Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Exploring Overbank Sediment Deposition Variation In Heavily Modified Floodplains Of The Lower Mississippi River: A Sedimentological And Geophysical Analysis, Seth Fradella

Master's Theses

Since the 1930s, the Lower Mississippi River (LMR) has experienced large-scale modifications to the channel profile and surrounding floodplains through dams, dikes, revetments, dredging, and channel cutoffs. Although these changes have improved navigation and reduced flood risk, unanticipated changes to the major flood return period, individual flood severity and duration, and sediment regime have become increasingly apparent and sometimes problematic, such as the 2011 and 2018-2020 floods. Flood control levees along the LMR have reduced the natural floodplain area by 70-90%, resulting in heavily restricted overbank storage capacity of water and sediment. For the same flood events in recent history, …

Seismic Imaging Of Mcmurdo Ice Shelf Near Williams Airfield, Yeshey Seldon

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Seismic exploration has played a crucial role in understanding the Earth's interior and has been successfully employed in various regions, including Antarctica. This research focuses on analyzing a 1000-m seismic line on McMurdo Ice Shelf near Williams Airfield, as part of the Thwaites Interdisciplinary Margin Evolution (TIME) project. The McMurdo Ice Shelf, covering an expansive area within the Ross Ice Shelf, has undergone significant changes due to evolving oceanic and atmospheric conditions. The presence of Circumpolar Deep Water (CDW) has recently impacted the ice shelf, with warmer ocean waters causing basal melting and changes in wind patterns affecting ice flow …

Use Of Geomagnetic Paleointensity As A Correlation Tool In The Eastern Snake River Plain Lava Flows, Melissa Marie Sikes

Theses and Dissertations

The Snake River Plain volcanic province stretches 600 km from eastern Oregon across southern Idaho and into northwest Wyoming. Over the past ~14 million years, olivine tholeiitic lava flows have accumulated. To assess ongoing volcanic hazards, it is important to quantify the number, timing, and size of eruptive events. This assessment requires correlating lava flows across coreholes within the Eastern Snake River Plain. Previous paleomagnetic research applied paleomagnetic inclinations to correlate flows between coreholes. This study tests whether using geomagnetic paleointensity – in addition to inclination – can increase confidence in the correlation of these flows. Pilot samples were retrieved …

Deformation Mapping And Modeling Of The Aleutian Volcanoes With Insar And Numerical Models, Jiahui Wang

Earth Sciences Theses and Dissertations

Surface deformation mapping is an essential component for comprehensive monitoring of volcanic activities, serving as a vital tool for discerning crucial insights into magma dynamics, storage, and migration for accurate hazard forecasting, assessment, and mitigation. However, monitoring of the volcanic deformation across the Aleutian volcanic arc is usually limited by the lack of terrestrial sensors deployed due to their remote locations and hostile environmental conditions, necessitating alternative methodologies for data acquisition and analysis.

My PhD study aims at precisely mapping the crustal deformation for the Aleutian volcanoes and tracking the evolution of the magmatic system with Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar …

Online Temporal Data Mining And Learning: Pursuing Enhanced Efficiency And Robust Algorithms, Sheng Zhong

Computer Science ETDs

Time series data mining and learning serve as a cornerstone across various domains, including finance, healthcare, and science. Recent advancements in network and sensor technologies have ignited an increasing interest in real-time temporal data mining and learning techniques. Various tasks benefit from these techniques, such as environmental monitoring, event detection, anomaly identification, and forecasting. However, these techniques still face significant challenges in the online environment settings, encompassing aspects like efficiency, accuracy, robustness, and scarcity of labeled data. This dissertation presents four innovative solutions: FilCorr, DCT-MASS, FewSig, and BitLINK to overcome these challenges. We evaluate each method and showcase their practical …

Estimating Crustal Thickness In Northwest Louisiana Using The Receiver Function Method, Delton Samuel

LSU Master's Theses

I aim to constrain the crustal thickness of the Sabine Block in the Sabine Uplift region of northwest Louisiana, using the frequency domain receiver function deconvolution technique followed by H-κ stacking. The passive margin on the southern edge of the North American continent experienced an active tectonic history, including the spreading events that led to the formation of the Gulf of Mexico. A previous study proposed the Sabine Block is a residual fragment of Proterozoic orogenic origin; however, its full extent and geometry are up for debate. It is now overlain by thick sedimentary sequences ranging from ~4-6 km deposited …

Investigation Of Gas Dynamics In Water And Oil-Based Muds Using Das, Dts, And Dss Measurements, Temitayo S. Adeyemi

LSU Master's Theses

Reliable prediction of gas migration velocity, void fraction, and length of gas-affected region in water and oil-based muds is essential for effective planning, control, and optimization of drilling operations. However, there is a gap in our understanding of gas behavior and dynamics in water and oil-based muds. This is a consequence of the use of experimental systems that are not representative of field-scale conditions. This study seeks to bridge the gap via the well-scale deployment of distributed fiber-optic sensors for real-time monitoring of gas behavior and dynamics in water and oil-based mud. The aforementioned parameters were estimated in real-time using …

The Study Of Titan's Surface Using Impact Craters And Analogues, Jahnavi Shah

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Titan, Saturn’s largest moon, is an icy world harbouring a subsurface water ocean, a substantial atmosphere, and a flowing liquid on its surface. These distinctive characteristics give rise to complex chemical reactions on Titan, and also render it akin to Earth in terms of its landforms and processes. This positions Titan as a key target for studying prebiotic chemistry. NASA's fourth New Frontiers mission, Dragonfly, is poised to explore Titan’s surface in the 2030s. Dragonfly’s primary study site will be Selk crater, a relatively fresh impact crater located in Titan’s equatorial sand seas. Impact craters serve as valuable markers for …

Anomaly Mapping Of Heavy And Light Rare Earth Elements In Central Upper Peninsula Of Michigan Using Geostatistics And Fractal Analysis, Sunday Joseph

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Rare earth elements (REEs) have gained significant global importance due to their critical role in supporting the transition towards reduced carbon emissions through industrial applications. REEs serve as essential raw materials for various critical components in modern infrastructure, defense systems, and technological advancements. Geochemical and geophysical data are pivotal in assessing the potential of REEs. Geochemical data provide direct insights into the elemental composition of rocks and soils, offering valuable information on the potential presence and dispersion of REEs. However, the complex geological processes that influence the distribution of REEs often exhibit intricate spatial patterns that may not be fully …

Response Of Open Volcanic Systems To Static Stress Changes, Aimee Zimmerman

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Large earthquakes of magnitude 7.0 or greater can alter volcanic emissions and even trigger eruptions at nearby volcanoes. The stress changes imparted by large earthquakes can cause otherwise stable conditions within the magmatic system to be disturbed, potentially inducing volcanic activity. The extent of the triggering potential is still unknown due to insufficient understanding of the mechanisms involved. We model static stress changes for 174 earthquake-volcano pairs from 2000-2023 at volcanoes within 500 km, computing changes in both the normal stress perpendicular to the direction of horizontal maximum stress and dilatational strain. We then use thermal satellite data to measure …

The Influence Of Volcano Edifice Resonance On The Seismic Triggering Of Thermal Activity At Active Volcanoes, Morgana M. Wilke

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

There is an established correlation between large earthquakes and volcanic unrest, however the mechanisms between this connection are not well understood. Relatively small changes in stress within a volcanic system could be enough to initiate a response. One aspect that could serve to amplify small dynamic stress changes is volcanic edifice resonance triggered by surface waves at resonant frequency. In this paper, we investigate the relationship between thermal activity of volcanoes and various minimum thresholds of Love wave amplitudes at resonance caused by teleseismic earthquakes above a 7.0 M. Satellite-derived thermal data from 25 volcanoes are modeled in relation to …

Geology Of The Bishop 7.5-Minute Quadrangle And Geophysical Modeling To Constrain Syndepositional Deformation Of The Black Warrior Foreland Basin, Joseph Edward Lane

MSU Graduate Theses

The Black Warrior basin is a foreland basin formed by the Ouachita–Appalachian orogeny during the late Paleozoic Era. Mississippian strata record the transition from the carbonate platform within the Tuscumbia Limestone to the clastic-rich units within the overlying Pride Mountain Formation and Hartselle Sandstone. The western and southern-most fringes of the Black Warrior basin are covered by thin, post orogenic Cretaceous sediments of the East Gulf Coastal Plain. Geological mapping of the Bishop 7.5-Minute quadrangle revealed subtle deformation in Mississippian strata in the form of gentle folds (

Geographically Dependent Thermodynamic And Geochemical Evolution In The Post-Batholith Upper Mantle Beneath The Sierra Nevada: Analysis Of The Blue Knob Xenoliths, Eleanor Ruos

Scripps Senior Theses

Xenoliths entrained in recent (Miocene) volcanics from the Sierra Nevada provide insights into a continuously evolving upper mantle during post-batholith generation periods (early Cenozoic–present). Hypothesized mantle refertilization followed by subsequent delamination of the lithospheric root beneath the Sierra provides a contextual framework for analyzing how the upper mantle responds to such events. This study contributes new geochemical data from the ultramafic xenoliths of Blue Knob, including bulk-rock major and trace element data, thin-section petrography, mineral chemistry and thermobarometry, and oxygen isotopes (delta¹⁸O). Blue knob (Eastern Sierra) data are compared to previous works on xenoliths from Chinese Peak and …

Thermochronology And Exhumation Dynamics Of Metamorphic Units In The Salmon River Suture Zone, Jonathan J. Cone

MSU Graduate Theses

The Salmon River suture zone in western Idaho records the Jurassic-Cretaceous (160-90 Ma) accretion of amalgamated volcanic arc terranes onto the North American continent. Rocks exposed at the surface record burial to depths of more than 20 kilometers, with unclear drivers for uplift and exhumation. Two competing hypotheses have been proposed to explain the transport of deep crustal rocks to the surface: (1) delamination of a dense lithospheric root resulted in rapid isostatic uplift of the crust and (2) exhumation of crustal blocks along thrust faults. To test these models, I present temperature-time (T-t) paths for mid-crustal metamorphic rocks constructed …

Simulation Of Wave Propagation In Granular Particles Using A Discrete Element Model, Syed Tahmid Hussan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The understanding of Bender Element mechanism and utilization of Particle Flow Code (PFC) to simulate the seismic wave behavior is important to test the dynamic behavior of soil particles. Both discrete and finite element methods can be used to simulate wave behavior. However, Discrete Element Method (DEM) is mostly suitable, as the micro scaled soil particle cannot be fully considered as continuous specimen like a piece of rod or aluminum. Recently DEM has been widely used to study mechanical properties of soils at particle level considering the particles as balls. This study represents a comparative analysis of Voigt and Best …

Transport And Mixing Of Water Masses Across The Southeast Caribbean Ocean Imaged By Seismic Reflection Data, Joseph Renzaglia

Earth Sciences Theses and Dissertations

The Caribbean Sea serves as a major pathway for global thermohaline circulation (THC), which is a complex and vital component of the Earth’s climate system, influencing global heat distribution and oceanic circulation. Though relatively stratified, it is the boundary layer that distributes mass and temperature between the surface waters and the deep ocean where we observe various multiscale mixing processes from mesoscale to fine-scale. In regions where bathymetry is shallower and mechanical mixing forces, such as winds and tides, are more dominant, diapycnal diffusivity is typically stronger, driving vertical mixing. This type of mixing occurs at small scales, typically as …

Investigating Seismicity And Structure Of The Pecos, Texas Region Of The Delaware Basin Using A Temporary Nodal Network, Jenna Lynn Faith

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

With increasing earthquakes in the Delaware Basin since 2009, earthquake studies, including accurate hypocenters, are critically needed in the Delaware Basin to identify the structures producing earthquakes, and to determine if they are related to unconventional petroleum development and production. In 2018, with funding from the Texas Seismological Network (TexNet), the University of Texas at El Paso deployed and maintained a nodal network of 25 Magseis Fairfield Z-Land Generation 2 5-Hz seismic nodes in the Pecos, Texas region of the Delaware Basin, known as The Pecos Array. The network was deployed from November 2018 until the beginning of January 2020, …

Using Shallow Electromagnetic And Magnetic Techniques To Map Soil Texture And Characterize Salinity And Water Dynamics Below Pecan Orchards, El Paso County, Texas, Kristina Sasser

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Non-invasive, near surface geophysical tools provide a time efficient and cost-effective approach to study the shallow subsurface. Electromagnetic induction (EMI) instruments are a category of these near surface methods that provide spatial and temporal information (2-D to 4-D) about shallow (<6 m) subsurface properties, from which soil salinity, clay content, and water content can be estimated. However, deconstructing soil apparent electrical conductivity (ECa) from EMI methods into its component parts remains a challenge. This research uses EMI and magnetic geophysical techniques to: (1) compare and contrast the distribution and behavior of ECa, both spatially and temporally, at two flood irrigated agricultural sites (pecan orchards) with different soil layers, properties, and controls on electrical conductivities that lie within the same floodplain in far west Texas; and (2) develop a one-dimensional inversion model using ECa and soil texture data at specified layers from established sites of known high and low ECa to determine soil layer resistivities at various dates during the irrigation season. Data are compared to soil sensor bulk EC and volumetric water content data at corresponding depths to validate results. Soils at both sites exhibit large ECa contributions from textural controls, and irrigation frequency. The combination of these two controls dictate where and how quickly secondary minerals precipitate, clog soil pores, reduce infiltration, and salinize the groundwater. Insight from this research aids in ongoing efforts to characterize vadose zone hydrology in dryland critical zones with high infiltration and serves as a guide for locations where future soil sampling will occur.

Examining The Spatial Periodicity Of Force Chains And Strain Localization In Polycrystal Models, Richard D. Panduro-Allanson

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Shear strain localization is typical in deforming rocks and is vital for developing faults and tectonic boundaries. There are various proposed drivers of shear localization (temperature, fluid, phase transformation, and microstructure); we will explore the effects of elastic heterogeneity (a microstructural influence) on shear localization in polycrystal models. Elastic heterogeneity can lead to varied stress states in material and drive shear localization. Previous simulations of elastically heterogeneous polycrystal models have shown that the stress distribution can be described as forming an anastomosing pattern of high-stress streams parallel to the compression direction. This anastomosing patterning resembles force chains; linear, high-stress features …

Revealing The Core Dynamics Of Vesta: Insights From Experimental Investigations Of Electrical Resistivity And Thermal Conductivity, Oluwasanmi A. Orole Mr

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Insights from high pressure and temperature experiments involving in-situ measurements of the electrical resistivity of Fe-5wt%Ni at temperatures of up to 2000 K, under pressures of 2-5 GPa in a 1000-ton cubic-anvil press have been used to reveal Vesta’s core dynamics. The Wiedemann–Franz law was used to calculate the thermal conductivity from the measured electrical resistivity data. Comparing the findings of this study with prior investigations on both pure Fe and Fe-10wt%Ni indicates that an increase in Ni ranging from 0-10wt% has negligible effect on the electrical resistivity of Fe alloys. By comparing the range of estimated heat flux through …

Empirical Nonlinear Site Response Applicable To Greater Vancouver, British Columbia, Natalia Gomez Jaramillo

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

In Greater Vancouver, strong earthquake shaking has not been recorded to quantify expected nonlinear soil response. Earthquake horizontal to vertical spectral ratios (eHVSR) are evaluated at seismic stations located at the edges or deeper center of sedimentary basins in Mexico City, the Kanto basin and Anchorage with available weak-to-strong motion recordings that have similar linear site response to Greater Vancouver to constrain the expected nonlinear soil response for future large earthquakes affecting Greater Vancouver. The empirical results confirm that the very low fundamental frequency (f₀ < 0.6 Hz) at deep Fraser River delta sites will be less affected by strong shakings and suggest that for Fraser River delta edge sites the amplification at the predominant frequency (f₁) could increase up to 1.77 times with a strong event. This thesis’ …

Seabed Reflection Coefficient Variability In The Mono Lake Using Seismic Reflection Sparker Data, Francis Nnamdi Okeifufe

Earth Sciences Theses and Dissertations

Acoustic reflections from a lakebed provide valuable information about the dynamic boundary between water and the lakebed, where sediments and biota in the water column eventually settle. In this study, we present a comprehensive analysis of reflected sound wave amplitudes to gain insights into the physical properties of a water-sediment boundary. We decided to carry out this analysis within the unique ecosystem of the Mono Lake basin due to the fact that the Mono Lake, a meromictic and hypersaline waterbody is situated within one of the most active yet understudied volcanic regions in the United States. The fact that the …

Applications Of Observational Seismology: Insights Into Volcanic And Near Surface Processes, Justin T. Wilgus

Earth and Planetary Sciences ETDs

The field of observational seismology has made tremendous progress in the past two decades. This progress has been multi-faceted in form, but significant contributions emanated from 1) increases in both the quality and the quantity of seismic data 2) advances in computational power 3) advances in algorithmic capability, including machine learning. In this dissertation I report on three distinctly different seismic applications made possible by the aforementioned progress and discuss the insights these applications have provided in understanding volcanic and near surface processes of the Earth.

In the first chapter titled, “Shear Velocity Evidence of Upper Crustal Magma Storage Beneath …

Petrophysical Properties Of The Hed Meteorites And The Bushveld Igneous Complex: Implications For Future Asteroid Prospecting Missions, Lukas Louwerse

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

In this work, I make a quantitative and mineralogical comparison of Howardite-EuctriteDiogenite (HED) meteorites with terrestrial samples from the Bushveld Igneous Complex (BIC) to assess how geophysical surveys of 4 Vesta or of V-type asteroids could detect BIClike ore deposits. Petrophysical methods in this work include bulk and grain density, derived porosity (using helium pycnometry, the Archimedean method, and X-ray micro-computed tomography), magnetic susceptibility, induced polarization and resistivity, and P-wave velocity. Mineralogical methods in this work include optical microscopy, micro X-ray diffraction, micro X-ray fluorescence element mapping, and electron beam methods. Howardite NWA 15199 was classified as part of this …

Evaluation Of Effectiveness In Seismic Microzonation Hazard Mapping In Canada: Communication, Use, Standardization And Levels, Meredith L. Fyfe

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Comprehensive seismic hazard maps in the form of seismic microzonation maps have been produced for many populous and seismically active Canadian cities. These maps are important tools for regional decision making for technical (engineering) and non-technical (planning, emergency management, insurance) applications. Outcomes from stakeholder engagement indicate that non-technical end users are not confident in their interpretation of the maps or the mapped site effect predictors (metrics). Users may seek seismic hazard information from lower-level mappings, such as the global Vs₃₀ mosaic, which, when compared against the higher-level Canadian mappings, was found to correctly estimate site class with 26% accuracy …

Partial Auto-Correlation Of Low Magnitude Earthquakes From The 2016 Iris Aray In Grant County, Oklahoma, Alex Christopher Eddy

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The Anadarko Basin in is a seismically active basin that spans central and western Oklahoma into Kansas. In June and July of 2016, the IRIS Community Wavefield Experiment array was deployed for approximately a month, recording over 300 earthquakes. Using 4 of these earthquakes and an east â?? west array of 129 Fairfield Nodal Z-land 3C nodes, I present a novel application of correlation. These four earthquakes with a ML of 2.8-3.0 represent a varied azimuthal distribution and are between 9 and 40km from the array and have a frequency peak at approximately 10 Hz.

As a proof of concept, …

Seismic Analysis Of The Upper & Lower Falls Of The Yellowstone River, Loring Schaible

Earth and Planetary Sciences ETDs

Twelve years of concurrent hydrologic and continuous seismic data along with temporary seismic data demonstrate that the Upper and Lower Falls of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone River comprise a highly localized source of 0.5-5 Hz seismic energy that overwhelms anthropogenic contributions. In aggregate, seismic amplitude from 2008-2019 is linearly related to discharge with a correlation coefficient of 0.96. Repeated deviations from this linear relationship persist for 1-2 weeks prior to the date that Yellowstone Lake becomes clear of winter ice coverage. Seismic efficiency increases by ~50-250% during this period of ice-breakup, during which lake ice flows into the …

Seismic Shadow Zone Investigation In The Upper Magma Reservoir Of The Yellowstone Caldera, Sarah Nolt-Caraway

Earth and Planetary Sciences ETDs

This study investigates whether the Yellowstone Caldera has enough melt to mute S-waves, creating a seismic shadow zone. Using a dense nodal deployment of ~650 stations, 7-9 earthquakes during the nodal deployment, and 21 broadband stations with 3,000-4,000 events per station; amplitude and noise maps, seismograms, and automatic phase picks probabilities from a deep learning model were analyzed to assess the potential role of melt, crustal attenuation, and noise in affecting body waves, particularly S-phases. The results are inconclusive, with unclear evidence whether observed amplitude decay is normal signal decay due to distance, noise-related, melt, or from scattering and intrinsic …

Effects Of Discharge And Morphology On Fluvial Sound, Scott J. Gauvain

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Rivers, streams, and tributaries play a critical role in the global water cycle and their dispersion of freshwater is essential for widespread human consumption, crop irrigation, waste management, and hydropower generation. Currently, there is a need for innovative, non-invasive, and low-cost methods of surface freshwater discharge gauging. With careful site selection, recording the acoustics produced by streamflow could be used reliably and inexpensively to infer changes in local discharge. An important knowledge gap currently preventing the use of acoustics for stream gauging is the unknown relationships by which stream sounds depend on discharge and stream morphology. To address this, I …

Evaluating The Feasibility Of Using Strain Measured During Sinusoidal Rate Pumping Tests To Characterize An Aquifer, Riley Blais

All Theses

Pumping tests with sinusoidal variation in pumping rate have been proposed as a method for improving aquifer characterization. These tests can interrogate a larger aquifer volume than slug tests and they can be more sensitive to small variations in drawdown. Current methods of using sinusoidal variations of rate are based on measuring pressure signals from the reservoir or aquifer, which requires access to monitoring wells. An alternative approach has been developed that measures the strain in the vadose zone instead of pressure in the reservoir. An instrument has been developed at Clemson University that can measure small strains using optical …