Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

A Granger Causality Analysis Of Groundwater Patterns Over A Half-Century, Nitin K. Singh, David M. Borrok

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Groundwater depletion in many areas of the world has been broadly attributed to irrigation. However, more formal, data-driven, causal mechanisms of long-term groundwater patterns have not been assessed. Here, we conducted the first Granger causality analysis to identify the "causes" of groundwater patterns using the rice-producing parishes of Louisiana, USA, as an example. Trend analysis showed a decline of up to 6 m in groundwater level over 51 years. We found that no single cause explained groundwater patterns for all parishes. Causal linkages were noted between groundwater and area harvested, number of irrigation wells, summer precipitation totals, and drought. Bi-directional …

Extraction And Visualization Of Orientation Data From Virtual Geologic Surfaces With Matlab®, Avery J. Welker, John Patrick Hogan, Andreas Eckert

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

High-resolution visualization of surfaces of geologic interest, at a multitude of scales, using 3D point cloud technologies provides an opportunity to analyze spatial relationships of surfaces using orientation data. We present a MATLAB® script that produces planar geologic attitude data (e.g., strike, dip, and dip-direction data) from 3D datasets (e.g., point clouds, 3D scanning). The method utilizes Cartesian coordinates of triangular planar surfaces and converts them into matrices of conventional geologic attitude data. Spatial relationships among data points can be investigated, using polar tangent diagrams, stereographic analysis, or geologic curvature analysis. We utilize this script to create "synthetic" graphical plots …

A Metasomatized Lithospheric Mantle Control On The Metallogenic Signature Of Post-Subduction Magmatism, David A. Holwell, Marco Fiorentini, Iain Mcdonald, Yongjun Lu, Andrea Giuliani, Daniel J. Smith, Manuel Keith, Marek Locmelis

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Ore deposits are loci on Earth where energy and mass flux are greatly enhanced and focussed, acting as magnifying lenses into metal transport, fractionation and concentration mechanisms through the lithosphere. Here we show that the metallogenic architecture of the lithosphere is illuminated by the geochemical signatures of metasomatised mantle rocks and post-subduction magmatic-hydrothermal mineral systems. Our data reveal that anomalously gold and tellurium rich magmatic sulfides in mantle-derived magmas emplaced in the lower crust share a common metallogenic signature with upper crustal porphyry-epithermal ore systems. We propose that a trans-lithospheric continuum exists whereby post-subduction magmas transporting metal-rich sulfide cargoes play …

Modeling Land Subsidence Using Insar And Airborne Electromagnetic Data, Ryan G. Smith, R. Knight

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Land subsidence as a result of groundwater overpumping in the San Joaquin Valley, California, is associated with the loss of groundwater storage and aquifer contamination. Although the physical processes governing land subsidence are well understood, building predictive models of subsidence is challenging because so much subsurface information is required to do so accurately. For the first time, we integrate airborne electromagnetic data, representing the subsurface, with subsidence data, mapped by interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR), to model deformation. By combining both data sets, we are able to solve for hydrologic and geophysical properties of the subsurface to effectively model the …

Modeling Land Subsidence Using Insar And Airborne Electromagnetic Data: Dataset, Ryan G. Smith, R. Knight

Research Data

Supporting dataset for article published in Water Resources Research, Volume 55, Issue 4, pages 2801-2819

Provenance, Redox Conditions, And Diagenesis Of Shales In Chang 7 Member Of Upper Triassic Yanchang Formation, Ordos Basin, China, Bin Sun

Doctoral Dissertations

“This study aims to decipher provenance, redox conditions, and burial history of shales in Chang 7 Member of Upper Triassic Yanchang Formation, Ordos Basin, China. The first paper discusses the origins of single-channeled, vertical, sinuous, and calcite-bitumen-filled cracks in the shales. Results show that in early diagenesis, unconsolidated mud was expanded open by escaping gases produced during organic matter maturation under hydrothermal influences. Calcite initially filled the cracks; bitumen and pyrite came in later and occupied the cracks in various ways. Compaction occurred next and folded the calcite- and bitumen-filled cracks into sinuous shapes. The second paper uses geochemical and …

Exploration For Alteration Halos Around The Ag-W Deposits In Southeastern Missouri, Usa, Daniel Joseph Warbritton

Masters Theses

"The St. Francois Mountains in SE Missouri are an extensive terrane of granitic ring complexes and associated rhyolites. They were an important source of Ag, W, and Sn and mined intermittently from the 1800s until the 1950s. The Ag-W ores occur in the Silvermine Granite and rhyolite roof rocks. The deposits are classified as a xenothermal ore system with mineralization occurring in quartz veins and surrounding greisen (up to 2.5 m). Exploration for hydrothermal ore deposits often focuses on the identification of alteration halos in the surrounding host rocks. In the vast majority of xenothermal ore deposits, such as in …

Seismic Attribute Assisted Depositional Facies Identification And Stratigraphic Correlation In The Central Gulf Coast Region Of Texas, Yani Lin

Doctoral Dissertations

"The sandstone deposits in the fluvial-dominated delta systems in the Lower Wilcox Group above the Cretaceous carbonate shelf edges of the Texas Gulf Coast Region are considered as high exploration potential reservoir bodies. However, the multi-phase regression and transgression during the late Paleocene to the early Eocene complicate the local depositional structure. The depositional facies is hard to be identified in details using the traditional seismic stratigraphic interpretation method. Seismic attributes are effective in detecting depositional facies, especially in mapping channels and investigating reservoir characteristics. In this study, we utilize seismic attributes to identify the principal depositional facies in the …

Fault Imaging Enhancement In Taranaki Basin, New Zealand And Rock Physics And Inversion Based Reservoir Characterization In The Central Gulf Coast Region Of Texas, Tianze Zhang

Doctoral Dissertations

"Fault imaging technique and reservoir characterization based on rock physics analysis and pre-stack inversion has been widely used hydrocarbon exploration. For the fault imaging technique, the ant tracking has been widely used in fault interpretation. However, the reliability of the results is highly dependent on appropriately choosing a signal processing method and volume attributes. In our study area, which lies in the southern Taranaki Basin, we applied Graphic Equalizer as the processing tool and the Chaos attribute before running the ant tracking algorithm. Results show that the procedure provides a better result and can map both the major and minor …

Archaeological Investigation Using Geophysical Methods To Locate Historic Byram's Ford Road, Marshall Seth Foster

Masters Theses

"Ground penetrating radar, a time domain electromagnetic metal detector and a frequency domain electromagnetic metal detector were used with the goal of locating a section of the Byram's Ford Road believed to be intersecting the historic Big Blue Battlefield in the Westport area of Kansas City, Missouri.

Ground penetrating data were acquired at three sites, Site A, Site B, and Site C. The time domain EM metal detector was used to acquire data at Site A, where subsequent ground truthing was conducted using the frequency domain EM metal detector and an excavation tool. Significant anomalies were visible on both the …

Reprocessing And Comparison Of The 2 Hz And 10 Hz Vertical Component Seismic Data Of The Blackfoot 3c-2d Survey, Mete Sarikaya

Masters Theses

"The Blackfoot seismic 3C-2D data were obtained from the Consortium for Research in Elastic Wave Exploration Seismology (CREWES) Project in 1995. The seismic data acquisition was performed in the Blackfoot Field, which is around 15 km southeast of Strathmore, Alberta. The 4 Hz and 10 Hz vertical component data are reprocessed to increase the quality and resolution of the seismic images. The Glauconitic sand reservoir at approximately 1.1 s, and a strong reflection about at 1.5 s are the focuses of the study.

The processing procedure includes different parameters and methods to obtain the best seismic sections of 2 Hz …

Paleoenvironment And Paleoclimate Of Ne Pangea In Early Permian-Linking Chemo- And Cyclo-Stratigraphy, Bogda Mountains, Nw China, Xin Zhan

Doctoral Dissertations

"The overall objective of this study is to understand physical and chemical responses of Earth Systems to environmental and climatic perturbations of diverse magnitudes and time scales in Bogda Mountains, NE Pangea. Field investigations, petrographic observations, and geochemical analyses have been used to interpret paleoenvironment and paleoclimate in cm-m-scale high-order cycles (HCs: 0.1-100 kyrs), low-order cycles (LCs: 1-10 Myr), and critical events of late Paleozoic ice age (LPIA: 320-260 Myr ago). Four organo-facies are one-to-one correlated with the four lithofacies in the meter-scale HCs, suggesting litho- and organo-facies are genetically linked and fundamentally controlled by environmental changes associated with lake …

Provenance And Depositional Environments Of The Upper Permian-Lowermost Triassic Fluvial And Lacustrine Sandstones, Wutonggou Low-Order Cycle, Bogda Mountains, Nw China, Dongyu Zheng

Doctoral Dissertations

"This work integrates petrographic and fieldwork studies and documents the spatial and temporal distributions of compositions and textures of the upper Permian-lowermost Triassic fluvial-lacustrine sandstones, Wutonggou low-order cycle (WTG LC), Bogda Mountains, NW China. In the first part, three petrofacies are identified on the basis of the relative abundances of quartz, feldspar, and lithics and conglomerate compositions and paleocurrent directions are documented. These data indicate that rocks of the eastern North Tianshan Suture (ENTS) and rift shoulders were the provenance lithology. Moreover, the upsection changes of petrofacies and conglomerate compositions suggest that the lithology of ENTS changed. During approximately Wuchiapingian, …

Origin Of Periclines In The Ozark Plateau, Missouri: A Field And Numerical Modeling, Chao Liu

Doctoral Dissertations

"A series upright sub-horizontal folds in sandstones of the early Ordovician Roubidoux Formation are exposed in road cuts along US Highway 63 in the northern part of the Salem Plateau of central Missouri for over a distance of approximately 10 km. These folds are in marked contrast to the more typical horizontal to sub-horizontal Ordovician strata of the Ozark Plateau. The origin of those folds remains enigmatic. The inspection of the characteristics of these folds using stereographic analysis revealed a non-cylindrical geometrical pattern than a near cylindrical fold. Structural data of 54 folds indicate an alternating basin and dome pattern. …

U-Pb Detrital Zircon Geochronology Of Paleozoic Clastics Of The Ozark Plateau: Implication For Sea-Level Fluctuations And Far-Field Tectonics, Chen Zhao

Masters Theses

"The Ozark Plateau of south-central Missouri is underlain by Ordovician to Pennsylvanian carbonate and clastic strata. Enigmatic, presumably Pennsylvanian 'filled sink' structures are common on the Ozark Plateau and remain a source of controversy. We present results for U-Pb ages of detrital zircons for 13 samples from the OP. We use U-Pb ages from other Paleozoic clastics and 'filled sinks' on the OP, to suggest: 1) FSS record a period of Middle Ordovician erosion and sedimentation and 2) document significant shifts in sediment provenance that reflect regional tectonic events affecting the North American Craton.

The KDE plots of normalized detrital …