The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1903-12-18
T RESOURCES.
Geological Survey Issues Interesting
Report on South Dakota.

ordinarily apparent when the character
OF part of the soil is considered. In
drift regions 1t shows accommodations Of
alkali, which sometimes interferes
with the growth Of vegetation. This,
however. depends upon the amour OF
moisture. When the moisture Is abund-
ant the alkal seems rather a fertilizer.
Persons interested In the agricultural
development of the state will find q
perusal Of the Olivet geologic folio,
which has just been issued from the
press of the United States geological
survey, much to their advantage. In
this folio and the folios in preparation
concerning the adjacent quadrangles Of
Parker, Alexandria and Mitchell, which
Will be issued within a month, the wa
ter of the district are thor
oughly considered, and important rec
concentrations concerning their conser-
walton and reinforcement are made
The Olive quadrangle, So named for
the town of Olivet, an aggregation of
o $50 souls, lies mostly within the
drainage basin of James river and en-
braces portions Of Hutchinson, Bon
homme. and Yankton counties. The
country is mostly level, or presents low,
rolling slopes, rising out Of broad ex-
panses of plains. The surface is in large
part covered with a mantle of glacial
deposits consisting of gravel, sand, silt,
and clay of varying thickness.
The most important natural resource
OF this quadrangle is water, which Is
readily divided into surface water and
underground water. Under the former
are included lakes, springs and streams,
n under the latter the sources which
furnish shallow wells, artesian wells
n tubular wells.
Most Of the lakes In this region are
dry toward the end of the summer.
THEW r6rajyra thnjr I,-ot1rS 1front1Nr FROM
the rainfall and their endurance conse-
Quently depends OF the extent of the
drainage basin, the depth of the reser-
voirs and the sufficiency or lack of pre-
~cipitatlon. After a succession of wet
years the lake beds over the whole dis
trlct are filed with water, but on the
other hand, during a season when the
rainfall has been light they are some
times dry enough for tillage. Perma-
nent springs in his district are rare,
but a few occur along James river and
Its principal tributaries. James river
Is the only stream that can be depended
upon to contain water throughout the
year. Portions of certain creeks are
seldom entirely dry, but in the latter
part of summer the water rarely flows
continually more than a mile or two
above their mouths.
The most accessible underground
water is that which flows near the
surface Of the ground, seeping through
the yellowish upper portion Of the till
toward a water course wherever there
are shallow accommodations of sand to
form conduits for it.. Where the slope
or the surface Is toward an under
ground basin the water of the yellow
TILL flows out and forms an open lake,
so that the general water level sinks.
1t may then be drawn upon by shall
low wells. n for a number of years
: q " ynv {o lA ~fs-D1 ~ IN-, - -
the demand Of neighboring farms, but
In time of drought it is gradually ex-
hausted. Early in the period Of set
tlemen OF the region there shallow
wells were the main dependence of the
farmers. In 1881 and a few years SUBJ
sequent water was abundant in them,
but after a series of dry years It be-
came exhausted, and farmers were
forced to go deeper for their supply.
The next lower water Is derived
from the sand and gravel at the base
Of the drift. These are reached by
penetrating the till by borings, usually
an inch or two in diameter, to q depth
Of from 100 to ESQ feet and even 300
feet below the surface. There are in
the quadrangle wells Of this class which
have been flowing for more than TWEEN
ty years.
The deep wells supplied from sources
In the till are commonly known as
tubular wells. 1t seems evident that
the original source of this supply is
the local rainfall, the same as that Of
shallow wells. but 1t is a more constant
supply, because the water enters moro
gradually. It is more continuous and
does not waste in evaporation. 1t
should not. however, be considered in
eXhaustible. for If a ubula well Is
drawn upon too freely the supply may
gradually fail, the decline being first
apparent In an elevated region.
1t is universally agreed that the main
artesian supply Is derived from the
sandstone and sand beds of the Da-
kota Aormation. though smaller flows
are obtained from sandstone in the
Benton formation. The Dakota sand
stone owes Its capacity as a water
storer to several causes. The first of
these Is It's great extent, for it under
lies most of the Great Plains from the
Rocky Mountains eastwood to about
h ninety-f1fth meridian. The high
elevation of Its western border, which
Is located In the moist region of the
mountains and Is crossed by numerous
mountain streams, Is Of great assist
ance; so also Is the fact that 1t Is large
ly sealed at Its eastern margin by the
overlapping of clays of the Colorado
formation, and. where these are absent,
by the glacial till sheet. The denuda-
ton Of wid areas by older streams, es-
pecially in North and South Dakota,
so as to bring the land surface below
the level Of the pressure height pro-
duced by the elevated source Of the
water at the western border Of the for
nation is another cause of the eff
flciency of the Dakota So udstone as q
water reservoir. Wells supplied from
the Dakota and everything sandstones
may be either pumping or flowing
wells.
The folio contains a detailed discus
sion of variations in artesian pressure
and includes some valuable suggestions
to we'll borers. The possibility of deep.
er flows in certain portions OF the
quadrangle seems strong 1t is sug.
gested that the supply Of underground
water be REINFORCED by the construc.
ton. where practicable, Of dams across
shallow water courses in suck a way
as to produce ponds. The water o,
these will gradually sink into the
ground and reach the shallow and
tubular wells which are ordinarily re-
plenished by the percolation Of rain.
fall.
The folio, which is 90. is the work O,
=