Great Plains, United States

Dutton A. R. and Simpkins W. W. (1989) Isotopic evidence for paleohydrologic evolution of ground-water flowpaths, southern Great Plains, United States. Geology 17(7), 653-656. 

Hard red winter (HRW) is an important bread wheat that accounts for more than 40% of the United States wheat crop and wheat exports. This fall-seeded wheat is produced in the Great Plains, which extend from the Mississippi River west to the Rocky Mountains, and from the Dakotas and Montana south to Texas. Significant quantities are also produced in California. HRW has moderately high protein content, usually averaging 11—12%, and good milling and baking characteristics. 

North America.. In the United States, lignite deposits are located in the northern Great Plains and in the Gulf states. Subbituminous coal is found along the Rocky Mountains. The western half of North Dakota has about 74% of the nation s resources, Montana 23%, Texas 2%, and Alabama and South Dakota about 0.5% each. The lignite resources to 914 m represent 28% of the total toimage of all coal deposits in the United States. The lower cost and low sulfur content have contributed to rapid growth in production. 

The Lurgi process has been the most commercially accepted gasification method since its commercialization in 1936, and is used in the large plants in South Africa, in modified designs in Germany, and in the United States for the Great Plains faciUty (25,49,50). 

Seleniferous formations occur in the Great Plains region from Canada to Mexico, accounting for > 700,000 km2 of the western U.S. Seleniferous soils are frequently associated with Se-containing geological formations (Boon, 1989). As discussed above, seleniferous formations occur in North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, Kansas, and New Mexico. Some soils derived from Se-rich parent materials, such as Cretaceous shales of the middle-western United States, have > 10 mg/kg Se and sometimes exceed 50 mg/kg (Reeves and Baker, 2000). 

Connolly, G. 1993b. Livestock protection collars in the United States, 1983-1993. Pages 25-33 in Eleventh Great Plains Wildlife Damage Control Workshop Proceedings. Kansas City, MO, 26-29 April 1993. 

The United States has two commercial facilities that convert coal to fuels or chemicals via a syngas intermediate. The Great Plains Synfuels... 

A study of 19 larger meteorites from the Great Plains of the United States indicated a shorter mean residence time of 5200 years. Meteorites that fall in wetter climates typically do not last as long. 

Millions of years ago, the Great Plains of the United States were ocean. As sea levels fell and at the same time the North American continent rose, many isolated pockets of seawater, called saline lakes, formed. Over time, these lakes evaporated, leaving behind the solids that had been dissolved in the seawater. Most abundant was sodium chloride, which collected in cubic crystals referred to by mineralogists as the mineral halite. When conditions were right, halite crystals like the ones in this chapter s opening photograph would grow to be several centimeters across. 

As is shown in Figure 19.31, most of the wind resources in the United States are concentrated in the northern Great Plains. The U.S. Department of Energy estimates that more than all of the nations electricity needs could be met if the wind in these states were fully exploited. Within a couple of decades, most wind-rich states of the Great Plains will likely exceed their demand for electricity and either export the excess or use it to create hydrogen fuel through the electrolysis of water. 

Figure 6.2. (A) Variations in %N (which is proportional to C density) with precipitation along the 11 °C isotherm in the Great Plains of the United States. The humidity factor (NSQ, Niederschlag-Sattigungsdefizit from the German, or Meyer s quotient) is the total annual precipitation (mm) divided by the absolute saturation deficit of air (mm mercury). All soils were developed on loess deposits from the last glacial maximum. (B) Change in %N with precipitation along the 19 °C isotherm. Note that relative C density (estimated by assuming that the C/N ratio of SOM is fairly constant) is lower at higher mean annual temperature. Reprinted with permission from Jenny, H. (1941). Factors of Soil Formation, Dover Publications, New York.

One of the first commercial-size, coal gasification plants in the United States was the Great Plains Synfiiels plant that is operated by Dakota Gasification in Beulah, ND. This plant consumes over 5.5 million tonnes of coal per year and produces over 54 billion standard cubic feet (1.4 billion Nm3)of natural gas, 365,000 tonnes per year of ammonia, 24 million gallons of... 

---