Fossil Cycad National Monument, Fall River County, South Dakota, USAi
| Regional Level Types | |
|---|---|
| Fossil Cycad National Monument | National Monument |
| Fall River County | County |
| South Dakota | State |
| USA | Country |
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Latitude & Longitude (WGS84):
43° 23' 40'' North , 103° 43' 34'' West
Latitude & Longitude (decimal):
Type:
Köppen climate type:
Nearest Settlements:
| Place | Population | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Edgemont | 739 (2017) | 13.2km |
| Hot Springs | 3,532 (2017) | 20.7km |
| Pringle | 109 (2017) | 26.1km |
| Buffalo Gap | 121 (2017) | 35.1km |
| Custer | 1,952 (2017) | 42.6km |
Mindat Locality ID:
122359
Long-form identifier:
mindat:1:2:122359:3
GUID (UUID V4):
ef2a625c-3c03-447e-beaa-a7903e837fe3
An occurrence located 3 miles SW of town.
A fossil cycad is a unique plant that has been silicified in the same manner as petrified wood. A simple description given in Wikipedia is, “Cycads have a rosette of pinnate leaves around a cylindrical trunk.” At the point where the long leaf fronds intersect the “trunk” there is a pronounced diamond shaped leaf scar that distinguishes it from the similar appearance of petrified wood. Specimens of petrified cycads are rarely found in private collections but specimens from this site in the Black Hills of South Dakota reside in many museums throughout the world.
Around 1890 ranchers near Minnekahta, South Dakota began finding fossil cycads and supplemented their incomes by selling them as “petrified pineapples”. Minnekahta was about 11 miles west of Hot Springs at the intersection of highways 18 and 89 but there does not appear to be a municipality there today. In 1892 Thomas H. Macbride, a professor from the University of Iowa, obtained a specimen from a shop in Minnekahta. After analysis this specimen became the holotype specimen for Bennettites dacotensis Macbride, and the scientific community took great interest in the location.
In 1893 Macbride returned to the area at the base of Parker Peak and collected about 40 or 50 additional specimens near the Payne and Arnold horse ranch. There were thousands available and collectors from universities and ranchers-turned-dealers exploited the resource. To preserve this remarkable site, in 1922, President Warren G. Harding created Fossil Cycad National Monument in the Black Hills of South Dakota. Unfortunately the site was not protected and collecting continued. The site was evaluated in 1957 and found to be devoid of specimens and congress removed the site from the National Monument system. Today the land is still owned by the United States government but it is being leased for cattle grazing.
Select Mineral List Type
Standard Detailed Gallery Strunz Chemical ElementsCommodity List
This is a list of exploitable or exploited mineral commodities recorded at this locality.Mineral List
1 valid mineral.
Detailed Mineral List:
| ⓘ Quartz Formula: SiO2 |
| ⓘ Quartz var. Agate |
| ⓘ Quartz var. Chalcedony Formula: SiO2 |
Gallery:
List of minerals arranged by Strunz 10th Edition classification
| Group 4 - Oxides and Hydroxides | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| ⓘ | Quartz var. Agate | 4.DA.05 | SiO2 |
| ⓘ | var. Chalcedony | 4.DA.05 | SiO2 |
| ⓘ | 4.DA.05 | SiO2 | |
List of minerals for each chemical element
| O | Oxygen | |
|---|---|---|
| O | ⓘ Quartz var. Chalcedony | SiO2 |
| O | ⓘ Quartz | SiO2 |
| Si | Silicon | |
| Si | ⓘ Quartz var. Chalcedony | SiO2 |
| Si | ⓘ Quartz | SiO2 |
Other Regions, Features and Areas containing this locality
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References
Fossil Cycad National Monument, Fall River County, South Dakota, USA