Geological Survey Professional Paper 65 Geology and Water Resources of the Northern Portion of the Black Hills and Adjoining Regions in South Dakota and Wyoming

This paper, which supplements the report on the geology and water resources of the southern half of the Black Hills, published in 1901,a is the result of studies made at intervals during the years 1899 to 1907. It relates to an area of about 7,500 square miles, situated about half in South Dakota and half in the northeast corner of Wyoming (Pl. II), and covering the northern half of the Black Hills uplift and a wide area of adjacent plains. The report describes the geology of the sedimentary rocks—their stratigraphy, structure, and history—and discusses their mineral resources, including underground water, coal, gypsum, etc. It also contains information respecting surface waters available for irrigation and stock raising, timber, climate, and the history of the topographic development of the region. The crystalline rocks of the central portion of the Black Hills area and the various igneous rocks of later age are shown on some of the accompanying maps but without differentiation, as the study of their geology was not within the scope of the investigation; neither are their mineral resources considered here, for these are treated in other publications.b

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aDarton, N. H., Preliminary description of the geology and water resources of the southern half of the Black Hills and adjoining regions in South Dakota and Wyoming: Twenty-first Ann. Rept. U. S. Geol. Survey, pt. 4, 1901; republished by Congress, with the same title and imprint.

bSee footnotes, p. 93.

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PLATE II.—MAP SHOWING AREA DISCUSSED. (click on image for a PDF version)

In the field work I have been assisted mainly by Prof. C. C. O'Harra, of the School of Mines at Rapid, who has mapped the geology of large areas about Aladdin, the Devils Tower, Belle Fourche; and Rapid. Dr. W. S. Tangier Smith has mapped portions of the Bear Lodge and Nigger Hill uplifts, and Mr. C. A. Fisher has assisted in portions of the work. The geology of the region from Sturgis to a point beyond Spearfish Canyon was mapped by Prof. T. A. Jaggar, jr., with the assistance of Mr. J. M. Boutwell, in 1898 and 1899.

It is desirable to repeat here the statement made in my previous report that all who study the geology of the Black Hills must feel impressed by the remarkably clear general conceptions of the geologic relations of this region afforded by the survey made by Mr. Henry Newton over a quarter of a century ago.c In one short season, with many unfavorable conditions for traveling, he determined most of the broader features and recorded many of the essential details. His posthumous report, edited by Mr. G. K. Gilbert, will always remain a standard work on Black Hills geology. Later studies have added, greatly to our knowledge of the details of the stratigraphy and structure, the distribution of the rocks and minerals, and the age of the beds, and have afforded means for a more complete elucidation of the geologic history, especially the physiographic development of the Black Hills region.

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cNewton, Henry, and Jenney, W. P., Geology and resources of the Black Hills of South Dakota, U. S. Geog. and Geol. Survey Rocky Mtn. Region, 1880.

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