Michigan Basin

The feature is represented by a nearly circular pattern of geologic sedimentary strata in the area with a nearly uniform structural dip toward the center of the peninsula.

This 4,000-foot (1,200 m) contour on the basement surface clips the northern part of the Lower Peninsula and continues under Lake Michigan along the west.

On the north in the Canadian Shield, which includes the western part of Michigan's Upper Peninsula, Precambrian rocks are exposed at the surface.

The development of the basin and the surrounding arches were likely affected by the tectonic activity of the long-term Appalachian orogeny several hundred miles to the south and east.

Within the Precambrian rocks beneath and just west of the center of the basin lies a generally north to northwest trending linear feature that appears to be an ancient rift in the Earth's crust.

This, the Midcontinent Rift System, turns west under Lake Superior and then southwest through southern Minnesota, central and western Iowa and southeastern Nebraska and into eastern Kansas.

"[4] In May 2010, a Michigan public land auction attracted the attention of the largest North American natural gas corporations, such as Encana (now Ovintiv) and Chesapeake Energy.