268 American Geologist. ^^y- ^^^s 
The Different Formations Underneath the City. 
Thickness. 
1. Drift 10 to 25 feet 
2. Trenton Limestone 25 feet to 30 feet 
3. St. Peter Sandstone 134 feet to 164 feet 
4. Shale in the St. Peter 1 to 5 feet 
5. St. Peter Sandstone 38 feet 
6. Shakopee Limestone, fissured 25 feet 
7. New Richmond Sandstone 2 to 25 feet 
8. Oneota Limestone 100 to 150 feet 
9. Jordan Sandstone 100 to 140 feet 
10. St. Lawrence Limestone and Shale 100 feet to 125 feet 
11. Dresbach Sandstone and Shale 100 feet to 200 feet 
12. Hinckley Sandstone 175 feet to 200 feet 
Conditions of Artesian Water. 
It was found in the progress of the survey that these forma- 
tions which are at a depth of several hundred feet below the 
city rise gently to the surface in all directions, north, south, 
east and west. For instance, the Jordan sandstone, which is 
here 450 feet below the surface, rises to a hight of an unknown 
number of feet above this level in Pine county, and in Sher- 
burne county, and in Blue Earth county. Toward the east in 
Wisconsin its actual outcrop and elevation need not be men- 
tioned, but it is known to be several hundred feet above the city 
of Minneapolis. 
In the same way the bottom of the St. Peter sandstone, 
which is here 200 feet below the surface, rises into the central 
part of Anoka county to about 275 feet higher, runs out on 
the south before reaching Carver, and on tlie east its lowest 
horizon is in central Washington county at a hight of 275 feet 
higher than in Minneapolis. Thus the various strata con- 
cerned lie in each other in the form of bowls with the rims 
rising to the surface at some distance from Minneapolis on all 
sides. See figure 2, the profile and section from Stillwater to 
Wright Co. 
Any geologist learning this condition of the underlying 
strata would immediately infer the probability of an artesian 
flow from each of these horizons at Minneapolis. 
Definition of Artesian. 
The term "artesian" has been misused and considerably cor- 
rupted. It was derived from the city in France named Artois, 
