed of the State Geologist, William Greenleaf and F. B. Farrow. The boundary of the Lance formation, which contains only a few workable coal beds, was mapped and it was found that fully one-half of Morton county, including the Standing Rock Indian Reservation, is underlain by this formation. Workable beds of lignite occur in it on the Little Heart River and at a few points on the Cannon Ball River and Cedar Creek above their confluence. With the exception of these few beds practically all the workable coal of Morton and Adams counties is in the Fort -Union formation. The 8-foot coal bed mined for so many years at Sims lies near the base of the latter formation, and the same is true of the 13-foot coal bed near Haynes. The coal seams worked near New Salem and Glen Ullin are from 200 to 250 feet above the base of the Fort Union. The Heart River was found to have formerly emptied into the Cannon Ball River instead of entering the Missouri at Mandan as STATE OF NORTH DAKOTA 17 at present. Its old abandoned valley extends in a southeasterly direction from the sharp bend at DuVaul, passes about two miles north of Flasher, and its lower portion is now occupied by Louse Creek for some miles from its junction with Dogtooth Creek. The Heart River was compelled to leave this broad and well developed valley of its earlier years, and through the process of stream capture or piracy it was forced to take its present course to the northeast. Another interesting discovery was that the basin of the Little Heart River was occupied during the Glacial Period by an ice lobe from the continental glacier which covered most of North Dakota. The evidence of this is found in the typical boulder covered morainal hills which occur about the margin of the basin, being composed of the debris dumped there by the ice.