The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1913-10-31
GIANT REPTILES
IN NORTH DAKOTA
United States Geological
Service Finds Fossils Mil
lions of Years Old.
GREAT VARIETY
FOUND IN STUDY
Some Sluggish, Others Ac-
tive While Flying was d.
version of a Few.

n natural Of North Da-
kota are prime factors in it's Industrial
development and for this reason the
of the United States geological
survey in the state is always a mat
ter of interest and Importance. Dur
Vey has been. at the request of the
ONCE OF Indian affairs. g%eologically
examining and classifying the lands
OF the Fort BerthOld Indian reserva-
ton. This work is being done by c..
NJ. Bauer and c. A.. BONNIE. Speci-
mems Of the remarkable vertebrate
fossil animals found in this region are
by c. w. Gilmore of the national
museum: Detailed geologic mapping
Or the Morton county Ignite field is
being prosecuted by +. r. Lloyd.
Giant Reptiles.
n Fort Berthold indian reserva-
ton is proving a good field for col
lectlng fossil remains of the mammoth
reptiles which inhabited the earth
Just prior to the time when mammal
types became dominant. These an
cient animals attained remarkable
sixty feet in length. They were ex-
ceedingly diverse in habits and form;
some lived on flesh, others on vege-
tation. Some We're large and sluggish
OF movement, others small and agile.
Some flew in the air, their great web
IKE extensions. in some species Il
score OF feet from tip to tip. serving
as wings; others lived in the sea:
and still others on land. The study
of the remains of these animals, which
h%ourished millions of years and
then entirely disappeared from the
face of the earth. affords one of the
. interesting fields of investigation
in geology. The remains occur as
fossil bones, in places whole ske;e.
tons being preserved embedded in tbs
rock, but more commonly isolated
bones are found. The study of such
remains, however. has been brough,
down to so fine d point that from j
single foot bone or portion of the
skull it may be possible for the en-
perienced pa%leontologist to identify
the particular type of reptile of which
it formed a part. Geologsts are dill
gent in their search for these re-
the significance that the cusps o.
horses teeth have to- the horseman.
The types varied in different geologic
periods, so that as a rule. by deter
mining the type of life represented by
the fossil remains the relative age o:
The rock is ascertatned.
All fossils collected by members of
III SItllcu oloNS SCoioSlCdi survey
are taken to Washington and. after
serving their purpose in determining
the age of the rocks from which they
came, are sent to the, national museum
where many are placed on exhibition.
Studies in Water Resources.
The United States geological survey
is also investigating the water re-
sources of North Dakota with special
reference to the flow of surface wa
ore IN,,, tli.. ,,r,,.r rr, ,,:, ~ 40 =, {; 80.
are maintained OF the Cannonball
river at Stevenson, on the North
Fork of Grand river at Haley, on
Heart river at R~ichardton. on Knife
river at Bronchu, on Mouse river at
Minot. on Pe,nhina river at Neche.
and on Red river at Fargo and Grand
Forks.
Missouri river basin. the others in the
Hudson bay basin. The station II,
Stevenson is maintained in co-opera-
ton with the Indian office: the other
stations are maintained entirely "
the geological survey. At these gag
ing stations the height or stage of the
rivers is determined each day by local
observers and at some stations by
automatic cages. and measurements
Of the discharge of the streams are
made by survey engineers. From
these data the quantity of water flow
ing past the stations is determined.
Stream-tlow records find their great
est use in North Dakota i'll the design,
construction and maintenance of pow
er plants and irrigation projects. in
river regulation. and in food control.
Such records are necessary also in
all problems in which the flow of
water is involved, such as those relat-
ing to the classification of the public
lands. Carey act examinations, NUM-
eipal water supplies. stream pollu-
fion. water storage, seepage, and land
drainage.