| Summary: | NORTH DAKOTA More than half the state drains into the Missouri, either directly or into the James, which joins the Missouri after crossing South Dakota. The eastern border and part of the center drains to the Red River of the North, which flows northward to Winnipeg and eventually empties into Hudson Bay. Most of the northern part of the state drains to the Souris, which dips down from Canada as far as Minot before returning northward to join the Assiniboine, which in turn unites with the Red River at Winnipeg. The Red River valley is one of the most extensive flat areas in the world, having been the floor of glacial Lake Agassiz. Elsewhere the terrain is more varied, but only in and near the Bad Lands of the southwest is there any considerable expanse of land too rough for agriculture. The rock structure is simple, with a succession of nearly horizontal sedimentary formations like a stack of dinner plates. The most recent underlying the whole state are Cretaceous rocks of marine origin and over these in the western half are Tertiary continental deposits, including lignite. Also in the west are the oil and gas resources of the Williston Basin, which are drawn from rocks of several geologic ages. Both the Tertiary and Cretaceous near the surface have large aquifers that are being investigated as sources of ground water for irrigation. There are no metallic ore bodies within North Dakota, but the heavily mineralized Laurentian Shield comes near to the state to the north in Manitoba and to the east in Minnesota. North Dakota lignite is the closest source of fuel to the Minnesota iron ore, including taconite, and may well play a part in its further development. During the Ice Age, the Keewatin ice gap came down into North Dakota from Canada as far as the Missouri River, and left behind vast amounts of thick glacial till, upon which deep soils have developed. Favored by the sub-humid climate, which limits leaching, and the natural grass cover that prevailed almost everywhere before settlement, the state's soils are among the blackest and most fertile in the country. The combination of soil, level terrain and ease of access by rail makes possible mechanized farming for wheat and other small grains on a colossal scale, and one North Dakota farm family can and does raise as much food as eight or ten European families or scores of Oriental families. Although North Dakota's climate is much maligned for its extremes, there is no point in deny- North Dakota's largest industrial installation is the Mandan refinery of Standard Oil of Indiana. It is fed by a 220-mile crude oil pipe line from the Williston and Tioga fields and can handle nearly 41,000 barrels a day. Location of the North Dakota fields a long way from competing fields assures a large market for the output. 28 • INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT • SEPTEMBER, 1961
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