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2006

Theses/Dissertations

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

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Convention Services Manager's Perception Of The Strategic Outsourcing Of Convention Services, Bo-Min Kim Jan 2006

Convention Services Manager's Perception Of The Strategic Outsourcing Of Convention Services, Bo-Min Kim

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to identify the degree of outsourcing and the main advantages and disadvantages of outsourcing perceived by convention services managers. Outsourcing was considered as a convention management strategy in which a convention service department utilizes more specialized assistance in order to reduce costs and improve efficiency; The review of the literature described the background for outsourcing by focusing on the literature in the service field. This study utilized a modified Delphi method to combine opinions of a widespread group of convention services managers. Electronic mail was used as the medium to recruit participants and disseminate …

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Stereotypes Of Law Enforcement In Television, Phillip Michael Kopp Jan 2006

Stereotypes Of Law Enforcement In Television, Phillip Michael Kopp

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

This study looks at the stereotypes of law enforcement in prime-time network television. This is done through a content analysis of a sample of television characters (N=40) from crime drama programs. To accomplish this, characters were scored on demographic, personality, and typological variables by a group of coders. The study found that there is not a single "superprofile" of officers but multiple stereotypes of law enforcement officers present in prime-time network television programming. This may be in part due to the corporate nature of mass media in general. Additionally, it concluded that these stereotypes have changed over time as officer, …

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Inner Experience In Bulimia, Sharon Jones-Forrester Jan 2006

Inner Experience In Bulimia, Sharon Jones-Forrester

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

Inner experience is of crucial importance in bulimia---clearly something experiential leads individuals to binge or purge. We used Descriptive Experience Sampling (DES) to examine the inner experience of bulimia in 5 participants, replicating Doucette (1992). Our participants' inner experiences were largely consistent with Doucette's but were substantially different from what is assumed by the non-DES literature: our bulimic participants had a consistent fragmentation of attention, hypersensitivity to the sensory aspects of experience, affect that is poorly differentiated and often confused with cognition, and a striking lack of cognition overall. These results suggest that DES can be a powerful tool to …

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Study Of Gas Density Profile About A Plastic Test Piece Under Vacuum, Hari Krishnan Jan 2006

Study Of Gas Density Profile About A Plastic Test Piece Under Vacuum, Hari Krishnan

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

Nevada Shocker is a 540KV, 7O, 50ns, pulsed power device based on Marx Bank and Blumlein technologies. When this machine fires, the energy is funneled to a plastic insulator supported by two circular electrodes. The purpose is to study the surface breakdown properties of the plastic. It is hypothesized that a thin layer of gas exists between hard vacuum and the solid. The goal is to determine change in the gas profile and suggest how it may contribute to surface flashover; Stimulated desorption techniques such as photon stimulated desorption and thermal stimulated desorption are employed in characterizing the gas profile. …

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Perfectionism And The Role Of Self-Esteem, Marcus T Lasota Jan 2006

Perfectionism And The Role Of Self-Esteem, Marcus T Lasota

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

Over the past two decades, research interest has peaked in the specific study of perfectionism as a trait and risk factor for psychopathology, namely depression. This current study hypothesized that perfectionism's impact on an individual's mental health is mediated by that individual's feelings of self-esteem. Research by Preusser, Rice, and Ashby (1994) and Rice, Ashby, and Slaney (1998) have noted evidence for this mediational relationship of self-esteem between perfectionism and depression. Using a sample of 189 undergraduate student volunteers (64 men and 125 women), results indicated that self-esteem was a significant mediator in the relationships between maladaptive perfectionism and depression, …

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Developing Meshless Methods For Partial Differential Equations, Arthur Jonathan Lee Jan 2006

Developing Meshless Methods For Partial Differential Equations, Arthur Jonathan Lee

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

In the past, the world of numerical solutions for Partial Differential Equations has been dominated by Finite Element Method, Finite Difference Method, and Boundary Element Method. These three methods all revolve around using a mesh or grid to solve their problems. This complicates problems with irregular boundaries and domains; In this thesis, we develop methods for solving partial differential equations using Radial Basis Functions. This method is meshless, easy to understand, and even easier to implement.

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Biometrics In The Hotel Industry: Issues That Impact Customers' Acceptance, Jungsun Kim Jan 2006

Biometrics In The Hotel Industry: Issues That Impact Customers' Acceptance, Jungsun Kim

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

Loss from identity theft and related fraud is growing each year. Accordingly, customers are more open to new methods of identification verification. Biometrics, such as fingerprint identification, are good examples of innovative methods to increase not only convenience but also data security and physical security for hotel customers. However, there are concerns about customer behaviors toward this new technology. This study presented current uses of biometrics with special reference to fingerprint technology, addressed customer behaviors toward new technology, and identified factors that impact customer behaviors toward biometrics. Self-administrated questionnaires were provided using the interactive TV survey system of a major …

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An Evaluation Of Small Mammal Populations In The Las Vegas Wash, Jessica Larkin Jan 2006

An Evaluation Of Small Mammal Populations In The Las Vegas Wash, Jessica Larkin

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

Capture frequency, diversity, richness, and population estimates of small mammals was measured in three distinct habitat types (Creosote, Saltbush, Tamarisk) in the Las Vegas Wash. For each habitat, the population estimates were analyzed by species. Capture frequency, diversity, richness, and population estimates were compared to ambient air temperature for twelve consecutive months. Fluctuations in small mammal populations appear to be greatly dependent on temperature. Neotoma lepida and Peromyscus eremicus appear to be dependent on Tamarisk communities; whereas, Chaetodipus spp. appears to be very adaptable and was captured in all habitats. Dipodomys merriami and Perognathus longimembris had the highest population estimates …

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The Social Implications Of The Architecture At Ppnb Ghwair I, Ramzy Ladah Jan 2006

The Social Implications Of The Architecture At Ppnb Ghwair I, Ramzy Ladah

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

Investigations at the Pre-Pottery Neolithic B (PPNB) Village of Ghwair I in the Wadi Feinan in Southern Jordan have yielded important information concerning the development of social structure during the early Neolithic. The architecture at the site becomes more complex throughout occupation exhibiting more compartmentalization along with the emergence of certain special structures. This along with the location of certain key artifacts and an infant burial in association with the architecture all indicate that the social structure became more complex throughout PPNB occupation. This further corroborates the association between sedentism, domestication, demographic changes and an increase in social complexity.

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Determining Factors For The Success Of Trade Show Websites, Jumyong Lee Jan 2006

Determining Factors For The Success Of Trade Show Websites, Jumyong Lee

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

The main purpose of this study is to evaluate appropriate quality factors of trade show websites as a marketing communication tool. These factors will be compared by measuring the impact on user satisfaction in the specific view of trade show attendees. This study also investigates what content items are effective in trade show websites; An online survey was designed and distributed via email in March 2006. In total, 369 responses were collected from the attendees of the World Tea Expo. The data was analyzed using multiple regression analysis. The findings indicated that the four proposed website quality factors were significantly …

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Shock Effects On Electronic Components Within A Projectile, Krishna J. V Kuncham Jan 2006

Shock Effects On Electronic Components Within A Projectile, Krishna J. V Kuncham

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

Launching a projectile generates severe shocks, which can result in the malfunction of electronic components within the device. The reliability of these components is related to the mode shapes, natural frequencies and the dynamic deflection of the Printed Circuit Boards. Structural vibration analysis of Printed Circuit Boards and their electronic components can be performed using both Finite Element Methods and vibration test. This study presents the effect of shock and the structural response of the electronic components within the projectile. The results are verified by experimental and modal analysis.

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In-Law Conflicts On Television: A Content Analysis Of "Everybody Loves Raymond", Dawn Elise Nicol Jan 2006

In-Law Conflicts On Television: A Content Analysis Of "Everybody Loves Raymond", Dawn Elise Nicol

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

Conflict is a relevant theme within in-law relationships and amongst family members; however, only a small amount of research deals with conflict between in-laws. In addition, television reflects social norms families can use television to understand the way they interact within interpersonal relationships. Viewing behaviors on television enable people to increase their understanding of others and how they might behave in similar situations. Research should be conducted to expand our knowledge about in-law relationships and conflict on television; The purpose of this study was to examine in-law relationships and conflict on television. This study performed a quantitative content analysis of …

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Simulation Of Decomposition Of Sulfur Trioxide Gas On A Self-Catalytic Material, Kiran Kumar Muramalla Jan 2006

Simulation Of Decomposition Of Sulfur Trioxide Gas On A Self-Catalytic Material, Kiran Kumar Muramalla

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

This thesis deals with the development of a two-dimensional numerical model to predict the wall-catalyzed homogeneous decomposition of sulfur trioxide gas in tubular component geometry for the production of hydrogen by the sulfur-iodine thermochemical water splitting cycle, a candidate cycle in the U.S. Department of Energy Nuclear Hydrogen Initiative. Cross flow type of heat exchanger concept is chosen for the analysis. The reacting fluid is a mixture of sulfur trioxide gas and water vapor inside the tubes of a heat exchanger. The heat exchanger tubes are made of Incoloy alloy 800H with ALFA-4 coated on the inner walls which acts …

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The Evolution Of The Gaelic Mythos Through Twentieth-Century Drama, Kristina Ann Mcgraw Jan 2006

The Evolution Of The Gaelic Mythos Through Twentieth-Century Drama, Kristina Ann Mcgraw

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

In this thesis I will explore the Gaelic mythos as it evolved in Irish drama throughout the twentieth century. I will begin by surveying postcolonial theories of imperialism's effect on culture, drawing comparisons to Ireland's reaction to colonialism. I will then discuss the Celtic Revival movement, as propagated by W. B. Yeats, Lady Augusta Gregory and John Millington Synge at the turn of the twentieth century. I will discuss this movement's use of Gaelic folklore and mythology through its drama; Next, I will consider this mythology's reception by later dramatists, represented by Sean O'Casey and Brian Friel. I will examine …

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Female Gender Themes In Women's Magazines: A Content Analysis Testing And Extending Themes Uncovered By Erving Goffman, Sarah Elizabeth Morton Jan 2006

Female Gender Themes In Women's Magazines: A Content Analysis Testing And Extending Themes Uncovered By Erving Goffman, Sarah Elizabeth Morton

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

This study is based on the ideas and studies of Erving Goffman (1922-1982), an influential sociologist and communications scholar (Manning, 1992). Most prior scholars, such as McLaughlin (1999) and Reichert (2003), have chosen to simply repeat and reaffirm Goffman's themes, while largely ignoring that both times and society have changed. Thus, this study proposes not only to repeat Goffman's methods, but also to extend and retest his findings in the modern day. A quantitative content analysis will be employed, using the following women's magazines: Cosmopolitan, In Style, Allure, Glamour, and Marie Claire. The replication of this study is imperative in …

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Cognitive And Affective Correlates Of Reproductive Hormones, Chandler Marrs Jan 2006

Cognitive And Affective Correlates Of Reproductive Hormones, Chandler Marrs

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

Approximately 80% of all women experience considerable mood lability in the days and weeks following parturition. Many researchers have attempted and failed to link postpartal mood changes to reproductive hormones and very little research examines perinatal cognitive ability. The goal of this research was to elucidate the pattern of cognitive and affective behaviors associated with the elevated hormones of pregnancy and the diminished hormones following parturition. The present study compared salivary progesterone, dehydroxyepiandrosterone (DHEAS), estrone, estradiol, estriol and testosterone with the results from a battery of neuropsychiatric assessments administered to thirty-two healthy, primigravid women at 37 weeks of pregnancy and …

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Amnesty As A Tool Of Conflict Resolution: A Comparative Assessment, Nabil Ouassini Jan 2006

Amnesty As A Tool Of Conflict Resolution: A Comparative Assessment, Nabil Ouassini

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

Drawing upon various theoretical approaches and the analysis of case studies, the current study explores the use of amnesty as a way of dealing with civil strife in national and international conflicts. Conflicts in different regions in the world are examined to illustrate the use of amnesty for restorative purposes, but primary attention will focus on how Arab countries are using amnesty in the current war on terror. By examining amnesty in both general and specific cases, the present study hopes to shed light on the effectiveness of amnesty as a restorative principle in addition to the manifest and latent …

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Vigilante Justice And Civic Development In 1850s San Francisco, Nancy S Papin Jan 2006

Vigilante Justice And Civic Development In 1850s San Francisco, Nancy S Papin

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

The years between the American Revolution and the Civil War witnessed the prevalence of public disorder and social violence, especially in the expanding American West. In many instances, crowds took the law into their own hands and dealt summary vengeance on suspected criminals. This study delves into the political and legal climate of San Francisco in the 1850s to examine perhaps the most famous episodes of vigilantism in antebellum America; the San Francisco Vigilante Committees of 1851 and 1856. Through a careful contextualization and comparison of these committees, the thesis argues that the leaders of the respective committees believed that …

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The Body As Drama: Narrative Strategies In The One-Woman Show, Sandy Peterson Jan 2006

The Body As Drama: Narrative Strategies In The One-Woman Show, Sandy Peterson

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

This thesis examines the one-woman show in the United States focusing on the female body as the arbiter of truth. Beginning with a study of feminist performance artists from the late 1970s--1980s and exploring the subject matter of women such as Rachel Rosenthal and Holly Hughes, the particular narrative thread of "truth and the body" continues to the recent works of playwright Eve Ensler. Her one-woman play, The Vagina Monologues, explores the discourse of the female body. Playwright Lisa Kron further explores this issue, and her one-woman play 2.5 Minute Ride is dissected as an example of successful theatrical narrative. …

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On Computing Bayesian Credible Sets For The Coefficient Of Variation Of A Normal Population, Skanda Pokkunuri Jan 2006

On Computing Bayesian Credible Sets For The Coefficient Of Variation Of A Normal Population, Skanda Pokkunuri

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

The use of Coefficient of Variation (CV) is quite common in many disciplines, yet its estimation has not received much attention from statisticians. In this paper, we consider the problem of confidence interval estimation of CV for a normal population using the Bayesian approach. The method of Gibbs Sampler is used for numerical integration in order to compute the Bayes credible sets for CV for two different joint prior distributions---the natural conjugate prior, and the non-informative prior. Several simulated examples are included to demonstrate the proposed procedure.

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Heuristics For Batching Jobs Under Weighted Average Completion Time, Lewis A Raymond Jan 2006

Heuristics For Batching Jobs Under Weighted Average Completion Time, Lewis A Raymond

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

Batching problems are machine scheduling problems, where a set of jobs with given processing requirements has to be scheduled on a single machine. The set of jobs has to be partitioned into subsets to form a sequence of batches. A batch combines jobs to run jointly, and each job's completion time is defined to be the completion time of the entire batch. For a batching problem, it is also assumed that when each batch is scheduled, it requires a setup time. One seeks to find a schedule that minimizes the total weighted completion time; This problem is NP-complete, but the …

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Service Quality In Convention Management: What Is The Value Of The Meeting Concierge?, Kelly Virginia Phelan Jan 2006

Service Quality In Convention Management: What Is The Value Of The Meeting Concierge?, Kelly Virginia Phelan

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

The meetings and convention market represents one of the fastest growing segments of the tourism industry. Due to increased convention business and growing competition, an emphasis on service quality within convention services has recently become more pronounced. However, little research regarding convention services or the quality of service provided has been undertaken to illustrate or investigate this growing trend; In the early 1990s the position of meeting concierge was created as a way of increasing customer service quality for corporate meeting planners. This position was intended to provide additional personalized assistance to meeting planners while on-site since convention service managers …

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Parental Substance Abuse And Child Neglect: Development Of A Treatment Manual, Valeria I Romero Jan 2006

Parental Substance Abuse And Child Neglect: Development Of A Treatment Manual, Valeria I Romero

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

The maltreatment of children is a devastating social problem in the United States. Many researchers and child welfare workers believe the recent increase in child neglect is directly correlated to an increase in parental substance abuse. There is a strong relationship between child neglect and parental substance abuse, however there are limited treatments that address both issues simultaneously. The present study developed a Family Behavior Therapy treatment manual and preliminarily evaluated the credibility and client satisfaction of the interventions with a family referred by Clark County Family Services. The manual is based on existing published manuals, one of which is …

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Improved Techniques For Estimation Of Paved Road Pm(10) Emissions, Geisa Bittencourt Rodrigues Jan 2006

Improved Techniques For Estimation Of Paved Road Pm(10) Emissions, Geisa Bittencourt Rodrigues

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

AP-42 Emission Factors were analyzed for trends over time and dependence on roadway classification and improvements. Local roads presented a significant decrease in Emission Factor over time for pooled data. Local road Emission Factors were significantly higher than Collector and Minor Arterial Emission Factors for pooled data. Differences in AP-42 Emission Factor between the Collectors and Minor arterials were not statistically significant; however the differences between Local and either Collector or Minor arterials were statistically significant. Individual analysis of each road show that two Locals and two Minor arterials (among 30 different sites) presented a significant decrease with time. Year …

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An Analysis Of The Acoustic Doppler Velocimeter In Low Flow Environments Along The Las Vegas Wash, Roslyn Ryan Jan 2006

An Analysis Of The Acoustic Doppler Velocimeter In Low Flow Environments Along The Las Vegas Wash, Roslyn Ryan

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

This research project evaluated the performance of the Acoustic Doppler Velocimeter (ADV) in "low flow" environments along the Las Vegas Wash. It also tested the boundaries and limitations of the Acoustic Doppler Velocimeter. Measurements were made using both the ADV and the traditional mechanical Pygmy Meter, which has been the standard for low flow discharge measurements in the United States Geological Survey (USGS) since 1885; The first set of measurements showed that the ADV is just as reliable as the Pygmy Meter when obtaining low flow discharge measurements. The next series of measurements tested the ADV by using a series …

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Risk As A Compensating Differential In A Hedonic Wage Equation, Cathryn J Santoro Jan 2006

Risk As A Compensating Differential In A Hedonic Wage Equation, Cathryn J Santoro

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

Risk could be considered both a disagreeable characteristic of employment (i.e. the risk of death, injury) or, as noted previously, a factor in the probability, or more importantly, the improbability of success (i.e. the greater the risk in success, the less stable future earnings and employment). Accordingly, the inclusion of future wage risk in a study of compensating wage differentials is a logical step and, thus, the focus of this study; Drawing a corollary between the theoretical framework of compensating wage differentials and the theory of risk aversion, this paper seeks to measure whether or not wage risk has an …

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Efficacy Of Pre-Activity Stretching, Michelle Nicole Samuel Jan 2006

Efficacy Of Pre-Activity Stretching, Michelle Nicole Samuel

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

Pre-activity stretching is commonly performed by athletes as part of their warm-up routine. However, the most recent literature questions the effectiveness of pre-activity stretching. Some literature suggests that pre-activity stretching hinders athletic performance, while others suggest that stretching does not affect performance. Since a clear answer has not yet been determined on pre-activity stretching, this study was designed to investigate the acute effects of static vs. ballistic stretching on vertical jump performance, and torque and power output of the quadriceps and hamstrings, and to compare the effects of stretching between genders. The goal was to determine if pre-activity stretching is …

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Missing And Abducted Children: A Critical Analysis Of The Amber Alert System, Michael John Smoll Jan 2006

Missing And Abducted Children: A Critical Analysis Of The Amber Alert System, Michael John Smoll

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

Originally created from the reaction of a child abducted and murdered by a stranger, the AMBER alert system has since been utilized for a wide variety of child abduction episodes. The AMBER alert system has the potential to provide millions of citizens with descriptive information about a missing or abducted child in the hopes that the child can be successfully recovered by utilizing a wide array of communication mediums. This current study examined a sample of AMBER alerts issued in twelve states during the year 2005. Among the key findings include the fact that the vast majority of AMBER alerts …

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The Retest Of The Learning Benefits Of An External Focus Of Attention In Golf, Jiang Su Jan 2006

The Retest Of The Learning Benefits Of An External Focus Of Attention In Golf, Jiang Su

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of the present study was to replicate the findings of Wulf et al. (1999) and to examine whether external focus advantages would be found relative to a control condition without focus instructions in the learning of a sport skill under field-like conditions. In this experiment, thirty right-handed students with little golf experience were randomly assigned to one of the three groups (internal focus, external focus and control groups). They were required to hit golf ball to a target as accurately as possible. During practice, all participants performed 60 trials (6 blocks of 10 trials). Internal focus group participants …

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Volcanology And Petrogenesis Of The Navajo Lake Volcanic Field, Shara L Stowell Jan 2006

Volcanology And Petrogenesis Of The Navajo Lake Volcanic Field, Shara L Stowell

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

The Navajo Lake volcanic field is an ideal natural laboratory for volcanological and geochemical studies. This field extends from Navajo Lake, east of Cedar City, Utah to Panguitch Lake, Utah and lies in the Colorado Plateau and Basin and Range Transition Zone between the Hurricane and Sevier faults. The volcanic field is characterized by numerous basalt flows that erupted from more than 28 cinder cones. Many of the cones are aligned in a SE-NW direction. Three stages of basalt flows are recognized by mineralogy and morphology. Additionally, trachy-andesite occurs in the Panguitch Lake area. Many of the flows appear to …

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