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Digital subsurface database of previously published well tops, structural features, and contour maps of the Inyan Kara Group, Minnekahta Formation, Minnelusa Formation, Madison Group, and Deadwood Formation, Black Hills region, South Dakota and Wyoming

Metadata Updated: January 21, 2026

This digital data release presents multiple previously published elements of the structural configuration of the Black Hills regional subsurface. The original data within this geodatabase is sourced from multiple U.S. Geological Survey Open File Reports into the hydrology of the Black Hills, stored on the USGS Water Mission Area NSDI Node (Driscoll, 1992; Strobel et al., 1999; Williamson et al., 2000). Data include mapped surface exposures of faults and fold hinges, the location and depth of 1025 formation tops of the Madison Group, Minnelusa Formation, and Minnekahta Formation from water well scout tickets, isopach contours of the Madison Group and Minnelusa Formation, and structure contour maps of the top of the Deadwood Formation, Madison Group, Minnelusa Formation, Minnekahta Formation, and Inyan Kara Group. Isopach and structure contour maps were generated using a combination of formation tops and known fold and fault traces (Williamson et al., 2000). Characterizing these units in the subsurface is of value, as they have been identified as highly productive groundwater sources in the Black Hills, and prospective hydrocarbon reservoirs in the adjacent Powder River and Williston Basins (Strobel et al., 1999; Williamson et al., 2000). Geologic formation tops, fold and fault traces, isopach contours, and structure contours were digitized and attributed as GIS data sets for use in digital form as part of U.S. Geological Survey’s ongoing effort to inventory, catalog, and release subsurface geologic data in geospatial form. This effort is part of a broad directive to develop 2D and 3D geologic information at detailed, national, and continental scales. Structure contour lines and isopach contours for each formation are stored within separate IsoValueLine feature classes, while formation tops for each formation are stored as point data in separate “GenericPoints” feature classes. Fold hinge traces are stored in the GeologicLines feature class, while faults are stored in the ContactsAndFaults feature class. These are distributed within a geographic information system geodatabase and are also saved as shapefiles. Contour and point data are provided in both feet and meters to maintain consistency with the original publication and for ease of use. Nonspatial tables define the data sources used, define terms used in the dataset, and describe the geologic units referenced herein. A tabular data dictionary describes the entity and attribute information for all attributes of the geospatial data and accompanying nonspatial tables.

Access & Use Information

Public: This dataset is intended for public access and use. License: No license information was provided. If this work was prepared by an officer or employee of the United States government as part of that person's official duties it is considered a U.S. Government Work.

Downloads & Resources

Dates

Metadata Created Date January 13, 2026
Metadata Updated Date January 21, 2026

Metadata Source

Harvested from DOI USGS DCAT-US

Additional Metadata

Resource Type Dataset
Metadata Created Date January 13, 2026
Metadata Updated Date January 21, 2026
Publisher U.S. Geological Survey
Maintainer
Identifier http://datainventory.doi.gov/id/dataset/USGS_633af93ad34e900e86cf132e
Data Last Modified 2022-10-27T00:00:00Z
Category geospatial
Public Access Level public
Bureau Code 010:12
Metadata Context https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.jsonld
Metadata Catalog ID https://ddi.doi.gov/usgs-data.json
Schema Version https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema
Catalog Describedby https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.json
Datagov Dedupe Retained 20260121062710
Harvest Object Id 09a99b35-3da4-4758-92cf-d81619ae5d2b
Harvest Source Id 2b80d118-ab3a-48ba-bd93-996bbacefac2
Harvest Source Title DOI USGS DCAT-US
Metadata Type geospatial
Old Spatial {"type": "Polygon", "coordinates": -104.2390, 43.1043, -104.2390, 44.8337, -102.8920, 44.8337, -102.8920, 43.1043, -104.2390, 43.1043}
Source Datajson Identifier True
Source Hash 034a1a8aae7256e8e31dceba92637b13ca181ba73924bdccb2f906b16e055093
Source Schema Version 1.1
Spatial {"type": "Polygon", "coordinates": -104.2390, 43.1043, -104.2390, 44.8337, -102.8920, 44.8337, -102.8920, 43.1043, -104.2390, 43.1043}

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