The Mid-Continent rift system can be traced by the Mid-Continent geophysical anomaly (MGA) from the surface exposure of the Keweenawan Supergroup in the Lake Superior basin southwest in the subsurface through Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska, and Kansas. Outcrop and well penetrations of the late rift Keweenawan sedimentary rocks reveal sediments reflecting a characteristic early continental rift clastic sequence, including alluvial fans, deep organic-rich basins, and prograding fluvial plains.

Sedimentary basins where these early rift sediments are preserved can be located by upward continuation of the aeromagnetic profiles across the rift trend and by gravity models. Studies of analog continental rifts and aulacogens show that these gravity models should incorporate (1) a deep mafic "rift pillow" body to create the narrow gravity high of the MGA, and (2) anomalously thick crust to account for the more regional gravity low. Preserved accumulations of rift clastics in central rift positions can then be modeled to explain the small scale "notches" which are found within the narrow gravity high.

Indigenous oil in Keweenawan sediments in the outcrop area and coaly partings in the subsurface penetrations of the Keweenawan clastics support the analogy between these rift sediments and the exceptionally organic-rich sediments of the East African rift. COCORP data across the rift trend in Kansas show layered deep reflectors and large structures. There is demonstrable source, reservoir, and trap potential within the Keweenawan trend, making the Mid-Continent rift system a frontier hydrocarbon province.

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