Collection of Borehole Drill Cuttings from Minnesota
Dates
Repository Updated
2023-06-14
Summary
Static metadata (current to June 2023) of Minnesota's borehole drill cuttings collection maintained by the Minnesota Geological Survey (MGS). This collection of over 6,400 sets of drill cuttings dates as far back as the late 1800s. The collection is stored in our soil lab at our office and is accessible to the public by appointment. Each borehole cutting set is assigned a MGS lab number upon arrival, processed and washed by UMN student soil lab workers, and stored chronologically in cardboard boxes. Each cutting set cardboard box contains multiple paper envelopes representing a sample taken at that depth. Each paper envelope contains ~100-200 grams of original sample and ~100 grams of washed sample processed by our student lab workers. [...]
Summary
Static metadata (current to June 2023) of Minnesota's borehole drill cuttings collection maintained by the Minnesota Geological Survey (MGS). This collection of over 6,400 sets of drill cuttings dates as far back as the late 1800s. The collection is stored in our soil lab at our office and is accessible to the public by appointment. Each borehole cutting set is assigned a MGS lab number upon arrival, processed and washed by UMN student soil lab workers, and stored chronologically in cardboard boxes. Each cutting set cardboard box contains multiple paper envelopes representing a sample taken at that depth. Each paper envelope contains ~100-200 grams of original sample and ~100 grams of washed sample processed by our student lab workers. Approximately 80% of the collection has washed samples, and older, unwashed samples are routinely reexamined and washed based on mapping efforts. All samples are recorded in our PostgreSQL database alongside a link to any available geologist examination paper logs scanned as PDFs. Most, but not all, samples can be linked to located water wells contained within the Minnesota County Well Index (CWI). Where available, a related link to the CWI well record is provided.
Please contact Angela Radke (Collections Curator) at berth084@d.umn.edu or Andrew Retzler (Project Lead) at aretzler@umn.edu.
Purpose
Borehole drill cuttings samples are a crucial reference for ongoing Minnesota Geological Survey (MGS) mapping that supports applications such as groundwater and mineral resource management. Boreholes are a principal source of subsurface information in the State of Minnesota. Drill cuttings, in most cases, represent the only physical subsurface samples that exist for a borehole location. Cuttings samples are examined by MGS geologists on a project-by-project basis to better characterize subsurface geology. Although MGS geologists are the primary users of this collection, the stratigraphic information interpreted from these samples are directly applied to our geologic maps with users that range from environmental consultants, the mining industry, the public, to city, county, and state agencies.
Rights
Every attempt has been made to provide accurate data and working hyperlinks to corresponding water well records (stored in the Minnesota County Well Index) and PDFs of scanned description logs. Any risk as to the results of the use of this data is assumed by the user. The Minnesota Geological Survey is not responsible for any interpretations or conclusions made by those who acquire or use the information provided by the borehole cuttings database without direct consultation with MGS staff.
