readme.txt Geology and undiscovered resource assessment of the potash-bearing, Middle Devonian (Giventian), Prairie Evaporite, Elk Point Basin, Canada and United States By Mark D. Cocker, Greta J. Orris, Pamela Dunlap, Chao Yang, and James D. Bliss 2023 Scientific Investigations Report 2010-5090-CC Any use of trade, firm, or product names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government. INTRODUCTION The Elk Point Basin is an evaporite basin of Middle Devonian age that contains a large portion of the world's potash resources. Potash-bearing salt is concentrated in the upper 100 meters of the Prairie Evaporite in the Patience Lake, Belle Plaine, White Bear, and Esterhazy Members. Known potash mineralization is concentrated in the southeastern portion of the Elk Point Basin mainly in Saskatchewan and extending short distances into adjacent parts of Alberta, Manitoba, North Dakota, and Montana. Permissive tracts were delineated by the extent of each member of the Prairie Evaporite where the member is at least 1 meter in thickness and less than 3 kilometers from the surface. Potash resources were assessed for each tract using a method based on an enhanced geometric analysis of the likely spatial distribution of potash mineralization. We used Monte Carlo simulations to estimate missing or incomplete variables such as density, average grade, and geologic loss due to salt dissolution to calculate the distribution and abundance of estimated undiscovered potash (as K2O). Potash grades were calculated using both historic (1950s and 1960s) and recent (2007-2011) drill hole analyses. The mean estimated undiscovered K2O resource (which includes sylvite and carnallite) in these tracts is 864 billion metric tons. Eight spatial databases describing areal extent, thickness, grade, and volume of potash and carnallite mineralization in the Prairie Evaporite provide location and descriptive information for four areas (tracts) that are permissive for potash. These data were used to qualitatively assess potash resources. Results of the assessment are included in the spatial database ElkPt_tracts. All databases are stored as feature classes in the proprietary Esri File Geodatabase (FGDB) format. REVISIONS AND UPDATES No revisions are planned. FILE AND DATA FORMATS Text (.txt) files may be viewed without special software. Adobe Portable Document format (PDF) files may be viewed with ArcReader (available at no cost at www.adobe.com). Spatial databases and standalone eXtensible Markup Language (XML) files require geographic information system (GIS) software such as ArcReader, ArcView, ArcMap, or ArcGIS Pro. The spatial data files can be directly accessed by these applications. ArcView, ArcInfo, and ArcMap, and ArcGIS Pro are licensed applications that must be purchased. The vector spatial databases are Esri file geodatabase feature classes compiled in ArcGIS (version 10), a commercial GIS. The tract data are provided in geographic coordinates with the datum WGS_1984. All other data are provided in projected map coordinates (Albers Equal Area using North American datum 1983) for ease of use in spatial analysis and modeling. FGDC-compliant metadata are embedded in each of the spatial databases and are also provided as PDF and standalone XML files. FILES TO DOWNLOAD readme.txt - this ASCII text file. sir20105090cc.pdf - Report and illustrations. GIS_ElkPoint_potash.zip - Digital data in compressed ZIP file. GIS FOR FILE GEODATABASE IN ZIPPED FOLDER ElkPoint_potash.gdb - An ArcGIS ver. 10 Esri file geodatabase (FGDB). It contains eight feature classes: BP_isopach - Feature class (polygon) of thickness data for the Belle Plaine Member. ElkPt_carnallite - Feature class (polygon) for extent of carnallite mineralization in each permissive tract for undiscovered potash. ElkPt_grades - Feature class (point) for grades of potash and carnallite. ElkPt_thickness - Feature class (point) of well and drill hole data for thickness of potash-bearing rock. ElkPt_tracts - Feature class (polygon) of permissive tracts with quantitative assessment data and results. ES_isopach - Feature class (polygon) of thickness data for the Esterhazy Member. PL_isopach - Feature class (polygon) of thickness data for the Patience Lake Member. WB_isopach - Feature class (polygon) of thickness data for the White Bear Member. METADATA FILES IN ZIPPED FOLDER (\Metadata subfolder) BP_isopach_metadata.pdf/.xml - Metadata for the FGDB feature class BP_isopach. ElkPt_carnallite_metadata.pdf/.xml - Metadata for the FGDB feature class ElkPt_carnallite. ElkPt_grades_metadata.pdf/.xml - Metadata for the FGDB feature class ElkPt_grades. ElkPt_thickness_metadata.pdf/.xml - Metadata for the FGDB feature class ElkPt_thickness. ElkPt_tracts_metadata.pdf/.xml - Metadata for the FGDB feature class ElkPt_tracts. ES_isopach_metadata.pdf/.xml - Metadata for the FGDB feature class ES_isopach. PL_isopach_metadata.pdf/.xml - Metadata for the FGDB feature class PL_isopach. WB_isopach_metadata.pdf/.xml - Metadata for the FGDB feature class WB_isopach. SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7, Windows XP, or Windows 2000; Processor: Intel Pentium, Intel Core Duo, or Xeon; Minimum CPU speed: 2.2 GHz; Minimum RAM: 2 GB; VGA color monitor: 256 colors minimum display. All platforms: Adobe Acrobat Reader 6.0 or higher; GIS software capable of reading ArcGIS 10.2 File Geodatabases. QUICK START FOR GIS 1. Extract the data files from the ZIP file GIS_ElkPt_potash.zip into the folder of your choice. 2. Add the feature classes to a new or existing ArcMap 10 document or ArcGIS Pro project map. 3. View the data as a map with symbols of your own choosing. 4. To view the data in tabular format, invoke "Open Attribute Table" for the selected feature class. TIPS 1. If you have ArcGIS 10 and cannot view the complete metadata in ArcCatalog, please visit the Esri website at http://help.arcgis.com/en/arcgisdesktop/10.0/help/index.html#//003t00000031000000 and read the first part of "Creating and Managing FGDC metadata" for directions and insights to configuring ArcGIS 10 for FGDC metadata and viewing complete metadata for an item. The following steps provided by Esri apply: (a) Open the Options dialog box for your ArcGIS Desktop application. i. In ArcMap, click Customize > ArcMap Options. ii. In ArcCatalog, click Customize > ArcCatalog Options. The Options dialog box appears. (b) Click the Metadata tab. (c) Click FGDC CSDGM Metadata in the Metadata Style list. (d) Click OK. Note: If you're using the Description tab when you choose a new metadata style, you won't immediately see the results of this change. Click another tab in ArcCatalog or the Item Description window, then click the Description tab again for the new metadata style to take effect. 2. If you cannot view an entire entry because the text appears to be truncated in the Identify window, open the desired attribute table, and stretch out the column for the cell in question. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Leila Gass (USGS) digitized manual revisions to GIS-generated isopach lines, and Robert J. Miller (USGS) prepared figures for the report. Technical reviews by Marty Goldhaber, Christopher Swezey, and Robert J. Miller greatly improved improved this report. The suggested citation for this publication is: Cocker, M.D., Orris, G.J., Dunlap, P., Yang, C., and Bliss, J.D., 2023, Geology and undiscovered resource assessment of the potash-bearing, Middle Devonian (Givetian), Prairie Evaporite, Elk Point Basin, Canada and United States: U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2010-5090-CC, 145 p. and data files, https://doi.org/10.3133/sir20105090cc.