Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Recent Paleolimnological History Of Jackson Lake, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming (Usa), Hillary Johnson

Theses and Dissertations--Earth and Environmental Sciences

This study utilizes a recently acquired, high-resolution CHIRP seismic reflection dataset and a deepwater sediment core to analyze the recent stratigraphy of Jackson Lake (Wyoming, USA). The western shoreline of Jackson Lake is situated adjacent to the Teton fault, a down-to-the-east normal fault that produces the spectacular high topography of Grand Teton National Park. The sediments of Jackson Lake are underexplored and consequently, their value as indicators of hydroclimatic and tectonic changes is unknown. Here, the sedimentary fill of Jackson Lake is explored as a natural archive of environmental change, specifically in reference to the influence of human outlet engineering …

The Appalachian System Of Basins And Platforms As A Tectonostratigraphic Analogue To The Barents Sea Shelf: Where Arctic Meets The Appalachians, Gustavo De Aguiar Martins

Theses and Dissertations--Earth and Environmental Sciences

Divided between Norway and Russia, the Barents Sea shelf (BSS) is an ~1.4 million km² Arctic province, containing significant hydrocarbon accumulations. However, much of the area is frontier, and geologic data are often restricted or unavailable. One strategy to mitigate lack of geologic data is the use of analogues from well-known, mature basins. Even though there have been attempts to use analogues to study the geology of the BSS, such use is limited. Moreover, no analogue, to my knowledge, has been capable of addressing the regional tectonostratigraphic development of the shelf as a whole.

In this research, the Appalachian …

A Joint Xrf-Δ13CCarb Chemostratigraphic Approach For Characterizing Paleo-Environmental Processes In The Mudstone-Dominated Wolfcamp Formation Of West Texas, Frank Tamakloe

Theses and Dissertations--Earth and Environmental Sciences

The Late Paleozoic Ice Age represents a dynamic period in Earth system history recording a shift from icehouse to greenhouse conditions. Concomitant with this change was a series high-frequency, high-amplitude sea level fluctuations leading to the deposition of “Kansas type” cyclothems in the Mid-Continent, and a similar rhythmic expression of interbedded shales and carbonates in the Midland Basin. Stable isotope geochemistry is a particularly powerful tool when examining these mud-rich successions because changes in organic matter partitioning may be recorded first in δ¹³C_DIC of sea-water and consequently in δ¹³C_carb of marine rocks. The δ …

Stratigraphy And Organic Geochemistry Reveal Patterns Of Late Quaternary Paleo-Productivity At Mono Lake, California, Bailee Nicole Hodelka

Theses and Dissertations--Earth and Environmental Sciences

Mono Lake (CA) is a hydrologically closed lacustrine basin well-known for its paleo-shorelines, which record fluctuations in water level for the last deglacial and late Holocene. Mono Lake is a sentinel of California’s water supply, situated in the rain shadow of the Sierra Nevada, a mountain range whose snowpack is a vital source of freshwater for urban and agricultural districts to the west and south. Recent droughts, floods, and wildfires show that California is threatened by climate change, but how these changes impact and get recorded by Mono Lake sediments remains poorly known. Here, we use a new radiocarbon-dated deepwater …

A Multi-Indicator Approach To Understanding The Diagenesis Of Carbonates In Pennsylvanian Mudrocks Of The Midland Basin, Alex J. Reis

Theses and Dissertations--Earth and Environmental Sciences

The Late Pennsylvanian was a time of frequent, rapid glacioeustatic sea-level changes. These changes were recorded in the Wolfcamp D Formation of the Midland Basin as a series of cyclothems similar to those studied in the Midcontinent region (e.g., Algeo and Heckel, 2008). This study focuses on identifying the mechanisms and controls on carbonate deposition and diagenesis through the Upper Pennsylvanian Wolfcamp D Formation and evaluating the potential for these layers to be stratigraphically significant. A stepwise progression of diagenetic processes was identified through the use of δ¹³C_carb and δ¹⁸O_carb, bulk geochemical and …

Fluvial-Lacustrine Processes Shaping The Landforms Of The Distal Paraguay Fluvial Megafan, Edward Limin Lo

Theses and Dissertations--Earth and Environmental Sciences

Tropical wetlands such as the Pantanal help regulate global biogeochemical cycles, but climate change is modifying these environments. Controls on environmental changes can potentially be assessed from ancient, well-dated lacustrine sedimentary records. An integrated field and laboratory approach was undertaken to study the limnogeology of Lake Uberaba in the northern Pantanal, and test whether the lake has preserved a reliable record of environmental change in its strata. This study was designed to understand how the basin accumulates sediment and to assess its sensitivity to hydroclimatic variability. The data showed that modern Lake Uberaba is a highly dynamic, freshwater fluvial-lacustrine basin. …

Stratigraphic, Geochemical, And Well Log Analysis Of The Wolfcamp-D Unconventional Play In The Central Midland Basin, Texas, Patrick Thomas Ryan

Theses and Dissertations--Earth and Environmental Sciences

This M.S. thesis utilizes diverse subsurface datasets from the central Midland Basin, a recently reinvigorated petroleum producing region, to better understand the depositional history of the prospective Wolfcamp-D interval. An integrated set of methods were applied to ~320 ft of drill core from Midland County (Texas). Elemental chemostratigraphy collected via x-ray fluorescence highlights the pervasive fine-scale variability in the stratigraphy of the core, and aided in the classification of three different mudrock facies types. Organic-rich, siliceous mudrocks are cyclically interbedded with aluminum-rich mudrocks and carbonates throughout the Wolfcamp-D. Trace metal correlations with total organic carbon indicate slow bottom-water recharge from …

Lithostratigraphic And Geochemical Characterization Of The Upper Pennsylvanian ‘Wolfcamp D’ Shale, Midland Basin (Usa): Implications For Paleoenvironments And Unconventional Petroleum Reserviors, Patrick W. Baldwin

Theses and Dissertations--Earth and Environmental Sciences

An integrated stratigraphic analysis of a ~350 ft drill core from Upton County (Texas) has revealed pervasive variability of several key siliciclastic and carbonate lithofacies in vertical section, where organic-rich siliceous mudrock beds alternate with aluminum-rich mudrocks and calcareous gravity flow deposits. Sediment chemistry, especially major and trace elements derived from x-ray fluorescence, captures this variability with high sensitivity. The high frequency chemostratigraphic variability appears to be cyclic, and it is interpreted to represent the first example of deep-water Late Pennsylvanian cyclothems for the Midland Basin. Positive trace metal (Mo, Cr) correlations to total organic carbon and gamma ray response …

Paleoearthquakes Of The Past ~6000 Years At The Dead Mouse Site, West-Central Denali Fault At The Nenana River, Alaska, Joseph K. Carlson

Theses and Dissertations--Earth and Environmental Sciences

The Denali fault (DF) in south-central Alaska is a major right lateral strike-slip fault that parallels the Alaska Range for much of its length. This fault represents the largest seismogenic source for interior Alaska but due to its remote location and difficulty of access, a dearth of paleoearthquake (PEQ) information exists for this important feature. The fault system is over 1200 km in length and identification of paleoseismic sites that preserve more that 2-3 PEQs has proven challenging. In 2012 and 2015, we developed the ‘Dead Mouse’ site, which provides the first long PEQ record west of the 2002 rupture …