Quaternary geologic map of the Wolf Point 1° × 2° quadrangle, Montana and North Dakota

Open-File Report 2016-1142
Prepared in cooperation with the Montana Bureau of Mines and Geology
By: , and 

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Abstract

The Wolf Point quadrangle encompasses approximately 16,084 km2 (6,210 mi2). The northern boundary is the Montana/Saskatchewan (U.S.-Canada) boundary. The quadrangle is in the Northern Plains physiographic province and it includes the Peerless Plateau and Flaxville Plain. The primary river is the Missouri River.

The map units are surficial deposits and materials, not landforms. Deposits that comprise some constructional landforms (for example, ground-moraine deposits, end-moraine deposits, and stagnation-moraine deposits, all composed of till) are distinguished for purposes of reconstruction of glacial history. Surficial deposits and materials are assigned to 23 map units on the basis of genesis, age, lithology or composition, texture or particle size, and other physical, chemical, and engineering characteristics. It is not a map of soils that are recognized in pedology or agronomy.  Rather, it is a generalized map of soils recognized in engineering geology, or of substrata or parent materials in which pedologic or agronomic soils are formed.  Glaciotectonic (ice-thrust) structures and deposits are mapped separately, represented by a symbol. The surficial deposits are glacial, ice-contact, glaciofluvial, alluvial, lacustrine, eolian, colluvial, and mass-movement deposits.

Till of late Wisconsin age is represented by three map units. Till of Illinoian age also is mapped.  Till deposited during pre-Illinoian glaciations is not mapped, but is widespread in the subsurface.  Linear ice-molded landforms (primarily drumlins), shown by symbol, indicate directions of ice flow during late Wisconsin and Illinoian glaciations. The Quaternary geologic map of the Wolf Point quadrangle, northeastern Montana and North Dakota, was prepared to provide a database for compilation of a Quaternary geologic map of the Regina 4° × 6° quadrangle, United States and Canada, at scale 1:1,000,000, for the U.S. Geological Survey Quaternary Geologic Atlas of the United States map series.  This map was compiled from data from many sources, at several different map scales.  That information was generalized and simplified, and then transferred to a base map at 1:250,000 scale to serve as the base for final reduction to 1:1,000,000, the nominal reading scale of maps in the Quaternary Geologic Atlas of the United States map series.  This map is the generalized and simplified 1:250,000 scale compilation.  Letter symbols for the map units are those used for the same units in the Quaternary Geologic Atlas of the United States map series. The map summarizes new, and selected published and unpublished, geologic information for public use and for use by Federal, State, and local governmental agencies for land use planning, including assessment of natural resources, natural hazards, recreation potential, and land use management.  It also is a base from which a variety of maps relating to earth surface processes and Quaternary geologic history can be derived.


Suggested Citation

Fullerton, D.S., Colton, R.B., and Bush, C.A., 2016, Quaternary geologic map of the Wolf Point 1˚ × 2˚ quadrangle, Montana and North Dakota: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2016–1142, scale 1:250,000, http://dx.doi.org/10.3133/ofr20161142.

ISSN: 2331-1258 (online)

Study Area

Publication type Report
Publication Subtype USGS Numbered Series
Title Quaternary geologic map of the Wolf Point 1° × 2° quadrangle, Montana and North Dakota
Series title Open-File Report
Series number 2016-1142
DOI 10.3133/ofr20161142
Year Published 2016
Language English
Publisher U.S. Geological Survey
Publisher location Reston, VA
Contributing office(s) Geosciences and Environmental Change Science Center
Description Map: 56.00 x 35.00 inches; Geodatabase; Metadata; Read Me; Shape Files
Country United States
State Montana, North Dakota
Online Only (Y/N) Y
Google Analytic Metrics Metrics page
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