Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Fingerprinting The Cretaceous-Paleogene Boundary Impact With Zn Isotopes, Ryan Mathur, Brandon Mahan, Marissa Spencer, Linda Godfrey, Neil Landman, Matthew Garb, D. Graham Pearson, Sheng-Ao Liu, Francisca Oboh-Ikuenobe

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Numerous geochemical anomalies exist at the K-Pg boundary that indicate the addition of extraterrestrial materials; however, none fingerprint volatilization, a key process that occurs during large bolide impacts. Stable Zn isotopes are an exceptional indicator of volatility-related processes, where partial vaporization of Zn leaves the residuum enriched in its heavy isotopes. Here, we present Zn isotope data for sedimentary rock layers of the K-Pg boundary, which display heavier Zn isotope compositions and lower Zn concentrations relative to surrounding sedimentary rocks, the carbonate platform at the impact site, and most carbonaceous chondrites. Neither volcanic events nor secondary alteration during weathering and …

Understanding The Multiple Small Magnitude Induced Seismic Soil Fatigue Potential On Hazard Assessments, Merissa L. Zuzulock, Oliver Denzil S. Taylor, Norbert H. Maerz

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Soils under spacio-temporally clustered events loading are susceptible to soil fatigue as pore pressure dissipates and the soil is unable to recover. This potential for damage from soil fatigue is identified through an induced seismic fatigue equation provided in this paper. The objective of this paper is to present an induced seimic equation for soils under spacio-temporally clustered impulse loading to identify potential hazards to the subsurface that supports critical infrastructure. It further illustrates the use of the equation as determined from a comparison of three varying soil profiles with resulting data that shows a need to establish new critieria …

Apportioning Deformation Among Depth Intervals In An Aquifer System Using Insar And Head Data, Ryan G. Smith, Hossein Hashemi, Jingyi Chen, Rosemary Knight

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Land surface subsidence due to excessive groundwater pumping is an increasing concern in California, USA. Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) is a remote sensing technique for measuring centimeter-to-millimeter surface deformation at 10-100 m spatial resolution. Here, a data-driven approach that attributes deformation to individual depth intervals within an aquifer system by integrating head data acquired from each of three screened intervals in a monitoring well with InSAR surface deformation measurements was developed. The study area was the Colusa Basin in northern Central Valley. To reconstruct the surface deformation history over the study area, 13 ALOS-PALSAR scenes acquired between 2006 and …

Evaluation Of Geohazards In The Cape Girardeau Area Using Lidar And Gis, Southeast Missouri, Usa, Olufeyisayo B. Ilesanmi, J. David Rogers, Francisca Oboh-Ikuenobe

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The New Madrid Seismic Zone (NMSZ) has historically recorded some of the largest intensity earthquakes in North America, including significant earth movements that resulted in about 2000 felt earthquakes during 1811-1812. The region continues to experience mass wasting due to earth movements. The aim of this study is to understand the influence of geologic variables on mass wasting processes in the greater Cape Girardeau area, which forms the commercial center of Missouri's fertile "Bootheel" region. Earth movement susceptibility was evaluated in Cape Girardeau and Bollinger counties and portions of Stoddard and Scott counties by mapping potential landslide features on topographic …

Findings Report: Virtual Workshop On ‘Resilient Supply Of Critical Minerals’, Marek Locmelis, Angela D. Lueking, Michael S. Moats, Kwame Awuah-Offei, Lana Z. Alagha, Mark W. Fitch, Alanna Krolikowski, Shelby Clark

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Executive Summary
On August 2-3, 2021, the Thomas J. O’Keefe Institute for Sustainable Supply of Strategic Minerals at Missouri University of Science and Technology (Missouri S&T) hosted the NSF-funded virtual workshop ‘Resilient Supply of Critical Minerals’. The workshop was convened via Zoom and attracted 158 registrants, including 108 registrants from academia (61 students), 30 registrants from government agencies, and 20 registrants from the private sector. Four topical sessions were covered:

A. Mineral Exploration and Source Diversification.
B. Supply Chain and Policy Issues.
C. Improving Mineral Recycling and Reprocessing Technologies.
D. Technological Alternatives to Critical Minerals.

Each topical session was composed …

Teleseismic P-Wave Attenuation Beneath The Southeastern United States, Ashutosh Shrivastava, Kelly H. Liu, Stephen S. Gao

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Seismic attenuation is an important parameter for characterizing subsurface morphology and thermal structure. In this study, we use P-wave amplitude spectra from 588 teleseismic events recorded by 477 broadband seismic stations in the southeastern United States to examine the spatial variations of seismic attenuation in the crust and upper mantle. The resulting seismic attenuation parameter (∆t*) measurements obtained using the spectral ratio technique reveal a zone of relatively low attenuation in the Gulf of Mexico Coastal Plain and the southwestern terminus of the Piedmont province. Spatial coherency analysis of the ∆t* observations suggests that the center of the low attenuation …

Spatial Variations Of Upper Crustal Anisotropy Along The San Jacinto Fault Zone In Southern California: Constraints From Shear Wave Splitting Analysis, Enyuan Jiang, Kelly H. Liu, Yuan Gao, Xiaofei Fu, Stephen S. Gao

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

To discern spatial and explore possible existence of temporal variations of upper crustal anisotropy in an ∼15 km section of the San Jacinto Fault Zone (SJFZ) that is composed of the Buck Ridge and Clark faults in southern California, we conduct a systematic shear wave splitting investigation using local S-wave data recorded by three broadband seismic stations located near the surface expression of the SJFZ. An automatic data selection and splitting measurement procedure is first applied, and the resulting splitting measurements are then manually screened to ensure reliability of the results. Strong spatial variations in crustal anisotropy are revealed by …

Seismic Anisotropy And Mantle Deformation Beneath The Central Sunda Plate, Wenkai Song, Youqiang Yu, Stephen S. Gao, Kelly H. Liu, Yifang Fu

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The central Sunda plate, which forms the core of Southeast Asia, has been extensively studied based on analyses of data mainly from surface geological observations. In contrast, largely due to the limited coverage by seismic stations in the area, a number of key issues associated with mantle structure and dynamics remain enigmatic. These can possibly be constrained by investigating seismic azimuthal anisotropy in the upper mantle. Here we employ the shear wave splitting technique on three P-to-S converted phases from the core-mantle boundary (PKS, SKKS, and SKS) recorded by 11 stations to systematically explore the spatial variation of azimuthal anisotropy …

High-Precision U-Pb Age Constraints On The Permian Floral Turnovers, Paleoclimate Change, And Tectonics Of The North China Block, Qiong Wu, Jahandar Ramezani, Hua Zhang, Jun Wang, Wan Yang, For Full List Of Authors, See Publisher's Website.

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The Permian marine-terrestrial system of the North China block provides an exceptional window into the evolution of northern temperate ecosystems during the critical transition from icehouse to greenhouse following the late Paleozoic ice age (LPIA). Despite many studies on its rich hydrocarbon reserves and climate-sensitive fossil flora, uncertain temporal constraints and correlations have hampered a thorough understanding of the records of geologic, biologic, and climatic change from the North China block. We present a new chronostratigraphy based on high-precision U-Pb chemical abrasion-isotope dilution-thermal ionization mass spectrometry (CA-ID-TIMS) geochronology of tuffs from a near-complete latest Carboniferous-Permian succession in North China. The …

Characterization And Oil Recovery Enhancement By A Polymeric Nanogel Combined With Surfactant For Sandstone Reservoirs, Mustafa Mohammed Almahfood, Baojun Bai

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The characterization and enhanced oil recovery mechanisms of a nanosized polymeric cross-linked gel are presented herein. A negatively charged nanogel was synthesized using a typical free radical suspension polymerization process by employing 2-acrylamido 2-methyl propane sulfonic acid monomer. The synthesized nanogel showed a narrow size distribution with one peak pointing to a predominant homogeneous droplet size. The charged nanogels were also able to adsorb at the oil-water interfaces to reduce interfacial tension and stabilize oil-in-water emulsions, which ultimately improved the recovered oil from hydrocarbon reservoirs. In addition, a fixed concentration of negatively charged surfactant (sodium dodecyl sulfate or SDS) was …