Cox Lake sinkhole, Lawrence County, South Dakota, USAi
| Regional Level Types | |
|---|---|
| Cox Lake sinkhole | Well |
| Lawrence County | County |
| South Dakota | State |
| USA | Country |
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Latitude & Longitude (WGS84):
44° 33' 52'' North , 103° 59' 37'' West
Latitude & Longitude (decimal):
Type:
Köppen climate type:
Nearest Settlements:
| Place | Population | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| North Spearfish | 2,285 (2017) | 10.3km |
| Spearfish | 11,283 (2017) | 13.5km |
| Belle Fourche | 5,696 (2017) | 16.3km |
| Saint Onge | 191 (2017) | 21.7km |
| Central City | 130 (2017) | 28.2km |
The I-90 freeway crosses the Northern Black Hills through a natural pass between the lower Black Hills and the Bear Lodge Mountains to the northwest. The Bear Lodge Mountains and Devil’s Tower in Wyoming are associated with the same uplift that exposed the Harney Granite in the lower hills. The I-90 freeway was constructed on the “red beds” of the Spearfish formation affording travelers with many views of karst geology and deposits of gypsum.
Cox Lake, better described as a pond, is a sinkhole with a steady artesian water flow. It results from the dissolution of a deeply buried anhydrite deposit. As the anhydrite dissolved it provided large quantities of calcium sulfate in solution that dispersed into the Spearfish formation creating extensive gypsum beds due to the hydration of the calcium sulfate.
The best view of the sinkhole is the satellite image shown on the location page. If you zoom in you will see a shallow pond with a round black hole that plunges to a depth of 65 feet. You will be looking at the opening of a water filled breccia pipe. It is interesting to note that this pond is likely similar to the pond at the Mammoth Site in Hot Springs, South Dakota that trapped so many mammoths thousands of years ago.
List of minerals for each chemical element
Other Regions, Features and Areas containing this locality
North AmericaContinent
North America PlateTectonic Plate
- Wyoming CratonCraton
- Wyoming DomainDomain
USA
- Black HillsMountain Range
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Cox Lake sinkhole, Lawrence County, South Dakota, USA