Digital Commons Network^™

Unboxing The Complicated Near Term Climatic And Geomorphic History Of Mars, Joshua Matthew Williams

Earth and Planetary Sciences ETDs

It has long been thought that glacial processes were unlikely within the tropical regions of Mars. However, growing evidence, including this work has identified and quantified relic glacial forms within the equatorial regions. These findings have major implications for understanding Martian climate history and its sensitivity to changes in insolation. As well, the presence of ice in the equatorial region of Mars has significant implications for the past global redistribution of the water ice in the Martian cryosphere. In this manuscript, I clarify and refine our understanding of the morphology of glacial features in the equatorial zone by applying novel …

Paleoecology Of The Late Cretaceous Western Interior Seaway And Gulf Coastal Plain, Ceara Kathleen Quinn Purcell

Earth and Planetary Sciences ETDs

This dissertation presents research into the paleobiogeography and paleoecology of the Western Interior Seaway (WIS) and Gulf Coastal Plain (GCP) during the Late Cretaceous. The dataset utilized here includes an extensive record of marine invertebrates from over 200 years of fossil collecting and sedimentary data collated from over 45 different literature sources, representing approximately 17 million years of deposition. The high-resolution of this dataset, and its extensive geographic distribution and temporal duration, make it ideal for exploring various ecological questions. Using these data, I have attempted to reconstruct paleobiogeographic provinces as published in prior works, explore functional diversity patterns, and …

Remote Sensing Techniques To Determine Volcanic Gas Components And Fluxes: Application For Lascar, Chile And Fagradalsfjall, Iceland Volcanos., Felipe S. Rojas Vilches

Earth and Planetary Sciences ETDs

Volcanic plumes allow us to understand different aspects of a volcanic system including magma movements, dynamics, mass transfer, overall gas emissions to the atmosphere, and many processes that impact human life. However, the H₂O gas is poorly constrained due to the intrinsic difficulties of this gas, with high background values and easily dispersed/integrated into the background. In this work we study the gas emissions from Lascar volcano, and Fagradalsfjall volcano, in Chile and Iceland, respectively, using a combination of different ground-based remote sensing techniques and in situ plume measurements, we measure H₂O, SO₂, CO₂, CO, and H₂S from longer and …

Environmental Fate Of Sulfur In Sulphur Creek, Valles Caldera, Nm: Implications For Metal Transport And Water Quality, Daniel Lavery

Earth and Planetary Sciences ETDs

The 1.2 Ma Valles Caldera in north-central New Mexico hosts a young igneous volcanic hydrothermal system after the model proposed in Goff and Janik (2000). The Sulphur Springs area within Valles Caldera is an acid-sulfate area typical of this model, discharging acidic waters (pH 1.5-3) formed by oxidation of magmatic H₂S at the surface. We report on samples obtained from springs and streams collected between October 2021 and May 2023 in the Sulphur Creek and Alamo watersheds. Sulphur Creek receives input from Sulphur Springs and exhibits low pH (2-4) and high concentrations of Al (≤110 mg/L), Fe (≤60 …

Hydrochemistry Of An Alpine Karst System, Northern New Mexico: Las Huertas, Kambray A. Townsend

Earth and Planetary Sciences ETDs

Las Huertas in the Sandia Mountains relies on snowmelt, monsoonal recharge, and groundwater inputs. Our hypothesis, the proportion of groundwater contribution varied spatially and temporally, was assessed by observing travertine and multiple geochemical tracers to differentiate water balance components. We report 26 samples from 13 locations (sampled between 2021-2023). Major ion and isotopic analysis indicated Las Huertas headsprings vary spatially. Capulin Spring has higher salinity; major ions suggest recharged waters are a mix of CaCO3-rich and sulfate-chloride-containing water. The proportion of groundwater to spring discharge is a mix of winter and summer precipitation. Travertine supersaturation is seasonal, with variations downstream, …

Applications Of Observational Seismology: Insights Into Volcanic And Near Surface Processes, Justin T. Wilgus

Earth and Planetary Sciences ETDs

The field of observational seismology has made tremendous progress in the past two decades. This progress has been multi-faceted in form, but significant contributions emanated from 1) increases in both the quality and the quantity of seismic data 2) advances in computational power 3) advances in algorithmic capability, including machine learning. In this dissertation I report on three distinctly different seismic applications made possible by the aforementioned progress and discuss the insights these applications have provided in understanding volcanic and near surface processes of the Earth.

In the first chapter titled, “Shear Velocity Evidence of Upper Crustal Magma Storage Beneath …

Seismic Analysis Of The Upper & Lower Falls Of The Yellowstone River, Loring Schaible

Earth and Planetary Sciences ETDs

Twelve years of concurrent hydrologic and continuous seismic data along with temporary seismic data demonstrate that the Upper and Lower Falls of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone River comprise a highly localized source of 0.5-5 Hz seismic energy that overwhelms anthropogenic contributions. In aggregate, seismic amplitude from 2008-2019 is linearly related to discharge with a correlation coefficient of 0.96. Repeated deviations from this linear relationship persist for 1-2 weeks prior to the date that Yellowstone Lake becomes clear of winter ice coverage. Seismic efficiency increases by ~50-250% during this period of ice-breakup, during which lake ice flows into the …

Seismic Shadow Zone Investigation In The Upper Magma Reservoir Of The Yellowstone Caldera, Sarah Nolt-Caraway

Earth and Planetary Sciences ETDs

This study investigates whether the Yellowstone Caldera has enough melt to mute S-waves, creating a seismic shadow zone. Using a dense nodal deployment of ~650 stations, 7-9 earthquakes during the nodal deployment, and 21 broadband stations with 3,000-4,000 events per station; amplitude and noise maps, seismograms, and automatic phase picks probabilities from a deep learning model were analyzed to assess the potential role of melt, crustal attenuation, and noise in affecting body waves, particularly S-phases. The results are inconclusive, with unclear evidence whether observed amplitude decay is normal signal decay due to distance, noise-related, melt, or from scattering and intrinsic …

Testing The Niche Center Hypothesis In The Fossil Record Of Atlantic Bivalves, Rhiannon Z. Nolan

Earth and Planetary Sciences ETDs

Paleoecological analyses of six shallow marine bivalves were conducted to test the Abundant Center Hypothesis using data from the fossil record of the Pleistocene through modern day. This hypothesis predicts the highest abundance of a species is at the center of the geographic or environmental range, decreasing toward the edges. In geographic space, distances to a centerline within a geographic range were variably correlated with population abundances, and some species displayed a sharp drop-off in abundance as distance increased. In environmental space, bivalve species showed moderate correlations between abundance and centrality when measured using cumulative data across the last 2.8 …

Assessing Ecological Relationships Among Late Triassic Vertebrates In Petrified Forest National Park, Alexandra Davis Apgar

Earth and Planetary Sciences ETDs

The complex vertebrate ecosystem of the Late Triassic has not yet been fully understood, largely due to oversimplification of hypothesized trophic hierarchies and limited preservation of direct evidence of faunal interaction. Paleocommunity reconstruction attempts can also fall victim to taphonomic biases, time-averaging inaccuracies, and non-analogue paleoecologies. Utilizing a combination of PAIRS analysis and NMDS ordination, we highlight vertebrate faunal relationships within the Adamanian and Revueltian faunachrons of Petrified Forest National Park, assess the likelihood that these patterns have ecological rather than preservational drivers, and examine how these potential interactions may have been impacted by the Adamanian-Revueltian turnover event. We are …

Bulk Hydrogen Isotopes In Ordinary Chondrites, Michael J. Cato

Earth and Planetary Sciences ETDs

Bulk hydrogen isotopes in nominally anhydrous meteorites are a key component in our understanding of the distribution of hydrogen in our solar system, including the provenance of water on the Earth. Here, we develop a step-heated continuous-flow method to measure the bulk hydrogen isotopes in nominally anhydrous rocks and use this method to significantly increase the dataset of bulk hydrogen isotopes in ordinary chondrites, nearly doubling the number of equilibrated members. We found that as thermal alteration increases from petrologic type 3.0 to 4, there is a correlated decrease in both hydrogen content and isotope ratio, followed by no significant …

Deformation At Uturuncu Volcano, Bolivia: Modeling The Effect Of Volatile Movement In The Hydrothermal System, Karissa Rosenberger

Earth and Planetary Sciences ETDs

Deformation at volcanos is often a precursor to an eruption, but sometimes volcanos experience uplift without actually erupting. Determining the mechanisms behind this deformation and whether it will lead to an eruption is an important part of understanding volcanic systems. Uturuncu volcano in Bolivia has been experiencing deformation for decades, but the last time it erupted was 250,000 years ago. The reason behind this deformation is unknown, but one possible cause is volatiles moving into the hydrothermal system and getting trapped, causing the volume to increase and the surface to uplift. To test this hypothesis, the current volume change of …

Evaluation Of Fluvial Package Amalgamation In Medial Dfs Deposits, Angel Peak Area, Nacimineto Formation, Sarah R. Rysanek

Earth and Planetary Sciences ETDs

Fluvial packages are the hypothetical groupings of facies that make up the fluvial succession consisting of channel belt sandstones and associated levee, floodplain, and avulsion deposits. This study attempted to describe a single fluvial package laterally using the new technologies of UAV imaging and 3D photogrammetry; however, amalgamation of channel belts and erosion from this amalgamation made long-distance lateral correlation difficult. This analysis of medial deposits in the Nacimiento Formation in the Angel Peak Area, Northwestern New Mexico evaluates the degree of amalgamation of fluvial packages across the study area while identifying facies associated with the hypothetical fluvial package. This …

Single-Crystal Elasticity Of Earth’S Mantle Transition Zone Minerals And High Pressure-Temperature Phase Equilibrium Experiments On Martian Basalts, Wenyi Zhou

Earth and Planetary Sciences ETDs

Wadsleyite and ringwoodite are major minerals in the Earth’s Mantle Transition Zone. Global and local seismic studies have detected strong lateral variations in seismic velocity and anisotropy in the Mantle Transition Zone, reflecting temperature and possible composition variations. Interpretation of these seismic observations requires knowledge of thermoelastic properties of wadsleyite and ringwoodite with different compositions (water and Fe contents) under high pressure-temperature conditions. In this dissertation, we have measured single-crystal elastic properties of wadsleyite and ringwoodite under high pressure-temperature conditions by Brillouin spectroscopy. Based on our measurements and previous experimental results, we further model the effects of water and Fe …

Dense Array Seismic Imaging Of Earth's Crust Using Active And Passive Sources, Evans Awere Onyango

Earth and Planetary Sciences ETDs

Imaging Earth’s crust is critical to understanding processes in the near-surface that affect civilization such as the interaction of seismic waves with the near-surface to generate natural or man-made hazards or investigating how the shallow crust affects the distribution of resources. In chapter 1, I processed and analyzed active source seismic data recorded by ~1000 geophones that were acquired over the legacy HADDOCK nuclear test at the Nevada National Security Site. Using seismic reflection and refraction methods, we image the partially collapsed post-detonation structure to better understand the velocity structure in and around the HADDOCK chimney. Results from this work …

Induced Seismicity In The Raton Basin And Global Variability Of The 410-Km Discontinuity, Margaret E. Glasgow

Earth and Planetary Sciences ETDs

Natural processes like mantle convection and plate tectonics dominate Earth’s seismic structure. Recently human activities have increasingly influenced the deformation of the shallow crust. In this dissertation, passive source seismology was used to constrain seismic discontinuities in the mantle transition zone and seismogenic structures in induced earthquake settings. Using a novel sampling method and uniform processing approach, I found the 410-km discontinuity is thermally and compositionally variable. Using a machine- learning approach, I found the three main zones of seismicity in the Raton Basin consist of short faults or fault segments with variable orientations. The zone that hosted a Mw …

A Rapid High-Precision Analytical Method For Triple Oxygen Isotope Analysis Of Co2 Gas Using Tunable Infrared Laser Direct Absorption Spectroscopy, Nathan Perdue, Zachary Sharp, David Nelson Jr., Rick Wehr, Christoph Dyroff

Earth and Planetary Sciences ETDs

Rationale

The simultaneous analysis of the three stable isotopes of oxygen – triple oxygen isotope analysis – has become an important analytical technique in natural sciences. Determination of the abundance of the rare ¹⁷O isotope in CO₂ gas using magnetic sector isotope ratio mass spectrometry is complicated by the isobaric interference of ¹⁷O by ­¹³C (¹³C¹⁶O¹⁶O and ¹²C¹⁶O¹⁷O both have mass 45 amu). A number of analytical techniques have been used to measure the ¹⁷O/¹⁶O ratio of CO₂ gas. They …

Grand Canyon National Park's Water Corridor: Water Supply, Water Quality, And Recharge Along The Bright Angel Fault, Brionna O'Connor

Earth and Planetary Sciences ETDs

Grand Canyon’s ‘water corridor’ includes the Transcanyon Pipeline that conveys water from Roaring Springs near the North Rim to Grand Canyon Village on the South Rim to provide water for the park’s 6.5 million annual visitors. Roaring Springs water has been used at the park and reclaimed at the South Rim Water Reclamation Plant since the 1970s. Our hypothesis is that the pipeline water infiltrates through faults and intermingles with the South Rim groundwater system. We use geochemical tracers to develop mixing models for these waters. Tracers considered are major ions, water isotopologues, radiogenic strontium, and pharmaceuticals. This study has …

Single-Crystal Elasticity Of Clinopyroxenes And The Viscosity Of Kimberlite Magma Under High Pressure-Temperature Conditions, Ming Hao

Earth and Planetary Sciences ETDs

Clinopyroxene is not only an important mineral phase in the pyrolitic upper mantle, but also one of the dominated mineral phases in the subducted or delaminated eclogitic materials in the deep Earth. Identifying and locating these eclogitic materials requires the knowledge of the thermoelastic properties of clinopyroxene under high pressure-temperature conditions. In this dissertation, we have measured the single-crystal elastic properties of jadeite and omphacite, which are major clinopyroxene phases in the eclogitic materials, up to 18 GPa 700 K by Brillouin spectroscopy and utilized these data to identify the eclogitic heterogeneities in the mantle.

We also measured the viscosity …

Halogen And Non-Traditional Isotope Geochemistry Of Planetary And Terrestrial Materials, Anthony Gargano, Zachary Sharp, Justin Simon, Charles Shearer, Adrian Brearley, James Day

Earth and Planetary Sciences ETDs

This dissertation presents the advances in non-traditional isotope geochemistry of planetary and terrestrial materials encompassing chlorine, sulfur, and zinc isotopes, as well as halogen geochemistry. A wide breadth of materials was studied throughout the completion of this work including iron meteorites, achondrites, chondrites, Apollo lunar samples, as well ancient marine chert, and carbonate sediments. Much of the focus involved the development of a method capable of simultaneously measuring the halogen contents and chlorine isotope compositions of geological materials. Here, I present these data sets to broadly characterize the process of devolatilization of planetary materials, and specifically the problem of ‘halogen-poisoning’ …

Deformation Of Antigorite + Olivine Aggregates: Implications For Mantle Wedge Dynamics, Roselyn K. Hurlow

Earth and Planetary Sciences ETDs

Aggregates with varying volume proportions of antigorite and olivine were deformed at mantle wedge conditions of high-pressure (P) (2.5-7.6 GPa), -temperature (T) (675 K), and strain rates from ~1.0*10^-5 to ~1.0*10^-4 s^-1 using the deformation-DIA (D-DIA) to investigate deformation mechanisms and stress/strain partitioning. Macroscopic strain, lattice strain, and texture were measured in situ using synchrotron x-ray diffraction and radiography and were modeled for olivine using Elasto-Viscoplastic Self-Consistent (EVPSC) simulations. These modeled results are coupled with microstructure images and electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) measurements results to determine stress and deformation mechanisms. Previous to this study, investigations have been …

Observational Constraints On The 520 Km Mantle Discontinuity, Mantle Transition Zone Anisotropy, And Local Seismicity At Mount St. Helens, Han Zhang

Earth and Planetary Sciences ETDs

Seismology provides valuable observational constraints to thermal and compositional states at inaccessible depths via understanding how elastic wave propagating through them. While many of fundament questions regarding solid Earth structures have been addressed during its more than 100 years history, some details remain unfilled and carefully designed approaches are needed to complete the pictures. This dissertation contributes observational constraints on three topics with newly developed methods. 1) We detected a controversial mantle discontinuity at about 520 km and concluded a mean mantle composition close to the Pyrolite model based on its seismic properties. 2) We isolated anisotropic effects in mantle …

Tree Ring Isotopic Reconstruction Of Hurricane Dolores, Jonathan Kane

Earth and Planetary Sciences ETDs

Tree rings contain high-resolution climate proxies of temperature and precipitation (Hughes et al., 1982; Fritts 2012; Scuderi 1993). The objective of this study was to use tree ring cellulose, specifically measuring δ18O - the oxygen-18 to oxygen-16 stable isotope ratio- to investigate the impact of Hurricane Dolores, a tropical cyclone that produced heavy precipitation in the Sierra Nevada in July 2015. Prior studies (Berkelhammer and Stott, 2008, 2009) have shown that conifer forests in California record the influence of varying precipitation regimes in their ring alpha-cellulose. Hurricane Dolores produced an intense precipitation event that inundated parts of the Mojave Desert …

Petrographic And Geochemical Records Of Climate Perturbation In Carbonates From A Perennially Ice-Covered Antarctic Lake, Jared Clance

Earth and Planetary Sciences ETDs

Carbonate precipitation in perennially ice-covered Lake Fryxell, McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica produces a modern analog for Antarctic paleolake carbonates. Lake Fryxell contains a steep oxycline in the photic zone, where dissolved oxygen falls from supersaturation to zero. In the lake’s benthic microbial mats, oxygen concentrations are higher than in the water column due to microbial photosynthesis. These mats contain carbonate cements that precipitated in a discrete episode from mat pore waters. Precipitation continued through seasonal fluctuations in oxygenation, demonstrated by variable concentrations of oxidized and reduced manganese and iron within carbonates. Carbonates precipitated out of isotopic equilibrium with the lake …

Using Triple Oxygen Isotopes To Reveal The Origin And Evolution Of Mantle Eclogite, Catherine Mary Peshek

Earth and Planetary Sciences ETDs

Triple oxygen isotope (TOI) measurements of mantle eclogite from the Orapa kimberlite pipe have reconstructed bulk rock '18O values from 4.587 to 9.542‰ (vs. VSMOW) and '17O from -0.075 to -0.044‰ (vs. VSMOW,  ~0.528). TOI values show increasing '18O with decreasing '17O, overlapping with modern measured altered oceanic crust. Orapa eclogite xenoliths with alkali enrichments show variable mantle-like and heavy 18O, consistent with subduction of seafloor altered basalt. Na# (Na/Na+Ca) in clinopyroxene for some xenoliths pairs with mantle-like oxygen, variable and extreme LREE enrichment, elevated Mg# and lower jadeite contents. These samples preserve records of eclogite melting, mantle interaction …

Geochemical And Sensor-Based Monitoring Of Fault-Associated Carbonic Springs In Grand Canyon And Northern New Mexico: Identifying Hydrologic Pathways And Establishing Baselines, Chris Mcgibbon

Earth and Planetary Sciences ETDs

This dissertation examines the interaction of spring systems and faulting. When springs discharge within a fault zone the interaction is often complex, and multiple methods are required to understand the flow, mixing and evolution of groundwater. In karst aquifer systems fracture networks can range from sub-millimeter to meters and only adds to the complexities involved in examining spring hydrology. The Interest in springs and faulting is not only driven by science, but also has applied applications. Faulting and fluid flow are of interest to the oil and gas industry, and potential CO₂ sequestration. In the southwestern US, water quantity …

Windblown Transport Of Toxic Metals In Airborne Particulate Matter Near The Jackpile-Paguate Uranium Mine On Laguna Pueblo, New Mexico, Savannah S. Larosa-Lopresti

Earth and Planetary Sciences ETDs

Abandoned uranium mines across the U.S. disproportionately affect indigenous communities who suffer numerous intergenerational health consequences from chronic exposure to toxic metal mixtures. The Jackpile-Paguate Uranium Mine on Laguna Pueblo in west-central New Mexico was designated a Superfund Site in 2013 and exposure risks from inhalation of toxic metals in airborne particulate matter are of concern for the local tribal communities. This research aims to examine atmospheric parameters driving windblown transport of respirable particulate matter in the region, to determine concentrations of heavy metals including U, V, Pb, and As due to the link with potential health risks, and to …

The Birth And Incision History Of The San Juan River In The Past 5 Ma, Micael T. Albonico

Earth and Planetary Sciences ETDs

This study addresses the evolution of the San Juan River system and its confluence with the Colorado River, ~ 100 km above the regionally important Lees Ferry knickzone. The San Juan River is a 600-km-long continental-scale tributary of the Colorado River. From its headwaters in the San Juan Mountains in Colorado, the San Juan River flows across the Colorado Plateau, and into the Colorado River upstream of Grand Canyon. Published apatite fission track and apatite (U-Th)/He thermochronologic data show that rocks in Marble Canyon, as well as in middle and upper reaches of the San Juan River, were >75 °C …

The Morphology And Evolution Of Transverse Aeolian Ridges On Mars, Timothy Paul Nagle-Mcnaughton

Earth and Planetary Sciences ETDs

Transverse aeolian ridges (TARs) are enigmatic and largely relict bedforms on the surface of Mars. TARs are sparsely distributed but common on Mars, but their history, preservation, and past role in the sediment cycle is not well understood. First described in 2003, and detailed extensively in 2008, our study of TARs has been narrowly focused in the last decade, with more and more research noting their presence, but little investigation of the features themselves. Recent work has mostly focused on identifying Terran analogues for TARs, but TARs remain largely a unique Martian feature. In this manuscript, I clarify and refine …

Single-Crystal Elasticity Of Tremolite At High-Pressure Conditions And Its Implication For The Mid-Lithospheric Discontinuity, Soisiri Charin

Earth and Planetary Sciences ETDs

Tremolite is the calcium magnesium amphibole that widely occurs in igneous and metamorphic rocks of the crustal and upper mantle lithosphere, especially in the greenschist facies to amphibolite facies of ultramafic assemblages. The stability field of amphibole reaches 3-4 GPa and 1100-1200°C depending on water content and cation substitutions giving rise to amphibole to occur in highly variable compositions. This P-T condition, corresponding to the depth about 80-120 km, coincides with the depth range that a negative velocity gradient usually found within most stable cratonic lithospheres. This depth range is seismically called Mid-lithosphere discontinuity (MLD). The geologic processes that might …