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Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics

Discovery Of Paleotsunami Deposits Along Eastern Sunda Arc: Potential For Megathrust Earthquakes In Bali, Hanif Ibadurrahman Sulaeman Dec 2018

Discovery Of Paleotsunami Deposits Along Eastern Sunda Arc: Potential For Megathrust Earthquakes In Bali, Hanif Ibadurrahman Sulaeman

Theses and Dissertations

Several laterally extensive candidate tsunami deposits are preserved along coastlines facing the eastern Java Trench, indicating it has experienced mega-thrust earthquakes in the past. We investigated 37 coastal sites in Bali, Lombok, Sumba and Timor islands, many of which preserve course sand and pebble layers that overlie sharp basal contacts with scour marks into the mud, fine upward in grain size, and have bimodal grain size distributions. Other unique features are the common occurrence of marine fossils and concentrations of heavy minerals. The occurrence of these high-energy deposits interlayered with clay-rich units indicates the coarse clastics are anomalous because they …


Writing And Designing A Chapter On Mercury And Pluto For The Textbook Exploring The Planets (Explanet.Info), Braxton Clark Spilker Nov 2018

Writing And Designing A Chapter On Mercury And Pluto For The Textbook Exploring The Planets (Explanet.Info), Braxton Clark Spilker

Theses and Dissertations

Exploring the Planets (http://explanet.info) is a free online college textbook covering thebasic concepts of planetary science emphasizing the character and evolution of the planetarybodies in the Solar System. The latest edition (3rd edition) was published online in 2007 by EricH Christiansen. Since the release of the third edition, two important planetary missions havebeen completed: MESSENGER (to Mercury) and New Horizons (to Pluto). These missionsprovided new information and fundamental insights into these planetary bodies, which have notyet been included in Exploring the Planets. The modern results based on recent investigations ofMercury and Pluto are critical for our understanding of the nature …


Using Aviris And Machine Learning To Map And Discriminate Bull Kelp And Giant Kelp Along The Pacific Coast Of The United States, Tanner Thompson, Dr. Ryan Jensen Sep 2018

Using Aviris And Machine Learning To Map And Discriminate Bull Kelp And Giant Kelp Along The Pacific Coast Of The United States, Tanner Thompson, Dr. Ryan Jensen

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Kelp forests provide food and shelter for many organisms, and they are an important part of coastal ecosystems throughout the world. Along the Pacific coast of the United States, kelp forests are made up of two species of kelp: bull kelp (Nereocystis Leutkana) and giant kelp (Macrocystis Pyrifera). While similar, these two species are physiologically and structurally different.


The Relationship Between Urban Tree Lai And Urban Heat, Amanda Sheepherd, Dr. Ryan Jensen May 2018

The Relationship Between Urban Tree Lai And Urban Heat, Amanda Sheepherd, Dr. Ryan Jensen

Journal of Undergraduate Research

It is well known that urban areas are warmer than the surrounding rural areas, with various negative (though sometimes not immediately perceived) consequences for urban residents and the environment. As the world’s human population becomes increasingly urban, methods of mitigating urban heat become more imperative to explore. Though not nearly as abundant as in many natural environments, trees are fairly common in urban areas and can be utilized to offset urban heat. Studying the cooling effects of trees on the surrounding areas can further our understanding of the relationship between trees and temperature. Leaf Area Index (LAI) is a specific …


Patterns Of The Past: Mountain Hemlock And Pacific Northwest Climate, Aaron Snow, Dr. Matthew Bekker May 2018

Patterns Of The Past: Mountain Hemlock And Pacific Northwest Climate, Aaron Snow, Dr. Matthew Bekker

Journal of Undergraduate Research

In July, 2016, I had the opportunity to attend the North American Dendroecological Fieldweek (NADEF) at Mount Rainier National Park, Washington. NADEF organizes the attendees into five different groups to undergo specific research projects all having to do with tree rings. My group, the intro group, hiked to the southern side of the park, assembled a chronology of mountain hemlock trees (Tsuga mertensiana), and observed notable attributes of the collected data. Because the fieldweek lasted only seven days, our research was minimal, which was why I applied for an ORCA grant in order to take the research to …


Lithofaces And Sequence Architecture Of The Upper Paradox Formation (Middle Pennsylvanian)In The Subsurface Northern Blanding Subbasin, Paradox Basin, Utah, Geoffrey William Ritter Apr 2018

Lithofaces And Sequence Architecture Of The Upper Paradox Formation (Middle Pennsylvanian)In The Subsurface Northern Blanding Subbasin, Paradox Basin, Utah, Geoffrey William Ritter

Theses and Dissertations

THE PARADOX Basin is a northwest-southeast trending intracratonic basin that formedin southwestern Colorado, southeastern Utah and adjacent parts of Arizona and New Mexicoduring the late Paleozoic Era. During rise of the adjacent Uncompahgre Uplift (Ancestral RockyMountains) the rapidly subsiding basin was filled with over 2000 m of Permo-Pennsylvaniansediments. Stacked depositional sequences accumulated in three roughly parallel facies belts: anortheastern clastic belt (adjacent to uplift), a central salt and black shale belt, and asouthwestern carbonate belt. Over 400 million barrels of oil have been extracted from upperParadox (Desert Creek and Ismay) carbonates in the southern Blanding Subbasin (Greater AnethField) since 1956. …


A Geophysical And Geological Analysis Of A Regressive-Phase Lake Bonneville Deposit, Pilot Valley, Nv, Katelynn Marie Smith Apr 2018

A Geophysical And Geological Analysis Of A Regressive-Phase Lake Bonneville Deposit, Pilot Valley, Nv, Katelynn Marie Smith

Theses and Dissertations

Pilot Valley, located in the eastern Basin and Range, north of Wendover, UT, contains numerous shorelines and depositional remnants of late Pleistocene Lake Bonneville. These remnants present classic ground penetrating radar (GPR) targets due to their coherent stratification, low clay, low salinity, and low moisture content. Three-dimensional (3D) GPR imaging can resolve fine-scale stratigraphy of these deposits down to a few centimeters. While lake levels fluctuated due to flooding events, climatic changes were the dominant factor in controlling lake levels. In Pilot Valley, the paleowind entered from the northwest, with storms coming from the south, and circulated clockwise around the …


A Geomorphological Study Of Yardangs In China, The Altiplano/Puna Of Argentina, And Iran As Analogs For Yardangs On Titan, Dustin Shawn Northrup Apr 2018

A Geomorphological Study Of Yardangs In China, The Altiplano/Puna Of Argentina, And Iran As Analogs For Yardangs On Titan, Dustin Shawn Northrup

Theses and Dissertations

Collections of straight, RADAR-bright, linear features, or BLFs, on Saturn's moon Titan are revealed in Cassini SAR (Synthetic Aperture RADAR) images. Most are widely distributed across the northern midlatitudes SAR on SAR swaths T18, T23, T30, T64, and T83 and in swath T56 in the southern midlatitudes. To understand the origin of these features, we compare them with terrestrial yardangs in Dunhuang, China, the Altiplano/Puna of Argentina, and the Lut Desert of Iran and with a similar morphological landform, linear dunes in the Namib Sand Sea, Namibia and on Titan. We apply a statistical classification model developed through random forests, …


Lithofacies And Sequence Architecture Of The Upper Desert Creek Sequence (Middle Pennsylvanian, Paradox Formation) In The Greater Aneth Field, Southern Paradox Basin, Utah, Evan R. Gunnell Mar 2018

Lithofacies And Sequence Architecture Of The Upper Desert Creek Sequence (Middle Pennsylvanian, Paradox Formation) In The Greater Aneth Field, Southern Paradox Basin, Utah, Evan R. Gunnell

Theses and Dissertations

The Greater Aneth Buildup (GAB) is comprised of the 3rd-order middle Pennsylvanian (Desmoinesian) Desert Creek sequence of the Paradox Formation. A hierarchy of 4th- and 5th order, carbonate-dominated cycles comprise the Upper Desert Creek (UDC) 4th-order sequence. A SE to NW trending transect line, utilizing core and petrophysical data from six oil and gas wells (from SE to NW wells R-19, Q-16, O-16, J-15, K-430, E-313), revealed deposition of seven carbonate facies within four 5th-order parasequences in the UDC. While each of the seven carbonate facies are present across the transect line, the UDC parasequences are dominated by a shallow-water …


Discovery Of Possible Paleotsunami Deposits In Pangandaran And Adipala, Java, Indonesia Using Grain Size, Xrd, And 14C Analyses, Kevin L. Stuart Mar 2018

Discovery Of Possible Paleotsunami Deposits In Pangandaran And Adipala, Java, Indonesia Using Grain Size, Xrd, And 14C Analyses, Kevin L. Stuart

Theses and Dissertations

Grain size, 14C age, and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analyses of sediments indicate possible tsunami deposits on the southern coast of Java near Pangandaran and Adipala. Previous studies that have described known recent and paleotsunami deposits were used for comparison. Fining-upward grain size trends, interbedded sand and mud, sediment composition, and trends in heavy mineral abundances are among the characteristics used for tsunami deposit identification. At Batu Kalde, an archaeological site south of Pangandaran, a layer of aragonitic sand with marine fossils was found atop a layer of archaeological fragments at an elevation of ~2-5 m. It is likely this …


Paleo-Environmental Interpretations And Weathering Effects Of The Mowry Shale From Geochemical Analysis Of Outcrop Samples In The Western Margin Of The Wind River Basin Near Lander, Wyoming, Trevor Robinson Tuttle Mar 2018

Paleo-Environmental Interpretations And Weathering Effects Of The Mowry Shale From Geochemical Analysis Of Outcrop Samples In The Western Margin Of The Wind River Basin Near Lander, Wyoming, Trevor Robinson Tuttle

Theses and Dissertations

The Cretaceous Mowry Shale is an organic-rich, siliceous marine shale, and as such is a known source rock in the Western United States. Studies have documented that total organic carbon (TOC) in the Wind River Basin, Wyoming increases to the southeast. These studies cover large areas with limited sample sets. In this study, over 250 samples were collected near Lander, Wyoming to address spatial heterogeneity of TOC within the Mowry Shale at a much finer scale than previously examined. Samples were collected along five vertical sections at three localities, and following correlation of the vertical sections, which was strongly aided …


Assessing Tsunami Risk In Southwest Java, Indonesia: Paleo-Tsunami Deposits And Inundation Modeling, Han Deng Feb 2018

Assessing Tsunami Risk In Southwest Java, Indonesia: Paleo-Tsunami Deposits And Inundation Modeling, Han Deng

Theses and Dissertations

Samples from 13 different sites along the south coast of West Java yield 7 candidate paleo-tsunami sands, which may represent 4 different paleo-tsunami events. Ages obtained from one deposit may document a tsunami and coastal subsidence from an earthquake in 1,053 AD. The tsunami deposit from this event is preserved in an uplifted marine terrace exposed at Panto Cape, Banten Province. We speculated that the terrace has been uplifted about 4.6 m to the present height of 2 m above sea level, since the 1053 AD event at a rate of 4.8 mm/a. This uplift is strong evidence that strain …


Assessing Tsunami Risk In Southwest Java, Indonesia: Paleo-Tsunami Deposits And Inundation Modeling, Han Deng Feb 2018

Assessing Tsunami Risk In Southwest Java, Indonesia: Paleo-Tsunami Deposits And Inundation Modeling, Han Deng

Theses and Dissertations

Samples from 13 different sites along the south coast of West Java yield 7 candidate paleo-tsunami sands, which may represent 4 different paleo-tsunami events. Ages obtained from one deposit may document a tsunami and coastal subsidence from an earthquake in 1,053 AD. The tsunami deposit from this event is preserved in an uplifted marine terrace exposed at Panto Cape, Banten Province. We speculated that the terrace has been uplifted about 4.6 m to the present height of 2 m above sea level, since the 1053 AD event at a rate of 4.8 mm/a. This uplift is strong evidence that strain …


Linear Dune Morphometrics In Titan’S Belet Sand Sea And A Comparison With The Namib Sand Sea, Corbin Robert Lewis Jan 2018

Linear Dune Morphometrics In Titan’S Belet Sand Sea And A Comparison With The Namib Sand Sea, Corbin Robert Lewis

Theses and Dissertations

Despite atmospheric and compositional differences on Titan and Earth, the similarity in the shape and spacing of linear dunes of the Belet Sand Sea of Titan and the Namib Sand Sea of Earth suggests that comparisons will yield a better understanding of the dictating factors of duneforming processes. We present a methodology for the collection of dune width and spacing measurements representative of the Namib and Belet sand seas. 94,304 locations in Belet from Cassini SAR images and 5,563 locations in the Namib from IKONOS images are used for measurements. The average width and spacing of linear dunes in Belet …