Geology Of Nebraska
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Geology Of Nebraska
The geology of Nebraska is part of the broader geology of the Great Plains of the central United States. Nebraska's landscape is dominated by surface features, soil and aquifers in loosely compacted sediments, with areas of the state where thick layers of sedimentary rock outcrop. Nebraska's sediments and sedimentary rocks lie atop a basement of crystalline rock known only through drilling. Geologic history, bedrock geology and stratigraphy The land that is today Nebraska originated as a juvenile crust expansion of the continent Laurentia—today part of the North American Craton and the core of the North American continent—between 1.8 and 1.6 billion years ago (Ga). Tectonic models suggest that Laurentia was part of the supercontinent Columbia but returned to being an independent continent between 1.35 and 1.3 billion years ago after which it became joined first to Protorodinia and the supercontinent Rodinia by 1.07 Billion years ago (Ga). The Precambrian basement rocks of Ne ...
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Nebraska
Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the southwest; and Wyoming to the west. It is the only triply landlocked U.S. state. Indigenous peoples, including Omaha, Missouria, Ponca, Pawnee, Otoe, and various branches of the Lakota ( Sioux) tribes, lived in the region for thousands of years before European exploration. The state is crossed by many historic trails, including that of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Nebraska's area is just over with a population of over 1.9 million. Its capital is Lincoln, and its largest city is Omaha, which is on the Missouri River. Nebraska was admitted into the United States in 1867, two years after the end of the American Civil War. The Nebraska Legislature is unlike any other American legislature in that it is unicameral, and its members are elected ...
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Ogallala Aquifer
The Ogallala Aquifer () is a shallow water table aquifer surrounded by sand, silt, clay, and gravel located beneath the Great Plains in the United States. One of the world's largest aquifers, it underlies an area of approximately in portions of eight states (South Dakota, Nebraska, Wyoming, Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Texas). It was named in 1898 by geologist N. H. Darton from its type locality near the town of Ogallala, Nebraska. The aquifer is part of the High Plains Aquifer System, and resides in the Ogallala Formation, which is the principal geologic unit underlying 80% of the High Plains. Large-scale extraction for agricultural purposes started after World War II due partially to center pivot irrigation and to the adaptation of automotive engines for groundwater wells. Today about 27% of the irrigated land in the entire United States lies over the aquifer, which yields about 30% of the ground water used for irrigation in the United States. The aquif ...
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Hydraulic Fracturing
Fracking (also known as hydraulic fracturing, hydrofracturing, or hydrofracking) is a well stimulation technique involving the fracturing of bedrock formations by a pressurized liquid. The process involves the high-pressure injection of "fracking fluid" (primarily water, containing sand or other proppants suspended with the aid of thickening agents) into a wellbore to create cracks in the deep-rock formations through which natural gas, petroleum, and brine will flow more freely. When the hydraulic pressure is removed from the well, small grains of hydraulic fracturing proppants (either sand or aluminium oxide) hold the fractures open. Hydraulic fracturing began as an experiment in 1947, and the first commercially successful application followed in 1950. As of 2012, 2.5 million "frac jobs" had been performed worldwide on oil and gas wells, over one million of those within the U.S. Such treatment is generally necessary to achieve adequate flow rates in shale gas, tight gas, tig ...
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Crawford, Nebraska
Crawford is a city in Dawes County, in the northwestern part of the state of Nebraska, in the Great Plains region of the United States. The population was 997 at the 2010 census. It was incorporated in 1886 and was named for the late Captain Emmet Crawford, who had been stationed at nearby Fort Robinson. History The Fremont, Elkhorn and Missouri Valley Railroad reached Fort Robinson in 1886 on its way to Wyoming. Several miles east of the Fort, the railroad passed through a tree claim belonging to William Annin (also spelled "Annon"), who sold his claim for a new townsite. The "tent city" that sprang up around the railroad was named after Lt. Emmet Crawford, who had been formerly stationed at Fort Robinson but was killed in Mexico in January 1886. The town's original plat was filed on June 21, 1886 by the Western Townsite Company. E.A. Thompson and William D. Edger (editor of the original '' Crawford Clipper'') circulated a petition for Crawford to become a village, but upon gett ...
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Crow Butte
Crow Butte is a uranium mining operation located southeast of the city of Crawford in Dawes County, Nebraska, United States. Cameco Corporation owns and operates Crow Butte through its wholly owned subsidiary, Crow Butte Resources, Inc. History Crow Butte was the first uranium mine developed in Nebraska. It was discovered in 1980 and begin production in April 1991. It is a roll-front uranium deposit, mined using in-situ recovery (ISR). Due to weakening of the uranium market, production ceased in 2018. The project is under care and maintenance pending an improvement in uranium prices. Description At Crow Butte, uranium ore is mined in place underground in well fields. Uranium is extracted from basal Chadron Formation sandstone aquifers below the surface by the in-situ recovery process. A solution of water, oxygen and sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) is injected into the orebody, which liberates the uranium from its sandstone host and allows recovery by production wells. The ...
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Pleistocene
The Pleistocene ( , often referred to as the ''Ice age'') is the geological Epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 2,580,000 to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was finally confirmed in 2009 by the International Union of Geological Sciences, the cutoff of the Pleistocene and the preceding Pliocene was regarded as being 1.806 million years Before Present (BP). Publications from earlier years may use either definition of the period. The end of the Pleistocene corresponds with the end of the last glacial period and also with the end of the Paleolithic age used in archaeology. The name is a combination of Ancient Greek grc, label=none, πλεῖστος, pleīstos, most and grc, label=none, καινός, kainós (latinized as ), 'new'. At the end of the preceding Pliocene, the previously isolated North and South American continents were joined by the Isthmus of Panama, causing Great American Interchang ...
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Holocene
The Holocene ( ) is the current geological epoch. It began approximately 11,650 cal years Before Present (), after the Last Glacial Period, which concluded with the Holocene glacial retreat. The Holocene and the preceding Pleistocene together form the Quaternary period. The Holocene has been identified with the current warm period, known as MIS 1. It is considered by some to be an interglacial period within the Pleistocene Epoch, called the Flandrian interglacial.Oxford University Press – Why Geography Matters: More Than Ever (book) – "Holocene Humanity" section https://books.google.com/books?id=7P0_sWIcBNsC The Holocene corresponds with the rapid proliferation, growth and impacts of the human species worldwide, including all of its written history, technological revolutions, development of major civilizations, and overall significant transition towards urban living in the present. The human impact on modern-era Earth and its ecosystems may be considered of global si ...
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Platte River
The Platte River () is a major river in the State of Nebraska. It is about long; measured to its farthest source via its tributary, the North Platte River, it flows for over . The Platte River is a tributary of the Missouri River, which itself is a tributary of the Mississippi River which flows to the Gulf of Mexico. The Platte over most of its length is a broad, shallow, meandering stream with a sandy bottom and many islands—a braided stream. The Platte is one of the most significant tributary systems in the watershed of the Missouri, draining a large portion of the central Great Plains in Nebraska and the eastern Rocky Mountains in Colorado and Wyoming. The river valley played an important role in the westward expansion of the United States, providing the route for several major emigrant trails, including the Oregon, California, Mormon and Bozeman trails. The first Europeans to see the Platte were French explorers and fur trappers about 1714; they first called it the '' ...
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Shelton, Nebraska
Shelton is a village in Buffalo and Hall counties, Nebraska, United States. It is part of the Kearney, Nebraska Micropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 1,059 at the 2010 census. It is located west of Grand Island along both the Union Pacific Railroad and U.S. Route 30. Nebraska Link 10-D connects Shelton with Interstate 80. Geography Shelton is located at (40.777487, -98.733282). According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of , all land. The downtown business district is situated near the banks of the Wood River and the historic Lincoln Highway (now U.S. Highway 30) passes through Shelton. History Shelton, evolving from Wood River Centre, is one of the older communities in Nebraska. The first European settler to live in the area was a Mormon by the name of Joseph Johnson in 1858. His store, blacksmithery, wagon repair shop, tintype gallery, bakery, place where meals could be obtained, and printing office served early pioneers. The ...
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Nebraska Panhandle
The Nebraska Panhandle is an area in the western part of the state of Nebraska and one of several U.S. state panhandles, or elongated geographical regions that extend from their main political entity. The Nebraska panhandle is two-thirds as broad as the rest of the state. It is approximately east to west and north to south. The Nebraska panhandle roughly encompasses the area in Nebraska between 102° and 104°W longitude and 41° and 43°N latitude. It comprises 11 counties with a combined land area of , or about 18.45 percent of the state's land. Its population as of the 2010 Census was 87,789 inhabitants, or about 4.70 percent of the state's population. Its largest city is Scottsbluff, in the west-central part of the area. Counties Cities and towns Major cities in the Nebraska panhandle include: *Alliance * Chadron * Kimball * Scottsbluff - Gering * Sidney *Bridgeport * Hemingford Population shifts As part of a general trend in migration from rural to metropolita ...
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Bentonite
Bentonite () is an absorbent swelling clay consisting mostly of montmorillonite (a type of smectite) which can either be Na-montmorillonite or Ca-montmorillonite. Na-montmorillonite has a considerably greater swelling capacity than Ca-montmorillonite. Bentonite usually forms from the weathering of volcanic ash in seawater, or by hydrothermal circulation through the porosity of volcanic ash beds, which converts (devitrification) the volcanic glass ( obsidian, rhyolite, dacite) present in the ash into clay minerals. In the mineral alteration process, a large fraction (up to 40-50 wt.%) of amorphous silica is dissolved and leached away, leaving the bentonite deposit in place. Bentonite beds are white or pale blue or green (traces of reduced ) in fresh exposures, turning to a cream color and then yellow, red, or brown (traces of oxidized ) as the exposure is weathered further. As a swelling clay, bentonite has the ability to absorb large quantities of water, which increa ...
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