Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Application Of The Paleomagnetic Fold Test To Determine The Relative Timing Of Sill Intrusion And Deformation In The Southwest Helena Salient, Montana, Stephen Christopher Whisner

Masters Theses

The Doherty Mountain fold complex is a highly folded and faulted region along the southern boundary of the Helena Salient in southwestern Montana. This region has a complex deformation history that is a key to deformation within the Helena Salient as a whole. A structural interpretation of the deformed rocks of this area was conducted using field mapping and cross section construction at 1:24,000 scale providing insight to the internal deformation processes involved. Fourteen folds and three major faults were mapped and analyzed showing the influence of the Southwest Montana Transverse Zone and late stage detachment faulting on fold orientation. …

Uncertainty In Recharge From Subsidence Craters At Frenchman Flat, Nevada Test Site: Impacts Of Initial And Boundary Conditions And Media Properties, David Matthew Ely

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The Nevada Test Site has over 400 subsidence craters formed by the collapse of overlying rock following underground nuclear tests. Under natural conditions, infiltration and recharge would not be considered likely due to infrequent precipitation events and extreme evapotranspiration. Crater U5a in Frenchman Flat was chosen for study because it intercepts significantly more drainage than surrounding craters. Vadose zone modeling was conducted to test the sensitivity of water movement to boundary and initial conditions. The effects of ponding depth was negligible but depth of wetting front movement was highly dependent on the lateral extent of the ponds. The model was …

Stochastic Methods For Evaluating The Potential For Wetland Rehydration In Covered-Karst Terranes, Christian David Langevin

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Augmentation with reclaimed water is one method for rehydrating wetlands damaged by water-level declines. Augmentation with reclaimed water has been proposed for rehydrating a wetland in the covered-karst terrane of west-central Florida. There is concern because reclaimed water may contain harmful agents that could flow from the wetland 1.4 km to a municipal wellfield that withdraws 30,000 m³/day. Estimates of groundwater flow velocities were calculated from the results of detailed field studies at the wetland. Results indicate that groundwater flows downward in the surficial aquifer at rates of 0.1 to 0.2 m/day and horizontally in the Floridan aquifer …

Identification Of Subaqueous Groundwater Discharge To Large Scale Surface Water Bodies, East Tennessee Technology Park Site, Doe Oak Ridge Reservation, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, Thomas Frank Zondlo

Masters Theses

In East Tennessee, the Tennessee River and its tributaries cut across many of the sub-parallel strike valleys in the Valley and Ridge several times, including the karstic carbonate strike belts within them. The construction of dams along the Tennessee River and its tributaries, including the Clinch River, has increased the river stage between 5 and 20 m, which caused inundation of considerable areas. This also raised the baselevel for drainage, thus altering the groundwater regime within the valleys intersected by these rivers. The stud area addressed in this research includes an industrial facility situated on karstic carbonate bedrock which is …

Small Strike-Slip Faults In Granitic Rock: Implications For Three-Dimensional Models, Siang Joo Lim

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The geometry and mineralization features of small left-lateral strike-slip faults and associated fractures in Lake Edison Granodiorite of the central Sierra Nevada, California, were examined in order to model the three-dimensional structure of strike-slip faults. These faults, which are reactivated joints, were also examined to determine fault sizes, starting joint size, and evidence for fluid flow.

The associated secondary fractures are usually found in the dilational quadrants of fault-tip regions. The longest fault-segment trace is 32.14 m; the longest joint trace is 22 m. The joint population length (l) is represented by a power-law distribution (l^{-n …}

Quaternary Amino Acid Geochronology Of The Lahontan Basin, Nevada, And The Chewaucan Basin, Oregon, Jeffrey Bigelow

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Amino acid geochronology based on fossil molluscs provides a useful approach to determining the Quaternary history of Great Basin lakes. The Lahontan basin, Nevada, and the Chewaucan basin, Oregon, in the northwest corner of the Great Basin, both contained lakes during the Quaternary. The aim of this study is to improve the Quaternary geochronology in these two basins by measuring time-dependent changes in amino acids preserved in fossil molluscan shells. The abundance of D-alloisoleucine relative to Lisoleucine (All) characterizes the extent of racemization, which increases with age and Ul forms the basis of relative and correlated ages. An age-calibration curve …

Three-Dimensional Structure Of Small Strike-Slip Fault Zones In Granitic Rock: Implications For Fault-Growth Models, Kim R. Robeson

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Three small strike-slip fault zones exposed in granitic rock in the central Sierra Nevada, California, provide field-based data to construct three-dimensional representations of each fault zone in order to compare with the geometries predicted by existing fault-growth models. All three fault zones are nearly vertical, strike -N60°E, and have left-lateral slip. The fault zones range from 60 to 140 m in length and 1 to 12 m wide. Each fault zone consists primarily of parallel to subparallel fracture and fault traces 2 to 56 m long and is separated 25 cm to 7 m by intact rock. One fault zone …

Late Pleistocene Glacial Chronology Of The Western Ahklun Mountains, Southwestern Alaska, Jason P. Briner

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

New glacial mapping and 35 cosmogenic ³⁶Cl surface exposure ages, the first ever reported from Alaska, constrain the extent and timing of late Pleistocene glacial fluctuations in the western Ahklun Mountains, southwestern Alaska. Morphometric and soil relative-age data characterize two main drift units deposited during the Arolik Lake and Klak Creek glaciations, named herein. During the Arolik Lake glaciation (early Wisconsin), outlet glaciers emanated from an ice cap over the central portion of the Ahklun Mountains and deposited moraines at or beyond the modern coast. These moraines have slope angles averaging about 11° and crests averaging about 35 m …

A Preliminary Analysis Of The Fluid History Of A Normal Fault In The Keno Pit, Alligator Ridge Mining District, White Pine County, Nevada, John G. Solum

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

The flow of oil along faults is only poorly understood. In many cases a fault is the only means of transportation for the oil from its area of deposition to its current location. This assumption is reasonable due to chemical fingerprinting of oil. In some cases the oil in a reservoir and the oil in a fault zone have been analyzed chemically and found to be the same. The problem is this; early in a fault's history it produces a thin layer of fine-grained material between its fault surfaces. This condition is not conductive to fluid flow. Therefore another mechanism …

A Paleoclimatic Study Of The Midwestern United States From The Stahle Isotope Records In Lake Sediments, Norman Alan Lovan

Dissertations

No abstract provided.

A Generic Multi-Electrode Automated/Semi-Automated Field Resistivity System, Douglas D. Werkema

Masters Theses

Geophysical field exploration using electrical resistivity typically employs the use of four electrodes which are progressively relocated to positions that differ from a few meters to hundreds of meters. Consequently, field operations are tiresome and often lead to imprecise locations of electrodes and poor data quality. This project develops an automated field resistivity system.

This automation of resistivity measurements is accomplished by using multiple sets of field electrodes, a programmable switch box, remotely controlling the acquisition instrument and digitally storing the results. Controlling the process is the Acquisition Control^©software, for Windows 95^© .The prototype switch box has …

Vertical Resistivity Electrode Arrays For Detecting Hydrocarbon Movement And Content In Sands, Kirt Elliott

Masters Theses

In many contamination sites where hydrocarbon is involved an accurate thickness of the contaminant can not be achieved through the most commonly used methods. The purpose of this study is to find an alternate method of determining a precise thickness and monitor the contaminant movement in conjunction with the current methods. Vertical resistivity electrode arrays were tested in a lab environment on singular probes and between probes. The arrays tested were the Wenner, dipole dipole, gradient, parallel and down-hole 3-arrays. Electrode pipes were constructed and placed into a sand tank where the hydrocarbon thickness and the water level could be …

Factors Governing The Rate Of Appearance Of Fuels In Monitoring Wells, Bradley A. Green

Masters Theses

Delays in the appearance of free product (e.g. fuels) in groundwater monitoring wells often cause costly delays in site evaluation. Little is known about how monitoring well design and installation affect this rate of appearance. This study examined the effects of well screen open area, filter pack grain size and wettability, and well development methods on the rate of appearance and subsequent thickness of free product in wells.

Laboratory and field results indicate that free product appears faster in hydrophilic filter packs than in hydrophobic filter packs. Hydrophobic filter packs with a finer grain size than the "industry standard", seem …

Sm-Nd Systematics As Indicators Of Displaced Plutons: A Test In The Idaho Batholith-Boulder Batholith Region, Christine J. Brand

Masters Theses

In east-central Idaho and western Montana a 400km-long Cretaceous and Tertiary magmatic corridor extends from the Wallowa-Seven Devils terrane to the Helena Salient. Three basement provinces underlie this area: Archean basement to the east, Permo-Triassic basement to the west, and Proterozoic basement in-between. Ideally, if Cretaceous plutons were decapitated and translated eastward along thrusts over a different basement province, then the Cretaceous pluton and the in-place Tertiary pluton would show different isotopic signatures. Pluton samples from locations evenly spaced throughout the magmatic corridor were analyzed for ε⁰_Nd, ε^t_Nd, and ¹⁴⁷Sm/¹⁴³Nd model ages …

The Geomorphological History Of An Alluvial Fan Complex In Nelson County, Virginia, Melinda Ann Youngblood

OES Theses and Dissertations

An alluvial fan complex blankets a portion of the Rockfish Valley in Nelson County Virginia, located along the eastern slope of the Blue Ridge Mountains. The seven-km² field area contains three mappable relict alluvial surfaces (Qf1, Qf2, and Qf3) and one modern surface (Qa1), each of which is underlain by fluvial deposits dominated by greenstone and charnokite cobbles. The four surfaces were mapped according to topographic position and degree of stream dissection. Alluvial deposits underlying each surface were characterized using a 3-part clast weathering scale based on greenstone clast weathering rinds and using soil development criteria (clay content, Munsell …

A Paleoenvironmental Study Of A Middle Wisconsinan Biota Site, Russell County, Virginia, Thomas C. Wynn

OES Theses and Dissertations

The study area lies in a first-order valley on the northwestern slope of Clinch Mountain that drains into Moccasin Creek. The deposit is 50 m long, 25 m wide and approximately 10 m thick and overlies the Ordovician Moccasin Formation. Preserved within the deposit are mammoth and mastodon bones, logs, and plant macrofossils. Radiocarbon analyses indicate the age of the organic-rich sediments ranges from 29, I 00 BP to >44,000 BP, a time period with no fossil remains reported in this region of the Appalachians. Analyses of field observations, textural data, organic carbon content, and plant macrofossils indicate the organic-rich …

Groundwater Hydraulics And Slope Stability Analysis: Elements For Prediction Of Shoreline Recession, William W. Montgomery

Dissertations

Studies documenting the roles that geologic materials and groundwater play in Great Lakes bluff recession are rare. This study reports findings concerning relationships between bluff lithology, bluff hydrology, and bluff recession along a 10-mile stretch of eastern Lake Michigan shoreline in heterogeneous Pleistocene deposes. According to a newly-developed, field-tested, GIS-based methodology, bluffs in the study area can be characterized lithologically as sand, clay, or mixed sand/clay, and can be characterized hydrologically as exhibiting either high head or low head.

Geotechnical analysis indicates that Atterberg limits, index properties, consolidation state, and drainage conditions affect the shear strength of bluff materials. Silty …

The Petrography Of The Buck Creek Dunite Body, Clay County, Nc: Implications About Its Origin And Emplacement, Trista L. Thornberry

Honors Papers

The Buck Creek dunite body, which is part of the Chunky Gal mafic and ultramafic complex, is well exposed on Corundum Knob in Clay County, North Carolina. These ultramafic rocks are surrounded here by mafic schists and gneisses. Gradational geochemical / mineralogical contacts between the mafic and ultramafic rocks of the this complex imply the same protolith for both rock types. They may have originated as distinct parts of an ophiolitic suite beneath a mid-ocean spreading ridge. The metamorphic history of these ophiolitic rocks suggest further that they were subdued to depths of -18km before being emplaced along fault zones …

Identification Of Past Climate Variability Of The Eastern Pacific Ocean Using Both D13c And D18o Records In Corals From Clipperton Atoll (1994-1906), Lei Ren

Geology Theses and Dissertations

The ENSO (El Nino and the Southern Oscillation) is a fundamental ocean-atmosphere phenomenon that dominates interannual global climate variability. Reconstructing past ENSO events is therefore important for documenting and understanding the past behavior of the global climate system and enabling us to predict future climate change. However, the present understanding of ENSO events has been mainly based on the instrumental record of Pacific climate which provides detailed data only for the past few decades. Recent studies have shown that the stable isotope record in coral skeletons can be used as a valuable indicator of paleoclimatic changes in tropical regions, and …

Effects Of Physical And Chemical Properties Of Bright And Dull Coal Lithotypes On The Formation Of Char Particles, Chad G. Tomforde

Theses and Dissertations

The Energy and Environmental Research Center is working with EPRI and a consortium of companies in partnership with DOE to determine factors causing sticky ash to blind or bridge hot-gas cleanup filters. In this study, bright and dull lithotypes were separated from bituminous, subbituminous and lignitic coals to determine physical and chemical properties that may lead to the formation of different charforms, and consequently, fine and sticky ash that is problematic in coal-fired combustion systems.

Proximate and ultimate, maceral, and energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence (EDXRF) analyses were used to characterize each lithotype. A bench-scale pressurized fluidized-bed reactor (PFBR) was used …

Factors Contributing To Landslide Activity In The Winter Of 1995-96, Clearwater County Near Orofino, Idaho, Aaron Paul Wisher

All Master's Theses

Significant landslide activity occurred in Clearwater County, Idaho in November 1995 and February-May 1996. Mass wasting in the study area consisted of debris slides and earthflows triggered by rain-on-snow weather events. It is important to determine what factors contribute to landsliding in this area so that reliable prediction can reduce the destruction of property. Through field observation and aerial photo analysis, the factors contributing to landslides were studied. The objectives included a study of the geology, soils, aspect, slope gradient, vegetation and slope position related to each slide. Also a goal was to assess the role of land use in …

A Methodology For Studying Denitrification By Recently Formed Sulfides, Bethany A. Bolles

Theses and Dissertations

Nitrate (N03) contamination due to anthropogenic sources is a serious and widespread health problem. In many groundwater systems, N03-can be reduced to a harmless gas, N2, through the bacterially mediated process of denitrification. During this process, bacteria gain energy by transferring electrons from an "electron donor" to nitrate, the "electron acceptor". It is typically believed that organic carbon is the most important electron donor in the denitrification process; however, increasing amounts of research suggest the importance of inorganic electron donors. The most extensive studies involving the reduction ofN03- by inorganic species have focused on pyrite (FeS2) and Fe(II). Few studies …

Ground And Surface Water Interaction Near A Plywood Manufacturing Facility On The Lake Roosevelt Shoreline, Kettle Falls, Washington, Paul W. D. Humphreys

WWU Graduate School Collection

From April 1994 to December 1996, a water quality investigation was performed at the Boise Cascade Plywood Plant in Kettle Falls, Washington. This investigation was required by the Washington Department of Ecology to assess possible contamination from the process water lagoon and wet log storage area on the groundwater and nearby Lake Roosevelt. Water samples were collected from 11 groundwater monitoring wells, the lagoon, and two lake-shore seeps, and the samples were analyzed for a variety of chemical parameters. Water elevation data were also collected to evaluate the physical nature of the interaction between ground and surface water. The primary …

Dairy Farming And The Effects Of Agricultural, Nonpoint-Source Pollution On Stream Water Quality, Johnson Creek Watershed, Whatcom County, Washington, Max Thomas Wills

WWU Graduate School Collection

The Johnson Creek watershed, which supports one of the highest densities of dairy farms in Washington State, suffers from degraded stream water quality, primarily in the form of high fecal coliform concentrations, elevated nutrients, and low levels of dissolved oxygen. Despite the implementation of best management practices (BMPs) over the past two decades, poor stream water quality has persisted. The Washington State Department of Ecology (DOE) is therefore required under section 303(d) of the federal Clean Water Act, to establish a Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) policy for the basin as a means of remediating the impaired water bodies. The …

Determining Capture Zones For Three-Dimensional, Heterogeneous, Anisotropic Aquifers By Monte Carlo Analysis, Jon Paul Jones

Theses and Dissertations

Most methods of delineating capture zones for pump-and-treat remedial design and wellhead protection assume a two-dimensional, homogeneous aquifer. Aquifers, however, are three-dimensional and heterogeneous, thereby introducing uncertainty in capture zone analysis. This study used a Monte Carlo analysis of three sets of statistical parameters defining aquifer heterogeneity. Each set had a different variance for the mean natural log hydraulic conductivity, which varied among the sets by a factor of four. The ensemble means of the capture zones for each set were estimated from 10 randomly generated fields with 12 layers each which were superimposed on each other for a total …

High Resolution Seismic Reflection Interpretations Of The Hood Canal-Discovery Bay Fault Zone, Puget Sound, Washington, Brian J. Haug

Dissertations and Theses

The north-northeast trending Hood Canal is an elongate 75 km long, 2-5 km wide, maximum 190 m deep glacial trough that represents the western limit of Washington's Puget Sound estuary complex and eastern boundary of the Olympic Peninsula. Airgun seismic reflection data were collected in Hood Canal April 4-5, 1994 onboard the University of Washington's R. V. Thomas G. Thompson for the purpose of defining the enigmatic and relatively unstudied Hood Canal-Discovery Bay fault zone (HDF). This fault zone parallels western Hood Canal, is obscured by marine waters and thick late Quaternary glacio-marine sediments, and is defined locally by gravity …

Comparison Of Median Indicator Kriging With Full Indicator Kriging In The Analysis Of Spatial Data, Donna Hill

Theses : Honours

In the earth sciences, and particularly in the mining of precious metals, data distributions are often strongly positively skewed. When making decisions on the potential profitability of a gold mine, for example, the high values of the distribution are of particular importance. Indicator kriging provides estimates of cumulative distribution functions from which grade tonnage curves may be calculated. Multiple or full indicator kriging requires a semivariogram to be modelled and a kriging system of equations to be solved for each cut off. This can be time consuming and modelling indicator semivariograms at high cut-offs may be difficult because of the …

Paleosols As Holocene Proxy Climate Indicators, Mclean County, North Dakota, Deborah L. Beck

Theses and Dissertations

An exposure with 15 buried A-horizons near Douglas Creek, Lake Sakakawea, central North Dakota, has provided an excellent opportunity for paleoclimate reconstruction. Analyses included texture, stable carbon, radiocarbon, pollen, and phytoliths. The variations in these properties between individual soil horizons served to reconstruct the former environments of each soil horizon.

The paleosols were developed in a sequence of deposits in a mile-long tributary to the Missouri River. The soils are in a shallow valley fill exposed by wave action along the north shore of Lake Sakakawea. The 1996 exposure was up to 4m high and 51.5m wide. There were up …