Geologic units in Charles Mix county, South Dakota

Pierre Shale (Upper Cretaceous) at surface, covers 67 % of this area

Blue-gray to dark-gray, fissile to blocky shale with persistent beds of bentonite, black organic shale, and light-brown chalky shale. Contains minor sandstone, conglomerate, and abundant carbonate and ferruginous concretions. Thickness up to 1,000 ft (305 m).

Niobrara Formation (Upper Cretaceous) at surface, covers 30 % of this area

White to dark-gray argillaceous chalk, marl, and shale. Weathers yellow to orange. Contains thin, laterally continuous bentonite beds, chalky carbonaceous shale, minor sand, and small concretions. Thickness up to 150 ft (46 m).

Carlile Shale (Upper Cretaceous) at surface, covers 3 % of this area

Dark-gray to black, silty to sandy shale with several zones of septarian, fossiliferous, carbonate concretions. Contains up to three sandstone units in the upper portion of the formation and sandy calcareous marl at the base. Thickness up to 330 ft (100 m).

Tertiary, undifferentiated (Pliocene to Miocene) at surface, covers 0.6 % of this area

Light greenish-brown and light yellowish-tan to orangish-brown clay, silty clay, and fine sand; light-brown to pink siltstone; green, massive, orthoquartzite conglomerate; and multicolored quartz- and feldspar-rich sand and gravel. Includes equivalents of the Ogallala Group Ash Hollow, Valentine, and Fort Randall Formations. Also includes the Thin Elk, Bon Homme, Herrick, Medicine Root, and "western derived" gravels. Thickness up to 70 ft (21 m).

Niobrara Formation (Late Cretaceous) at surface, covers 0.2 % of this area

Argillaceous chalk, limestone and shale. Chalk is medium gray to white, interbedded with thin layers of chalky shale; contains many fossil clams, oysters, and formanifera. Limestone is light gray to medium gray and yellowish gray, interbedded with medium-gray chalky shale; also contains fossil clams, oysters, and formanifera. Bedding plans commonly marked by thin layers of gypsum and locally a thin bed of red flint occurs at top of unit. Approx. max thickness 570 ft.

Dam (Unknown) at surface, covers < 0.1 % of this area

Dam

Alluvium (Quaternary) at surface, covers < 0.1 % of this area

Clay to boulder-size clasts with locally abundant organic material. Thickness up to 75 ft (23m).