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Research about South Dakota

Source-linked reports with geographic coverage including South Dakota.

At least 469 records · Page 26Linked to original sources
USGS1953

An occurrence of autunite, Lawrence County, South Dakota

In July 1952 an occurrence of autunite was found in the northern part of the Black Hills, South Dakota, during a reconnaissance for radioactive deposits. The autunite occurs as fracture coatings and disseminations in siltstone of the Deadwood formation of Cambrian age and is concentrated mainly in the lower 2 feet of the siltstone at the contact with an intrusive rhyolite porphyry; the radioactive zone is exposed in two old workings, which are 90 feet apart. An 18-inch vertical channel sample of the autanite-bearing siltstene contained 0. 048 percent uranium. The gangue minerals are fluorite and limonite. The uranium is believed to have been introduced into the siltstone by solutions of magmatic origin that migrated along the lower contact of the siltstone after or during emplacement of the porphyry'

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USGS1953

Geology, of the High Climb Pegmatite, Custer County, South Dakota

The High Climb pegmatite, Custer County, S. Dak., belongs to the series of pegmatitic and granitic rocks that characterize the Harney Peak region of the southern Black Hills. It intrudes pre-Cambrian metamorphic rocks consisting chiefly of quartz-mica schist. The country rock has been altered to a tourmaline-rich schist along part of the pegmatite contact. The structure of the pegmatite, in general is concordant with the westward-dipping schistosity of the country rock, but locally the pegmatite is crosscutting. The main part of the pegmatite is an irregularly shaped pipe that plunges 45° N. 40° W., parallel to the average plunge of rolls in the foot wall. A small northern extension of the pegmatite has a lenticular shape and crosscuts the schist at a low angle. Rolls in this part of the pegmatite have an average plunge of 28° N. 25° W. One large, north-trending crestal roll divides the outcrop of the northern segment of the pegmatite into two parts. The pegmatite has a well- defined internal structure consisting of five zones. A fine-grained wall zone, consisting of albite-quartz pegmatite, and a medium-grained first intermediate zone, consisting of albite-quartz-muscovite pegmatite, form incomplete concentric shells. Perthite-quartz-albite pegmatite (second intermediate zone) forms a hood-shaped unit between the outer units and the third intermediate zone along the crest and hanging-wall of the pegmatite. A concentric shell of quartz-cleavelandite pegmatite (third intermediate zone) surrounds a lenticular core of quartz pegmatite that contains altered spodumene, in addition -to the five zones, a fracture-filling unit of quartz-perthite-muscovite-albite-pegmatite and a possible sixth zone (or replacement unit?) of very fine-grained muscovite pegmatite were recognized. The essential minerals of the pegmatite include microcline-perthite, quartz, albite, and muscovite. Accessory minerals include tourmaline, beryl, amblygonite (variety, montebrasite), apatite, columbite-tantalite, loellingite, altered spodumene, numerous unidentified dark-colored phosphate minerals, a manganese-bearing carbonate, garnet, and chalcopyrite. An explanation of the origin of the pegmatite requires fractional crystallization and incomplete reaction in a restricted system. The concentric zonal structure and the general increase in grain size from the wall zone to the core suggest that the pegmatite units crystallized in order from the walls inward, without any true replacement stages. Industrial minerals that have been produced at the High Climb pegmatite are beryl, amblygonite, potash feldspar, columbite-tantalite, scrap mica, and sheet mica.

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USGS1953

Results of core drilling for uranium-bearing lignites in the Bar H area, Slim Buttes, Harding County, South Dakota

Core drilling in the Car H area, Slim Buttes, Harding County, South Dakota, under a contract with the B. H. Mott Drilling Co., Huntington, West Virginia, was resumed June 12, 1952 after a 6-month recess during the winter and was completed July 18, 1952. The drilling was undertaken to obtain information on the distribution and extent of the uranium-bearing lignite beds along the southeast edge of the Bar H area. Eight holes totalling 885 feet were drilled and 52 feet of lignite core submitted for study and analysis. The report includes detailed lithographic descriptions of the lignite cores, Bureau of Mines coal analyses, and the results of 100 chemical analyses for uranium. The drilling showed that the thicker, more persistent lignite beds exposed in the northern part of the Bar H area were removed by erosion prior to the deposition of the overlaying White River formation in the south-eastern part of the area. The beds penetrated by drilling were not of sufficient thickness or uranium content to add to the previously known reserves.

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USGS1952

Hybridization of Canada geese with blue geese in the wild

While carrying out hunter bag checks in the vicinity of Sand Lake National Wildlife Refuge, Columbia, South Dakota, during the 1950 waterfowl hunting season, the author examined two adult male geese which proved to be crosses between one of the smaller Canada Geese (possibly Richardson's Goose, Branta canadensis hutchinsi ) and the Blue Goose, Chen caerulescens .

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USGS1952

Geology and pegmatites of part of the Fourmile area, Custer County, South Dakota

The Fourmile area, Custer County, S. Dak., is in pre-Cambrian metamorphic rocks that surround the granitic core of the Black Hills. The area is on the upright limb of an overturned anticline that plunges about 30° S. 10° E. Three new formations of metamorphic rocks are described that have a total thickness of at least 7, 700 feet. The oldest of these formations, the Ruby Creek quartz-mica schist, is more than 6,500 feet thick. The overlying Raver formation, about 200 feet thick, is composed of thin beds of amphibolite and hornblende schist, lime-silicate rock, cordierite-biotite schist, microcline-biotite schist, and other types of rock. The youngest formation, the Ruddock quartz-mica-feldspar schist, is more than 1,000 feet thick. The presence of kyanite, staurolite, cordierite, and sillimanite in the rocks indicate that they have been subjected to high-grade metamorphism. About 420 pegmatites were mapped in the Ruby Creek quartz-mica--schist and the Ruddock quartz-mica-feldspar schist. A few thin pegmatites in the Raver formation were not mapped. Most of the pegmatites are concordant with the schistosity and relict (?) bedding of the enclosing metamorphic rocks. They are as much as 250 feet thick and range from 10 to 2,600 feet in length. Nine pegmatites are zoned and are classified as heterogeneous pegmatites. The remainder are homogeneous pegmatites that are poorly zoned. The major constituents of the pegmatites are plagioclase, quartz perthite, and muscovite. The accessory minerals are tourmaline, apatite, garnet, and biotite. Beryl was observed in 15 of the pegmatites. The heterogeneous pegmatites contain commercial deposits of potash feldspar, mica (sheet and scrap), and beryl.

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USGS1951

Landslides in shale at Rapid City, South Dakota

In the past 5 years several landslides have originated in hillsides at Rapid City, South Dakota, with resulting damage both to city streets and to private dwellings. The present investigation is a contribution to the continuing study of landslides by the U. S. Geological Survey, although a formal project of landslide investigation in Rapid City has not been established.

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USGS1951

Preliminary report for open file on geology of the Canning quadrangle, South Dakota

The Canning 15-minute quadrangle, near the center of South Dakota, is bordered on the east by the 100th Meridian and on the north by latitude 44°30'. The geology of the quadrangle has been mapped by the Engineering Geology Branch of the Geological Survey as part of a project in the general plan of the Department of Interior for developing the resources of the Missouri River Basin. One unit of this plan is the construction, by the Bureau of Reclamation, of a canal from the proposed Oahe reservoir in the Missouri River trench extending eastward and passing through the Canning quadrangle to the Blunt balancing reservoir, about 10 miles northeast of the northeast corner of the quadrangle. The only community in the quadrangle is Canning, a village of 57 inhabitants. The nearest larger towns are Blunt, 1 mile north of the northeast corner of the quadrangle, and Pierre, 3 miles west of the quadrangle.

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USGS1950

Progress report on the geology and ground-water hydrology of part of the Oahe Unit, James River Division, South Dakota

The Oahe Unit, in the James River basin in eastern South Dakota, extends for about 100 miles north and south and is 20 to 80 miles wide, having the river as its east border. The Oahe irrigation project is planned to supply water to 750,000 to 1,500,000 acres of the most suitable land within the area. The studies that have been undertaken in the Oahe area by the Ground Water Division of the U. S. Geological Survey form a part of the investigations which are being carried on by several bureaus of the Department of the Interior and other government agencies for the conservation, control and utilization of the water resources of the Missouri River Basin. The field studies on which the present report is based were made during May 1947 through November 1948 and cover about 1,890 square miles in the southern part of the Oahe area. Data were collected on the character of the surficial geological deposits, and on the occurrence, movement, quantity, and quality of the groundwater supplies. The report describes the several water-bearing formations and presents nine typical logs of deep artesian wells. The records of fluctuation of the water table in 168 wells in or near the Oahe area are listed. Tabulated inventory of 3,257 wells and springs includes information on the observation wells and on all other wells that were noted within the area examined.

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USGS1949

Geology and ground-water hydrology of the Angostura irrigation project, South Dakota, with a section on the mineral quality of the waters

The lands to be irrigated from water stored in the Angostura Reservoir are situated on the lover of two terraces along the southeast side of the Cheyenne River in northeastern Fall River County and on the terrace known as Harrison Plat in southeastern Custer County, S. Dak. The terrace deposits are composed of relatively permeable sands and gravels that rest on a shale bedrock platform. The terrace surfaces are mantled in part by slope wash derived from higher shale slopes and by wind-blown sand. Ground water occurs under water-table conditions in the river alluvium and in terraces above the river. Although the zone of saturation in the terrace deposits is 6enerally thin, it is essentially continuous in the area southeast of the river, and the water issues as springs in the terrace faces along the inner valley of the river and along the valleys of tributary streams cuttin6 back into the terraces. A zone of saturation is present only in part of the Harrison Plat area, and it extends to the terrace face only along Cottonwood Creek. Wells in the unconsolidated mantle rock supply water for domestic and stock purposes, but yields are small. Abundant supplies of artesian water are available at depths ranging up to 3,000 feet but are not now utilized except at the extreme western end of the area where the bedrock aquifer is close below the surface. The effect of applying irrigation water on the terrace lands will depend on the character of the underlying material and on the measures taken to forestall waterlogging and other undesirable effects. Terrace areas that are mantled by slope wash will be especially susceptible to waterlogging, as will valley-bottom areas mantled by colluvium that are adjacent to irrigated terracea. Periodic measurements of water levels in observation wells will give warning of potential waterlogging in time to permit taking preventive measures. Analyses of samples of both ground water and surface water indicate a high mineral content. In general, samples from the Cheyenne River are higher in total dissolved solids and lower in percent sodium than the ground water.

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