Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Late Cretaceous Faunal Dynamics In The Western Interior Seaway: The Record From The Red Bird Section, Eastern Wyoming, Joshua Stephen Slattery

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Studies examining bioevents (e.g., mass extinctions, faunal turnovers, diversification events) usually only scrutinize a short interval prior to such events, however, understanding their actual paleobiological implications requires a thorough understanding of the background conditions. The objective of this study is to document the background biodiversity dynamics in a single lithofacies of the Upper Cretaceous Pierre Shale that was deposited in an offshore setting of the Western Interior Seaway (WIS) and to place these changes into an environmental context. To assess the background biodiversity dynamics, the concretionary faunas of the Baculites eliasi through B. clinolobatus biozones of the Pierre Shale in …

Initial Ablation Of The Laurentide Ice Sheet Based On Gulf Of Mexico Sediments, Elizabeth A. Brown

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The objective of this project is to reconstruct a picture of initial Laurentide Ice Sheet retreat at the end of the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) using geochemical proxies in Gulf of Mexico sediments, and place the reconstruction into global perspective. The project asks two questions. (1) Can a time frame be established for initial retreat of the Laurentide Ice Sheet? (2) If so, how does the timing compare to that of other large ice sheets and mountain glaciers in both hemispheres?

Sediment core MD02-2550 from the anoxic Orca Basin offers excellent preservation and a high sediment accumulation rate. Twelve accelerator …

A Gis Investigation Of Regional Geologic Controls On Mercury Deposits In The Southwest Region Of Arkansas, Lindsey Carol Langsdon

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The mercury district of southwest Arkansas, located within Clark, Pike, and Howard counties, contains 77 mapped mercury deposits, primarily in the form of cinnabar, found within the sandstones and shales of the Stanley and Jackfork Formations. The geographic locations of the majority of the deposits tend to form an east-northeast alignment in map view. Utilization of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) tools provided insight to the regional controls on the spatial distribution of the mercury deposits by examining the proposed relationships between mercury deposits and regional faults or changes in lithology, both of which have been suggested (Clardy and Bush, 1976) …

Sequence Stratigraphy And Source Rock Characterization Of Organic-Rich Shales Within The Jurassic Smackover Formation, Conecuh Embayment, Alabama, U.S.A., Patrick W. Niemeyer

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Upper Jurassic Smackover Formation is a prolific producer of hydrocarbons known throughout the U.S. Gulf Coast region, and typically consists of carbonate lime mudstones, ooid grainstones, microbial boundstones, and dolostones. Recent exploration efforts in the Conecuh Embayment of southwest Alabama revealed the presence of two black, siliciclastic shale layers containing abundant terrestrially derived organic matter within the Smackover Formation. The shale layers provide interesting insight into the sequence stratigraphy and paleoclimate of the Conecuh Embayment, and the source of the hydrocarbons accumulated there. The two shale layers reach a maximum thickness of 50 feet along the longitudinal axis of …

Calcite Cementation Of Sixty-Five-Year-Old Aragonite Sand Dredge Pile, Nathan M. Snyder

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Dredging of the harbor at Stocking Island, Bahamas (23°31'45"N, 75°49'41"W) in 1942 produced four dredge piles of cross-bedded aragonite skeletal sand. The spoils piles are on the leeward (western) shore of the island, where they are subject to minimal wave energy. Collectively they are 350 x 50 m in plan view and 2 m high. The surface is very well cemented, which requires a hammer and chisel for sampling. Samples were collected from six sites at various locations of the dredge pile. Samples were analyzed for both chemical and physical properties using thin-section examination, X-ray diffraction, X-ray fluorescence, bulk density …

Dispersion Geochemistry At Different Scales At The Nopal I Deposit, Peña Blanca Uranium District, Chihuahua, Mexico, Katrina Pekar-Carpenter

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The Nopal I mine in the Peña Blanca Uranium District, Chihuahua, Mexico is a natural analog for the geologic storage of nuclear waste. This dissertation presents data from two sites within Nopal I: 1) the PB-1 core, which was drilled along the extent of uranium mineralization in the Nopal I mine; and 2) a high-grade stockpile boulder from the mineralized Nopal tuff.

The PB-1 core allowed an investigation into the mineralogical and geochemical changes that are important to research on a nuclear waste repository. Five zones were determined to control these changes: 1) Zone 1, the primary uranium mineralization (quartz-uraninite-pyrite-kaolinite-ilmenite); …

Assessment Of Black Carbon In Snow And Ice From The Tibetan Plateau And Pacific Northwest, Matthew Glen Jenkins

All Master's Theses

An ice core from Mt. Geladandong, Tibetan Plateau, spanning 1853-1983, and snow samples collected over two winters from the Cascade Mountains were analyzed for concentrations of black carbon (BC) using a Single Particle Soot Photometer (SP2). From the ice core, the high-resolution BC record displayed substantial variability, a 2-fold increase in peak concentrations from 1853-1930 to 1930-1983, and a 1.6-fold increase in average concentrations from 1853-1975 to 1975-1983. Concentrations were also higher than at two areas closer to BC sources and analyzed by the same method. In the Pacific Northwest, BC concentrations varied seasonally and annually, with the highest concentrations …

Surface Wave Inversion Of The Upper Mantle Velocity Structure In The Ross Sea Region, Western Antarctica, James D. Rinke

All Master's Theses

The Ross Sea in Western Antarctica is the locale of several extensional basins formed during Cretaceous to Paleogene rifting. Several seismic studies along the Transantarctic Mountains and Victoria Land Basin’s Terror Rift have shown a general pattern of fast seismic velocities in East Antarctica and slow seismic velocities in West Antarctica. This study focuses on the mantle seismic velocity structure of the West Antarctic Rift System in the Ross Embayment and adjacent craton and Transantarctic Mountains to further refine details of the velocity structure.

Teleseismic events were selected to satisfy the two-station great-circle-path method between 5 Polar Earth Observing Network …

Relationships Between Snake River Paleofloods, Occupational Patterns And Archaeological Preservation At Redbird Beach Archaeological Site In Lower Hells Canyon, Idaho, Tabitha Trosper

All Master's Theses

The Snake River basin drains 282,000 km² of the northwestern U.S. and is the largest tributary to the Columbia River. Redbird Beach, an archaeological site located in the lower Hells Canyon reach of the Snake River, contains extensive vertical exposures of archaeological materials interbedded with Snake River flood sediments. Redbird Beach formed in the lee of the Redbird Creek debris fan, is composed of interfingering deposits from large floods on the Snake River and locally-derived alluvial sediments from Redbird Creek. Through stratigraphic analyses of slackwater deposits, this study compares the temporal and spatial patterns of human occupation at Redbird …

Plurigaussian Simulation Of Rocktypes Using Data From A Gold Mine In Western Australia, Robin Dunn

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Stochastic simulation of rocktypes, or the geometry of the geology, is a major area of continuing research as earth scientists seek a better understanding of an orebody as a precursor to the assignment of continuous rock properties, allowing more economically appropriate decisions regarding mine planning. This thesis analyses the suitability of particular geostatistical rock type modelling algorithms when applied to the five rocktypes evident in drill hole data from the Big Bell gold mine near Cue, Western Australia. The background of the geostatistical theory is considered, in particular the concept of the random function model and the link between the …

Provenance And Origin Of Holocene Beach Ridge And Modern Beach Sands From The Costa De Nayarit, Western Mexico, Ruben Abe Cisneros

LSU Master's Theses

The Costa de Nayarit in western Mexico is a classic modern example of the progradation of a coastline in a wave-dominated depositional environment. Throughout the Pleistocene, sediments have been brought to the Costa De Nayarit via three major river systems, the Rio Grande de Santiago, the Rio San Pedro and the Rio Acaponeta. These river systems obtain their sediments from two distinctly different volcanic provinces within central Mexico, the Sierra Madre Occidental (SMO), a volcanic province characterized by its predominance of felsic volcanism (rhyolites) and pyroclastic flows (welded ash flow tuff and ignimbrite), and the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt (TMVB), which …

Geomicrobiology Of Louisiana Coastal Marshes Before And After The Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill, Chang Liu

LSU Master's Theses

The 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico not only impacted open ocean and shoreline geochemical and ecological environments, but it served to promote research of microbial ecosystems in poorly studied habitats, such as Louisiana marshes. Sediment and water samples from four main marshes in southern Louisiana were collected in May 2010 (pre-oil), September 2010 (oiled), and June 2011 (post-oil). Sites near the Mississippi River had exceptionally low salinity in the immediate months following the oil spill due to freshwater diversion efforts; salinity increased by an order of magnitude one year later. Microbial diversity was evaluated from …

Biodegradation Of Bisphenol-A And 17b-Estradiol In Soil Mesocosms Under Alternating Aerobic/Anoxic/Anaerobic Conditions, Won-Seok Kim

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Soil-aquifer treatment (SAT) has been proposed as a method for reusing treated municipal wastewater. SAT is characterized by alternating cycles of aerobic and anaerobic conditions in the subsurface, in response to alternating cycles of flooding and drainage of a surface impoundment. It is not yet known how these alternating redox conditions affect the removal of potentially harmful endocrine-disrupting compounds (EDCs) from treated effluent.

The overall objective of my doctoral research is to determine the fate of EDCs in alternating aerobic/anoxic/anaerobic conditions under simulated SAT conditions. To assess the fate of EDCs in simulated SAT conditions, I first had to develop …

High-Resolution Event Stratigraphy Of Mm-Scale Laminated Sediments From Coastal Salt Ponds: St. John, Us Virgin Islands, Rebekka Amie Larson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A multi-proxy approach is utilized on mm- to cm-scale laminated sediment records in coastal salt ponds on St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands to characterize the sediments, identify their sources and depositional processes/events (heavy rainfall, tropical cyclones, tsunamis). Historical records are combined with high-resolution geochronology (short-lived radioisotopes, ²¹⁰Pb, ¹³⁷Cs, ⁷Be) and scanning elemental techniques (XRF and LA-ICP-MS) to link depositional events to how they are manifested in the sedimentary record. Volcanic rocks are the terrigenous sediment source and the sedimentary signature of terrigenous sediment in the geologic record consists of higher amounts of Al, Fe, Ti, Co, and …

The Search For The Missing Mantles Of Differentiated Asteroids: Evidence From Taxonomic A-Class Asteroids And Olivine-Dominated Achondrite Meteorites, Michael Peter Lucas

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The apparent rarity of taxonomic A-class asteroids poses a significant paradox for understanding asteroid differentiation and the dynamical evolution of the early solar system. Based on results from asteroid taxonomic surveys, and on the abundances and mineralogy of different achondrite meteorites, it appears that olivine-dominated mantle remnants are missing from both the asteroid population and in meteorite collections. Several scenarios to explain this paradox have been proposed: (1) olivine mantle material has been stripped away by collisions and only remains as small fragments (< ~5 km), (2) A-class asteroids are abundant but have been altered in some way masking their presence, or (3) differentiated asteroids did not form thick olivine-rich mantles.

We have approached these questions through the collection of taxonomic and observational data on known A-class …

Modeling Direct Runoff Hydrographs With The Surge Function, Denis Voytenko

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A surge function is a mathematical function of the form f(x)=ax^pe^-bx. We simplify the surge function by holding p constant at 1 and investigate the simplified form as a potential model to represent the full peak of a stream discharge hydrograph. The previously studied Weibull and gamma distributions are included for comparison. We develop an analysis algorithm which produces the best-fit parameters for every peak for each model function, and we process the data with a MATLAB script that uses spectral analysis to filter year-long, 15-minute, stream-discharge data sets. The filtering is necessary to locate the …

Alternative Statistical Methods For Analyzing Geological Phenomena: Bridging The Gap Between Scientific Disciplines, Joseph Frank Van Gaalen

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

When we consider the nature of the scientific community in conjunction with a sense of typical economic circumstances we find that there are two distinct paths for development. One path involves hypothesis testing and evolution of strategies that are linked with iterations in equipment advances. A second, more complicated scenario, can involve external influences whether economic, political, or otherwise, such as the government closure of NASA's space program in 2011 which will no doubt influence research in associated fields. The following chapters are an account of examples of two statistical techniques and the importance of both on the two relatively …

Derivation Of The Eruption History Of The Prehistoric Ring Creek Lava Flow, Southern British Columbia, Samuel Bruno

WWU Graduate School Collection

The Ring Creek lava flow is a 10,000 year old, post-glacial dacitic lava flow that originated from Opal Cone, a small cinder cone on the south east flank of Mt. Garibaldi, British Columbia. Disequilibrium texture of amphibole combined with clotting in plagioclase suggests that the Ring Creek magma stalled beneath Opal Cone for at least 440 days before the eruption of the Ring Creek lava flow. Use of an igneous plagioclaseliquid thermo barometer and hygrometer indicate shallow storage conditions of 818 - 868o C, 2.4 - 3.6 kbar, and 0.2 - 2.0 wt% H2O. Surge in plagioclase growth, evidenced by …

Receiver Function Studies Of Crustal Structure, Composition, And Evolution Beneath The Afar Depression, Ethiopia, Sattam A. Almadani

Doctoral Dissertations

"The dissertation utilizes a set of sophisticated computer programs developed at the Geophysics group at Missouri S&T to characterize crustal properties beneath the Afar Depression in Ethiopia where extensional tectonics dominates. In this study, measurements of crustal thickness (H), crustal mean Vp/Vs [which is related to Poisson's ratio (Σ)], and the sharpness of the Moho (R) were determined using teleseismic data from 18 broadband seismic sensors that we deployed along a profile of 250 km long with a station spacing of ~ 10 km. The stations had been recording continuously for an entire year from December 2009 until December 2010. …

Predicting The Ancient Occurrence Of Evaporites Using Paleoclimate Modelling, Amiratu Yamusah

Earth & Environmental Sciences Theses

Evaporites are climatic indicators that depend on two main variables: mean annual temperature and mean annual precipitation. This study constructs a model that predicts the localities of ancient evaporites based on paleo- temperature and paleo- precipitation data. A climate envelope, a bivariate plot of temperature and precipitation, is constructed by intersecting the modern temperature and precipitation with climate data obtained from Fast Ocean Atmosphere Model (FOAM). Modern evaporites have a limited extent hence in this research, the yermosols- solonchak soil type was used as a proxy. The predictions were made for 16 time intervals. These were plotted on paleogeographic reconstructions …

The Impact Of Buffer Zone Changes On The Architecture Of The Paleozic Lower Cutler Beds Of Utah, Siavash Rastaghi

Earth & Environmental Sciences Theses

The Shafer basin fluvial units, as being part of the Paradox fold and fault belt basin, received sediments from alluvial fans through mixed braided-meandering river systems that eroded the clastic rocks of the Uncompahgre highlands to the northeast and flowed southwestward through aeolian dune fields to an open sea during Pennsylvanian to early Permian time. The best exposed rocks of the Lower Cutler beds were photographed and investigated along the Colorado River in the Shafer and Canyonland basins. The Architectural Element Analysis technique was used to categorize bounding surface orders, and to identify lithofacies and fluvial elements such as lateral …

Predicting The Geographic Distribution Of Ancient Soils With Special Reference To The Cretaceous, Arghya Goswami

Earth & Environmental Sciences Dissertations

Different kinds of soils form in different climatic regimes. Soils closely match climatic conditions. Therefore, they are one of the best indicators of past climates. This study uses the "climate envelope" technique developed by Moore (2007) to build a "paleo-soil prediction program". Though factors controlling soil formation are complex (Retallack, 1990), the best fit between a given soil type (Zobler 1999) and the annual range of rainfall and temperature (Legates and Wilmott 1990) are thought to be the primary factors. Each modern soil type has a unique climatic "fingerprint" or "climate envelope" defined by the range of rainfall and temperature …

Air Emissions From Natural Gas Exploration And Mining In The Barnett Shale Geologic Reservoir, Alisa Larraine Rich

Earth & Environmental Sciences Dissertations

This study evaluates air emissions from natural gas mining and production in the Barnett Shale within the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex. Due to advances in horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing, natural gas production in the Barnett Shale increased from 3 wells in 2000 to almost 8,000 wells in six Metroplex counties by 2008. Currently, information regarding emissions from natural gas production, particularly regarding hazardous air pollutants, is lacking; this information is particularly important given that drilling and production is occurring in highly urbanized areas. The objectives of this study were thus:* To identify the `fingerprint' of chemicals associated with natural gas …

Glacial And Geothermal Dynamics In Sherman Crater, Mount Baker, Washington, Melissa Park

WWU Graduate School Collection

Although quiescent since a significant thermal event in 1975, Mount Baker, in Washington, continues degassing from fumaroles in Sherman Crater, indicating the presence of a connection to an active magmatic system at depth. The apparent equilibrium condition of the crater glacier between 2003 and 2008, despite lying well above the regional equilibrium line altitude, suggests that melting of basal ice by heat flux from fumaroles and heated ground must balance the glacier's positive surface mass-balance. My investigation of glacial and geothermal dynamics in Sherman Crater between 2009 and 2010 provides the first rigorous quantitative assessment of the Sherman Crater glacier: …

Hydrologic And Geomorphic Assessment Of Ebey's Prairie, Central Whidbey Island, Washington, Michael A. (Michael Allen) Larrabee

WWU Graduate School Collection

Ebey's Prairie, Washington, was once bisected by a broad riparian corridor consisting of waterlogged soils, swampy areas, seasonal ponds, and intermittent flows, which helped recharge the local aquifer. By the mid-1900s, agriculture drainage tiles, drainage ditches, and fill were being installed by landowners to increase tillable acreage. The extent and location of these drainage tiles or the effects these tiles have had on surface water and subsequently on aquifer recharge in the area remains uncertain. In this study, I characterized the modern and historic surface hydrologic conditions of Ebey's Prairie and their relationship to the local geomorphology. I used the …

Groundwater Response To Precipitation Events, Kalaloch, Olympic Peninsula, Washington, Casey R. Hanell

WWU Graduate School Collection

Tens of thousands of square kilometers of forestland in Washington are managed as working forests, primarily for timber production. The effects of timber harvesting on physical watershed processes continue to be the subject of intense research throughout the Pacific Northwest. Watershed analyses completed in Washington during the mid-1990s resulted in significant modifications to Washington's Forest Practices Act and Rules. These measures mandate rigorous evaluation of potential effects of timber harvesting on slope stability. Although timber harvesting has been linked to an increase in surface erosion and mass wasting in the Pacific Northwest, most studies have focused on shallow landslide processes. …

Crenulation Cleavage Development And The Influence Of Rock Microstructure On Crustal Seismic Anisotropy, Felice Maria Johanna Naus-Thijssen

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis investigates the cause of mass transfer during crenulation cleavage formation and the role that elastically anisotropic minerals and fabric development play in promoting seismic anisotropy in the crust. Crenulation cleavage is the most common fabric in multiplydeformed, phyllosilicate-rich metamorphic rocks. During its formation the originally planar fabric gets crenulated, eventually leading to the differentiation of quartz- and feldspar-rich regions (QFdomains) in the crenulation hinges, and phyllosilicate-rich regions (P-domains) in the crenulation limbs. This differentiation is driven by the dissolution of quartz and feldspar in the P-domains, and the precipitation of those minerals in the QF-domains. Finite element models …

Late-Pleistocene Glacial And Climate Fluctuations In The Torres Del Paine Region (51ºs), Southern South America, Juan Luis Garcia

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Variations in Earth‘s orbital parameters affect insolation and are thought to drive ice-age cycles (Milankovitch Theory). Northern and southern mid-latitudes show opposing insolation signals, because of the effect of precession. Despite this difference, paleoclimate records from both hemispheres display broadly synchronous glacialinterglacial climate changes tied to northern hemisphere insolation. This would imply that southern hemisphere glaciers advanced in the face of increasing local summer insolation during the last glacial maximum and thus raises questions about the orbital theory of ice ages. Well-dated paleoclimate records are important for testing hypotheses concerning the origin of ice ages, particularly in the southern hemisphere. …

High Resolution Antarctic Glaciochemical Climate Proxy Records And Their Global Implications, Daniel Arthur Dixon

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The first section of this study presents major ion, trace element, heavy metal, rare earth element and oxygen isotope data from a series of surface snow samples and shallow firn sections collected along four US ITASE traverses across extensive regions of East and West Antarctica. In each sample the dissolved major ion, total trace element, and d18O concentrations are measured. This provides a baseline from which changes in the chemistry of the atmosphere over Antarctica can be monitored under expected warming scenarios and continued intensification of industrial activities in the Southern Hemisphere. Satellite remote sensing measurements of microwave backscatter and …

Photonic Non-Destructive Measurement Methods For Investigating The Evolution Of Polar Firn And Ice, Daniel James Breton

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

When snow falls on glaciers or ice sheets, it persists for many tens, hundreds and sometimes thousands of years before becoming ice. The granular material in between fresh snow and glacial ice is known as firn and is generally 50 to 100 m thick over polar ice sheets. The compaction mechanism of firn into ice (called densification) has important glaciological ramifications in determination of ice sheet stability and related sea level rise effects via remote sensing altimetry. Firn densification is also important for correctly interpreting ice core paleoclimate records, especially those analyzing gases trapped in air bubbles within the glacial …