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

Geologic units in Oliver county, North Dakota

Glacial Sediment-Glacial Sediment Draped Over Pre-existing Topography (Phanerozoic | Cenozoic | Quaternary | Pleistocene Holocene) at surface, covers 24 % 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 Silt (Phanerozoic | Cenozoic | Quaternary | Pleistocene Holocene) at surface, covers 3 % 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

Slope Formation (Phanerozoic | Cenozoic | Tertiary | Paleocene) at surface, covers 4 % of this area

Gray-brown and yellow-brown silt, sand, clay, sandstone, and lignite; river, lake, and swamp sediment; as thick as 100 meters (300 feet).

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

Bullion Creek Formation (Phanerozoic | Cenozoic | Tertiary | Paleocene) at surface, covers 8 % 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

Golden Valley Formation (Phanerozoic | Cenozoic | Tertiary | Paleocene Eocene) at surface, covers < 0.1 % of this area

Upper member: Yellow-brown micaceous sandstone, sand, silt, and clay; fluvial sediment; as thick as 60 meters (200 feet). Lower member: White or yellow clay, silt, and sand; a weatering zone developed on underlying unit; as thick as 20 meters (65 feet).

Lithology: sandstone; clay or mud; silt; sand

Sentinel Butte Formation (Phanerozoic | Cenozoic | Tertiary | Paleocene) at surface, covers 50 % of this area

Gray-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 0.7 % 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

Cannonball Formation (Phanerozoic | Cenozoic | Tertiary | Paleocene) at surface, covers 4 % 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

Coleharbor Formation- River Sediment- Uncollapsed River Sediment (Phanerozoic | Cenozoic | Quaternary | Pleistocene Holocene) at surface, covers 2 % 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

Oahe Formation- River Sediment (Phanerozoic | Cenozoic | Quaternary | Holocene) at surface, covers 4 % 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