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Identifying Key Variables Associated With The Temporal And Spatial Distribution Of Prolific Marine Petroleum Source Rock (Mpsr) Units And Its Application To The Taconic Foreland Basin, Eastern New York, C. Mark Achong

Geology Theses and Dissertations

Correctly identifying key variables associated with the temporal and spatial distribution of prolific marine petroleum source rock (MPSR) units is of critical importance towards the future development of models accurately predicting their existence and effective exploitation. The geographic positioning and prevailing paleoclimatic conditions on paleocontinental reconstructions, in combination with the processes controlling the drowning of continental margins and parameters associated with the establishment of high biologic productivity and long term anoxic conditions within the water column, have been pursued as first-order constraints controlling the development of some prolific marine petroleum source rock (MPSR) deposits. From this, a model has been …

Trace-Element Modelling Of Melting In Spinel Peridotites, Susanne Petra Vogel

Geology Theses and Dissertations

This study addresses three independent topics related to trace element modeling of spinel peridotites that are suggested by the pioneering work of Johnson et al. (1990) on abyssal harzburgites.
First, the fractional non-modal melting equation derived by Johnson and coworkers (1990) is algebraically modified to present a "one-element/two-phase" model. This model suggests a simple test for estimating mantle heterogeneity in the source rock of spinel lherzolites. This model is applied to data from the literature for samples from Dreiser Weiher, Germany; San Luis Potosi, Mexico; and Western Victoria, Australia.
Second, trace elements in clinopyroxenes of abyssal peridotites and continental spinel …

A Paleoseismic Investigation Of The Mcgregor Fault, East-Central New York, Steven J. Tice

Geology Theses and Dissertations

The structural disposition and movement potential of the McGregor Fault System in Eastern New York State are reviewed from the perspective of a paleoseismic investigation. The McGregor Fault zone has been located beneath deltaic sediments west of West Glens Falls using commercial and residential bore hole data and microgravity surveys. A 34 m long trench was excavated in overburden near the western margin of the McGregor Fault zone to a depth of 3.2 m. Stratified fluvially deposited sediments were exposed which showed no evidence of earthquake induced deformation or offset. However, the overburden present here does not possess optimal qualities …

Correlation Of The Tioga Bentonites Using Rhyolitic Melt Inclusions Found In Quartz Phenocrysts As Geochemical Fingerprints, John W. Waechter

Geology Theses and Dissertations

The Tioga bentonites were first noted by Fettke in 1931 from well cuttings in the Tioga gas fields of Tioga County, Pennsylvania. They have been used by many investigators (Oliver, 1954, 1956; Dennison, 1963; Dennison and Textoris, 1967, 1978; Epstein, 1986; Smith and Way, 1983; Way et al., 1986) as a time-plane to correlate stratigraphic units from eastern Pennsylvania to Illinois and from southern Ontario to Virginia. The Tioga bentonites are recognized as seven major volcanic ash layers labeled Tioga-A - Tioga-G as well as several minor layers labeled Tioga-A1 - Tioga-A3 (Way et al., 1986). They occur within the …

Using Fourier Transform Analysis To Extract Information From The Shapes Of Folded Layers, Thomas Billiard

Honors Papers

Objective methods of fold shape analysis are nessesary to better understand the behavior of folds and the folding process. I examined two methods of analysis, and used a method based on the Fourier Transform to show that the method based on the Fourier Series was insufficient for identifying shape characteristics of aperiodic natural fold trains. I also showed that the Fourier Transform method accessed information that was inaccessable using the Fourier Series method.

Suspended Sediment Concentration Profiles In The Bottom Boundary Layer, Jingping Xu

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

Near-bottom suspended sediment concentrations and velocities were measured on the inner shelf off Duck, N.C. from late October to early November, 1991. This period embraced both fair and storm conditions. Four bottom roughness models are tested using field data together with a wave-current boundary layer model. Bottom roughness plays a significant role in calculations of sediment concentration profiles and current velocity profiles. The importance of each of the three parts in the roughness models (grain roughness, ripple roughness, and sediment motion roughness) vary depending on forcing conditions. A new bottom roughness model is established and tested. The calculated concentration and …

Petrography And Inorganic Geochemistry Of The Rosebud Coal Seam At The Absaloka, Big Sky And Rosebud Mines, Powder River Basin, Montana, Lingbu Kong

Theses and Dissertations

Quantitative maceral and microlithotype analyses, huminite reflectance measurements and inorganic constituent analyses of the samples of the Rosebud subbituminous coal seam from the Absaloka, Big Sky and Rosebud Mines were used in the interpretation of the depositional environment of the seam and for prediction of ash formation during combustion. The mean huminite reflectance varies from 0.31% at the Rosebud Mine to 0.34% at the Absaloka Mine and 0.39% at the Big Sky Mine, indicating that the coal rank is transitional from lignite to subbituminous C. Despite the variation in huminite reflectance, samples from the three mines are similar in mean …

Estimation Of A Water Budget For Agnes Marsh, Grand Forks County, North Dakota, Allen E. Comeskey

Theses and Dissertations

Agnes Marsh is a semipermanent wetland in the Red River Valley of northeastern North Dakota. The marsh overlies and is in direct hydraulic connection with the unconfined Elk Valley aquifer. Recent irrigation development nearby raised concerns about the hydrological impact to the marsh by a declining water table in the aquifer. The purpose of this study was to determine how Agnes Marsh interacts with the underlying Elk Valley aquifer and how sensitive the marsh is to declining water levels in the aquifer.

Three methods were used to assess how the marsh interacts with the aquifer. First, stratigraphic analysis revealed the …

Depositional And Diagenetic Controls On Porosity Evolution In The "C" Zone, Red River Formation (Upper Ordovician), Divide County, North Dakota, John S. Fox

Theses and Dissertations

Carbonates and evaporites in the "C" zone c: the Red River Formation (Upper Ordovician) in the subsurface of Divide County, North Dakota, were studied in order to determine the geologic framework of porosity evolution in this important hydrocarbon-producing formation. Examination of 28 cores, petrographic analysis, geochemical analysis, and mapping based on 120 geophysical log suites allowed the characterization of "C" zone lithologies and diagenetic features and suggests that the entire "C" zone was deposited subtidally in an increasingly restricted basin, rather than in a subtidal to supratidal regressive sequence as interpreted by others in different parts of the basin.

The …

Structure And Metamorphism Of The Magic Mountain – Johannesburg Mountain Area, North Cascades, Washington, Bernard E. Dougan

WWU Graduate School Collection

The orogenic history of the Cascades Crystalline Core is addressed in the study of a small, central region that straddles the Entiat fault on the southwest flank of the Skagit Gneiss. This region contains an arc-derived terrane with a preserved stratigraphy of volcanic, clastic and pelitic petrofacies of the Cascade River unit on a basement of sub-arc plutonics, the Marblemount Meta-Quartz Diorite. The Magic Mountain Gneiss, derived from the Marblemount arc, is inferred to have formed as a sub-volcanic sill-like pluton that intruded the protolith of the Cascade River unit In contact with the Cascade River unit is the Napeequa …

Hydrogeochemical Interactions In A Subalpine Watershed, Mount Baker National Recreation Area, Washington, Joann Michele Holloway

WWU Graduate School Collection

The Upper Bagley watershed was monitored from April to November, 1992. The watershed is described as a series of chemically distinct subsystems: 1) the snowpack, 2) soil solutions, and 3) surface water. The hydrogeochemical interactions between these subsystems were investigated in the Upper Bagley watershed. Chemical analyses of these fluids were used to identify how soil solutions vary from water derived from the snowpack and what impact soil solutions have on surface-water chemistry.

Water-ice interactions alter the snowpack chemistry, enriching the melt in calcium, magnesium, sodium, chloride, and sulfate that accumulate at the surface of ice crystals. The melt from …

Net Shore-Drift Of San Juan County And Parts Of Jefferson, Island And Snohomish Counties, Washington, James W. Johannessen

WWU Graduate School Collection

Net shore-drift directions, representing the long-term, net result of littoral sediment transport on both the beachface and in nearshore waters, were determined in San Juan County, eastern Jefferson County, and southern Island and Snohomish Counties, Washington. Studies employing similar methods have been conducted in the state for the Washington State Department of Ecology, to update coastal drift information provided to area planners. This project completes net shore-drift mapping of the entire marine coast of Washington State. The Puget Lowland experiences prevailing and predominant southerly winds, but is also subjected to locally variable winds. The irregular coast of the islands and …

Iceberg Severity Off The Canadian East Coast (An Analysis Of The 1991 Iceberg Season), Jerome Edward Salloum

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The 1991 iceberg season on the Grand Banks was the second most severe on record. Over a 218-day period, a total of 2002 icebergs traversed latitude 48°N. Percentages of sightings involving medium and large icebergs greatly exceeded normal values. Thus, the season was mxtstanding, not only in terms of flux numbers, but in terms of total ice mass delivered. Assuming that this flux anomaly is the product of more efficient advection and less efficient ablation and notzsome sudden surge in upstream berg production, the study investigates various atmospheric and sea surface conditions as contributing factors to a near record iceberg …

The Structure Of The Holocephalan Head And The Relationships Of The Chondrichthyes, Eileen D. Grogan

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

The interrelationship of the chondrichthyan subclasses is evaluated based on divergence in the nature of the suspensorium, the preorbital cranial anatomy, the distribution of major venous sinuses and localization of hematopoietic tissue. The anatomy of representative extant taxa was examined by radiography and/or dissection. Fossil selachians, paraselachians, and holocephalans of the Bear Gulch of Montana, U.S.A. (Mississippian, Namurian E2B) were studied for evidence of vascular pigmentation, suspensorium, and cranial, branchial, and pectoral anatomy. These studies validate the suspensorial condition of autodiastyly and suggest autodiastyly is a fundamental condition involved in the basic radiation of Chondrichthyes. The plesiomorphous condition of all …

Channel Changes And Flood Frequency On The Upper Main Stem Of The Nooksack River, Whatcom County, Washington, Roger G. Bertschi

WWU Graduate School Collection

This study focuses on three aspects of the hydrology of the lower Nooksack River that are of interest in understanding flooding processes and for planning: (1) a comparison of changes in channel locations and cross-sections at several points along the Nooksack, (2) the determination of distribution of surface sediment in exposed bars and banks, and (3) an estimation of flood frequencies by the Gumbel and Log Pearson methods. These aspects give a useful depiction of recent flooding and channel activity.

The Nooksack River channel has remained within a defined thalweg zone from 1906 to 1991, the period of map record. …

Seasonal Hydrology And Geochemistry Of Two Small High Arctic Catchments, Axel Heiberg Island, Northwest Territories, Julia Boike

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This study examines hydrological and geochemical processes in a continuous permafrost setting in the Canadian High Arctic on Axel Heiberg Island (79°25 ' N; 90°45 ' W) with the following objective: to identify spatial and seasonal variation in hydrology and geochemistry of the East Inflow (EIF) and West Inflow (WIF) sub basins draining into Colour Lake and relate them to processes operating in the basins. Field work in the catchment was carried out between 20 May to 16 August 1991 and 23 July to 20 August 1992. Surface flow and suprapermafrost groundwater in the active layer were monitored to assess …