Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Untangling The Nature And Timescales Of Magmatic Processes Driving Eruptions At Quiescent Volcanoes: Examples From Momotombo, Nicaragua, And Cumbre Vieja, Canary Islands, Samantha Tramontano

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Across all scales of human relationships (i.e. person-to-person, country-to-country, etc.), qualms can take the form of long-standing wars, quick and intense bouts, or petty exchanges. While our understanding of human behavior is ever increasing, reactions and behaviors of self and others may still come as a surprise. Expressions of disagreement can occur suddenly or following years to centuries of accumulated grievances. The solid earth is also a system that behaves (like human emotion) predictably at times and unpredictably at other times. Some volcanoes, a tangible surface expression of solid earth processes, exhibit precursory signals prior to eruption (e.g. the bulging …

Investigation Of The Sheep Creek Carbonatites, Ravalli County, Montana, Sarah Risedorf

Graduate Theses & Non-Theses

Carbonatite-related REE-Nb mineralization in southern Ravalli County, Montana was first discovered in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Over 30 discontinuous carbonatite bodies occur in a ~ 10 km² area centered on Sheep Creek, a tributary to the headwaters of the West Fork of the Bitterroot River (WFBR). The deposits are contained in a belt that extends to the southeast into the Mineral Hill district of Lemhi County, Idaho. Country rocks include a deformed and metamorphosed bimodal igneous suite of diabase and A-type granite, both dated to 1.37 Ga by previous workers. These rocks are locally metamorphosed to amphibolite …

Frozen In Time: A Numerical Modeling Approach To The Study Of Ice Bearing Planetesimals Through Carbonaceous Chondrites, Jasmine M. Bayron

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Icy planetesimals are significant objects of study for meteoritics, planetary science, and astrobiology due to their connections to the origins of life and liquid water on Earth. An existing closed system aqueous alteration model was adapted to simulate several scenarios involving early Solar System geologic processes occurring in an icy planetesimal interior. The model described in this work has been developed not only to test the validity of constraints currently thought to apply to CM1 parent bodies, but to directly compare the implications of these constraints for the isotopic composition and the modal mineralogy of carbonaceous chondrites. Isotopic ratios of …

Relationships Among Mineralogy, Geochemistry, And Oil And Gas Production In The Tuscaloosa Marine Shale, Hayley Roxana Beitel

Masters Theses

"The Tuscaloosa Marine Shale (TMS) is an unconventional shale reservoir located in southeast Louisiana and southwest Mississippi. Limited mineralogical and geochemical data for the TMS have been published. The data that do exist indicate that the formation is heterogeneous. Consequently, previous investigators and oil and gas companies have not managed to effectively link mineralogical and chemical changes to oil and gas production in the TMS. These linkages are critical to establish for future exploration efforts. In this study, we attempt to establish these relationships by gathering all existing mineralogical and chemical data in the TMS, including newly acquired data from …

Pumice Compositions And Mineral Chemistry From Lascar Volcano, Chile, Madelaine M. Stearn

MSU Graduate Theses

Lascar volcano is one the most active volcano in the Central Volcanic Zone of the Andean Cordillera, with 36 Holocene eruptions including a VEI 4 eruption in April 1993. Activity has not been consistent throughout time, and therefore, the processes behind it are poorly understood. Lascar volcano has cyclic behavior and has had four stages of activity, each of which had a unique eruptive style and product composition. Stage I (<43 >ka) had primarily mafic andesite lavas erupted effusively from a stratocone. Stage II initiated with dome building events ESE of the original vent and culminated in the 26.45 ka …

A Targeted Investigation Of The Upper Contact Unit Of The Sudbury Igneous Complex In The North Range, Sudbury Impact Structure, Canada, Lindsay E. Debono

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The Sudbury Igneous Complex (SIC) represents the remnant of a crystalline impact melt sheet of the Sudbury impact structure; and is historically and presently a strategic exploration target sustaining the region's prolific mining camp. In order to better understand the SIC, it is critical to investigate the chilled upper contact of the SIC, which has historically received little recognition. Through field observations, whole rock geochemistry, petrography, and electron microprobe analysis, this study concludes that the SIC upper contact is in fact extensive across the North Range of the SIC. Additionally, the geochemistry of the SIC units, offset dykes, and upper …

Hydrothermal Alteration At Devil's Kitchen In The Lassen Volcanic National Park: A Mars Analogue, Andy Wanta

Theses and Dissertations

The Devil’s Kitchen hydrothermal site, within the Lassen Volcanic National Park, has hydrothermal features that cover a wide range of pH conditions (2-7). Analysis of mineral precipitates, hot spring mud, unaltered substrate rock, and hot spring and meteoric water reveal a wide variety of alteration minerals, geochemical conditions, and water chemistry. Mineral suites included primary igneous phases, silica phases, clay minerals, and sulfate phases. Aluminum sulfates are the dominant sulfate species present with abundant Na+, Fe3+, and Ca2+ sulfate phases and less common K+ sulfates. Amorphous silica precipitates were observed in three samples from a near-neutral hot spring and one …

An Investigation Of Hydrothermal Veins Along The Foy Offset Dyke, Sudbury Impact Structure, Ontario, Sarah Ann Codyre

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

A multi-stage hydrothermal system is related to the 1.85 Ga Sudbury impact structure. This system began in the Sudbury Igneous Complex (SIC) and radiated outward along the offset dykes. Through the combination of orientation measurements of veins in the field, petrography and geochemistry of these veins, this study has determined that there are four types of hydrothermal epidote-quartz veins categorized by their orientation, petrography and geochemistry. This study discovered that there are general trends with increasing distance from the SIC along the Foy Offset Dyke. From this it can be concluded that this is in fact SIC-driven hydrothermal event not …

Porphyry Copper Exploration Of The Hualapai Mountains, Mohave County, Arizona, Usa: A Multi-Faceted Approach, Patrick Kevin Meazell

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

A variety of exploration methods including geologic mapping, trace- and major-level geochemical analyses, fluid inclusion petrography, remote sensing, and SWIR clay spectroscopy were used to investigate the potential for porphyry Cu-Mo mineralization at the Wikieup prospect, in the southern Hualapai Mountains of northwestern Arizona. Aspects of the Mineral Park mine were used as an analogue to guide exploration due to the proximity and similar geology of the area.

The Hualapai Mountains are a series of northwest-trending Precambrian gneisses, schists, granitoids and amphibolites that have been cut by younger intrusive rocks. Within the Wikieup study area, the intrusive rocks include aplite …

Contact Zone Mineralogy And Geochemistry Of The Mt. Mica Pegmatite, Oxford County, Maine, Kimberly T. Clark

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

This study focuses on exocontact mineral assemblages to determine composition, thermal signatures, and the extent of exomorphism that occurred between the Mt. Mica pegmatite and the migmatite host rock at the contact. Biotite-garnet thermometry of country rock samples resulted in an average temperature estimate of 630 °C. Measured biotite Fe/(Fe+Mg) ratios were used to calculate an fO2 of -18. The results indicate that the country rock and pegmatite formed under similar oxidizing conditions near the quartz-fayalite-magnetite (QFM) equilibria buffer. Whole rock (REE) analysis indicates an interaction trend between the country rock and pegmatite. Exomorphism does not appear to have …

Identifying Sources Of Aeolian Mineral Dust: Present And Past, Daniel R. Muhs, Joseph M. Prospero, Matthew C. Baddock, Thomas E. Gill

Publications of the US Geological Survey

Aeolian mineral dust is an important component of the Earth’s environmental systems, playing roles in the planetary radiation balance, as a source of fertilizer for biota in both terrestrial and marine realms and as an archive for understanding atmospheric circulation and paleoclimate in the geologic past. Crucial to understanding all of these roles of dust is the identification of dust sources. Here we review the methods used to identify dust sources active at present and in the past. Contemporary dust sources, produced by both glaciogenic and non-glaciogenic processes, can be readily identified by the use of Earth-orbiting satellites. These data …

Petrogenesis Of The East Fork Member Rhyolites, Valles Caldera, New Mexico, Usa, Carla Eichler

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The most recent volcanism in the Valles caldera is represented by the El Cajete Pyroclastic Beds (ECPB), Battleship Rock Ignimbrite (BRI), and Banco Bonito Flow (BBF) as well as the VC-1 rhyolite, which are collectively known as the East Fork Member (EFM) of the Valles Rhyolite. The EFM was erupted at approximately 55 ka and 40 ka after an approximate 460 ka lull in volcanism. Previous studies suggested a mafic intrusion at depth triggered the eruptions. This thesis represents the first detailed study of the EFM.

Crystal assemblages consist of plagioclase, biotite, clinopyroxene, orthopyroxene, amphibole, sanidine, quartz, and oxides. Electron …

Formation And Alteration Of Basaltic Soils On Mars, Ian Oliver Mcglynn

Doctoral Dissertations

The current surface of Mars is an arid inhospitable environment, dominated by aeolian processes, composed of largely volcanic rocks that have little apparent indication of pervasive aqueous chemical weathering, and blanketed by dust. Rocks are composed of basalts and the “soil” sediments appear to be largely basaltic-derived, and are chemically similar on a global scale. If the climate was once warmer and wetter during the Noachian period, with environmental conditions favorable to the development of life, physically weathered remnants, such as large quantities of phyllosilicate minerals, should remain. Basaltic soils provide a crucial constraint on chemical and physical weathering processes, …

The Behavior Of Zircon During Partial Melting In Anatectic Migmatites: Insights To Metamorphism, Deformation And Tectonism In The Central Santa Fe Range, Northern New Mexico, Michelle Renee Stropky

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Three lithologic assemblages exposed in the central Santa Fe Range, northern New Mexico include (1) a septum of Proterozoic low temperature (~700oC, 5.5 kbars), semi-pelitic anatectic migmatites surrounded by (2) deformed megacrystic biotite granite that is intruded by (3) discrete plutons of largely undeformed hornblende biotite tonalite. Metamorphic fabrics in the migmatite record three deformation events (D1 - D3); a composite S1/S2 fabric (D1 and D2) that formed contemporaneous with anatexis and is folded about a southwest plunging map-scale (D3) antiform. The megacrystic granite exhibits a pervasive S1 subsolidus foliation that parallels the S1/S2 fabric in the migmatite and is …

Melt Inclusions In Volcanic Rocks, Kirellos Sefein, Kelly L. Robertson, Adam Simon

Festival of Communities: UG Symposium (Posters)

We studied melt inclusions from Mutnovsky Volcano, Kamchatka, Russia as part of a larger project designed to contrain the eruptive history of Mutnovsky. Transmitted and reflected light petrographic microscopy was used to characterize melt inclusions in grain mounts of mineral separates, standard 30 micron thin sections, and 200 micron thick sections of the samples from the Mutnovsky. The inclusions were further divided into three main categories: recrystallized, partially recrystallized, and glassy inclusions. After all the melt inclusions have been categorized, they will be analyzed by using LA-ICP-MS to determine their major, minor and trace element compositions.

A Study Of Nife(X)Cr(2-X)O4 By Laser Micro-Raman Spectroscopy, Lucas Wilson, Markus Vasquez, John Farley, Allen L. Johnson, Brian D. Hosterman

Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP)

Standards of spinels, composed of two metals and oxygen with the formula AB2O4, are being created with known composition to identify spinels in samples of unknown composition by comparison with the spectra obtained from the standards. Laser micro-Raman spectroscopy allows the identification of chemical species based on their unique vibrational modes. The degree to which spinels of varying composition can be identified will be determined. This will aid in the study of the corrosion of steel by liquid metal. Spinels are a likely component of the oxide layer. Understanding the composition of the products of corrosion leads to an understanding …

Relation Of Groundwater Fluoride Concentrations To Sediment Mineralogy, Potomac Formation (Cretaceous), Southeastern Virginia, Paul Anthony Maciuika

OES Theses and Dissertations

Thirty-seven Early cretaceous sediment samples of the Potomac Formation were obtained from four cores to determine if fluoride bearing minerals are responsible for elevated fluoride concentrations in Potomac Formation groundwaters of southeastern Virginia. Investigative methods included total sediment fluoride and particle size analysis, semiquantitative mineralogical analysis (achieved by X-Ray Diffraction) and statistical methods (cluster, canonical and regression analysis). The sediments showed wide variation in textures, ranging from clean sands and gravels to silty clays. Sediment mineralogies were dependent on the prevailing size fraction, with quartz and feldspar dominating the sand and silt fractions, muscovite primarily being found in the silt …

Maine Gems And Gem Minerals, Maine State Museum

Maine Collection

Maine Gems and Gem Minerals

The Maine State Museum - Printed under Appropriation No. 1741.1

Sections Include : "An Introduction to the Gemstones of Maine", "Tourmaline", "Beryl", "Quartz Family Gems", "Topaz", "Gold", "Miscellaneous Gem Varieties", "Maine's 'Lost' Gem Mines", "Hamlin Necklace", etc

Maine Pegmatite Mines And Prospects And Associated Minerals, Maine Geological Survey

Maine Collection

Maine Pegmatite Mines and Prospects and Associated Minerals

Minerals Resources Index No.1 - Maine Geological Survey

Department of Development of Industry and Commerce, Augusta, Maine (March 1, 1957).

Contents: Introduction / Acknowledgments / Explanatory Considerations / Selected Bibliography / Pegmatite Mines and Prospects - Alphabetical Index / Pegmatite Mines and Prospects - County-Township Index / Pegmatite Mines and Prospects - Map Index.

Also Includes: Southwestern Maine - Pegmatite Localities and Access Highways / Index Map Showing Mining Districts and Detailed Plate Locations