Title: Structure contour and overburden maps of the Niobrara interval of the Upper Cretaceous Cody Shale in the Wind River Basin, Wyoming By Thomas M. Finn 2019 U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Map 3427 The ScienceBase files that support this report are available at https://doi.org/10.5066/F7BZ65CN ABSTRACT: The Wind River Basin in central Wyoming is one of many structural and sedimentary basins that formed in the Rocky Mountain foreland during the Laramide orogeny. The basin is bounded by the Washakie, Owl Creek, and southern Bighorn uplifts on the north, the Casper arch on the east, the Granite Mountains uplift on the south, and Wind River uplift on the west. The first commercial oil well in Wyoming was drilled at Dallas dome near an oil seep along the southwestern edge of the Wind River Basin in 1884. Since then, many important conventional oil and gas fields, that produce from reservoirs ranging in age from Mississippian through Tertiary, have been discovered in this basin. In addition, an extensive unconventional (continuous) overpressured basin-centered gas accumulation has been identified in Cretaceous and Tertiary strata in the deeper parts of the basin. It has been suggested that various Upper Cretaceous marine shales, including the Cody Shale, are the principal hydrocarbon source rocks for many of these accumulations. With recent advances in horizontal drilling and multistage fracture stimulation, there has been an increase in exploration and completion of wells in equivalent marine shales in other Rocky Mountain Laramide basins that were traditionally thought of only as hydrocarbon source rocks. The maps presented in this report were constructed as part of a project carried out by the U.S. Geological Survey to characterize the geologic framework of potential undiscovered continuous (unconventional) oil and gas resources of the Niobrara interval of the Upper Cretaceous Cody Shale in the Wind River Basin in central Wyoming. DISCLAIMERS: This database, identified as SIM3427, has been approved for release by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). Although this database has been subjected to rigorous review and is substantially complete, the USGS reserves the right to revise the data pursuant to further analysis and review. Furthermore, it is released on condition that neither the USGS nor the United States Government may be held liable for any damages resulting from its authorized or unauthorized use. Although these data have been processed successfully on a computer system at the U.S. Geological Survey, no warranty, expressed or implied is made regarding the display or utility of the data on any other system, or for general or scientific purposes, nor shall the act of distribution constitute such warranty. The USGS or the U.S. Government shall not be held liable for improper or incorrect use of the data described and/or contained herein. Any use of trade, product or firm names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government. Although this information product, for the most part, is in the public domain, it also may contain copyrighted material as noted in the text. Permission to reproduce copyrighted items for other than personal use must be secured from the copyright owner. MAP AND REPORT FILES: The map sheets and pamphlet are located at and can be downloaded via the Web from the U.S. Geological Survey publications website at https://doi.org/10.3113/sim3427 LIST OF FILES sim3427_pamphlet.pdf sim3427_sheet1.pdf sim3427_sheet2.pdf sim3427_Readme.txt The map sheets can be obtained via the Internet from the U.S. Geological Survey publications website. Go to the web page at https://doi.org/10.3133/sim3427/ and follow the directions to download the files. An Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) file (SIM3427.map.pdf), can be downloaded, from which paper copies may be printed. The main product is a Portable Document Format (PDF) map, which requires Adobe Acrobat for viewing. This Portable Document Format (PDF) file (sim3427_map.pdf) can be downloaded, from which paper copies may be printed. Acrobat software runs on a variety of systems, and is available for download free of charge from Adobe at http://www.adobe.com. Suggested citation: Finn, T.M., 2019, Structure contour and overburden maps of the Niobrara interval of the Upper Cretaceous Cody Shale in the Wind River Basin, Wyoming: U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Map 3427, pamphlet 9 p., 2 sheets, scale 1:500,000, https://doi.org/10.3133/sim3427. This map is offered as an online-only, digital publication. Users should be aware that, because of differences in rendering processes and pixel resolution, some slight distortion of scale may occur when viewing it on a computer screen or when printing it on an electronic plotter, even when it is viewed or printed at its intended publication scale.