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Mineral Resources > Online Spatial Data > Geology > by state > North Dakota Geology

Geologic units in Burleigh county, North Dakota

Oahe Formation- Windblown Silt (Phanerozoic | Cenozoic | Quaternary | Pleistocene Holocene) at surface, covers < 0.1 % of this area

Obscurely bedded silt with paleosols; as thick as 6 meters (20 feet) where mapped. As much as 2 meters (7 feet) of windblown silt is present, but not mapped, on many level uplands southwest of the Missouri River, and less than 1 meter (3 feet) occurs at the surface throughout the state.

Lithology: silt

Hell Creek Formation (Phanerozoic | Mesozoic | Cretaceous-Late) at surface, covers 5 % of this area

Gray sand, silt, clay, and sandstone; river sediment; as thick as 150 meters (500 feet).

Lithology: sand; silt; clay or mud; sandstone

Glacial Sediment-Glacial Sediment Draped Over Pre-existing Topography (Phanerozoic | Cenozoic | Quaternary | Pleistocene Holocene) at surface, covers 21 % of this area

Unbedded, unsorted mixture of clay, silt, sand, and pebbles, and a few cobbles and boulders; as thick as 30 meters (100 feet)

Lithology: clay or mud; silt; sand; gravel

Coleharbor Formation- River Sediment- Collapsed River Sediment (Phanerozoic | Cenozoic | Quaternary | Pleistocene Holocene) at surface, covers 5 % of this area

Moderately well sorted cross-bedded sand and plane-bedded gravel, including sediment of melt-water and other rivers; as thick as 30 meters (100 feet). Faulted and contorted supraglacial sediment with hummocky topography.

Lithology: sand; gravel

Bullion Creek Formation (Phanerozoic | Cenozoic | Tertiary | Paleocene) at surface, covers 10 % of this area

Yellow-brown silt, sand, clay, sandstone, and lignite; river, lake, and swamp sediment; as thick as 200 meters (600 feet).

Lithology: silt; sand; clay or mud; sandstone; coal

Glacial Sediment- Collapsed/Draped Transition Sediments (Phanerozoic | Cenozoic | Quaternary | Pleistocene Holocene) at surface, covers 21 % of this area

Unbedded, unsorted mixture of clay, silt, sand, and pebbles, and a few cobbles and boulders; as thick as 30 meters (100 feet)

Lithology: clay or mud; silt; sand; gravel

Glacial Sediment- Collapsed Glacial Sediment (Phanerozoic | Cenozoic | Quaternary | Pleistocene Holocene) at surface, covers < 0.1 % of this area

Unbedded, unsorted mixture of clay, silt, sand, and pebbles, and a few cobbles and boulders; as thick as 30 meters (100 feet)

Lithology: clay or mud; silt; sand; gravel

Oahe Formation- Pond Sediment (Phanerozoic | Cenozoic | Quaternary | Pleistocene Holocene) at surface, covers 0.3 % of this area

Dark, obscurely bedded clay and silt; typically a few meters thick; in modern ephemeral ponds.

Lithology: clay or mud; silt

Cannonball Formation (Phanerozoic | Cenozoic | Tertiary | Paleocene) at surface, covers 11 % of this area

Olive-brown sand, shale, and sandstone; marine shoreline and offshore sediment; as thick as 120 meters (400 feet).

Lithology: sand; shale; sandstone

Fox Hills Formation (Phanerozoic | Mesozoic | Cretaceous-Late) at surface, covers 0.5 % of this area

Olive-brown sand, shale, and sandstone; marine shoreline and offshore sediment; as thick as 120 meters (400 feet).

Lithology: sand; shale; sandstone

Glacial Sediment- Collapsed Glacial Sediment (Phanerozoic | Cenozoic | Quaternary | Pleistocene Holocene) at surface, covers 12 % of this area

Unbedded, unsorted mixture of clay, silt, sand, and pebbles, and a few cobbles and boulders; as thick as 30 meters (100 feet)

Lithology: clay or mud; silt; sand; gravel

Coleharbor Formation- Offshore Sediment- Ice-Walled Lake Sediment or Collapsed Supraglacial-Lake Sediment (Phanerozoic | Cenozoic | Quaternary | Pleistocene Holocene) at surface, covers 7 % of this area

Laminated silt and clay of glacier-dammed lakes; as thick as 60 meters (200 feet). Flat-bedded sediment elevated above surrounding area or floded sediment with hummocky topography.

Lithology: silt; clay or mud

Oahe Formation- River Sediment (Phanerozoic | Cenozoic | Quaternary | Holocene) at surface, covers 3 % of this area

Dark, obscurely bedded clay and silt (overbank sediment); generally overlying cross-bedded sand (channel sediment); as thick as ten meters (30 feet); on flood plains of modern streams.

Lithology: clay or mud; silt; sand

Glacial Sediment- Glacial Sediment on Thrust Masses (Phanerozoic | Cenozoic | Quaternary | Pleistocene Holocene) at surface, covers 0.3 % of this area

Unbedded, unsorted mixture of clay, silt, sand, and pebbles, and a few cobbles and boulders; as thick as 30 meters (100 feet)

Lithology: clay or mud; silt; sand; gravel

Oahe Formation- Windblown Sand (Phanerozoic | Cenozoic | Quaternary | Holocene) at surface, covers 2 % of this area

Well-sorted, medium sand with obscure bedding; poorly developed palesols common; as thick as 10 meters (30 feet); knobby topography consisting of inactive transverses or longitudinal dunes nearly obliterated by more recent blowouts.

Lithology: sand

Sand of the Oahe and Older Formations, Undivided (Phanerozoic | Cenozoic | Tertiary Quaternary | Pliocene Pleistocene(?) Holocene) at surface, covers 0.3 % of this area

Windblown sand of the Oahe Formation, as thick as 3 meters (10 feet), and sand of older formations with an undulating wind-scoured surface.

Lithology: sand

Coleharbor Formation- River Sediment- Uncollapsed River Sediment (Phanerozoic | Cenozoic | Quaternary | Pleistocene Holocene) at surface, covers 1 % of this area

Moderately well sorted cross-bedded sand and plane-bedded gravel, including sediment of melt-water and other rivers; as thick as 30 meters (100 feet). Flat-bedded sediment of gently sloping plains and terraces, commonly with braided-channel scars.

Lithology: sand; gravel