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Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics

Geology In Environmental Management, Michael A. Kruge Jan 2015

Geology In Environmental Management, Michael A. Kruge

Department of Earth and Environmental Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

From the geological perspective, the two overriding environmental management concerns are the destructive impact of hazardous natural events on human health and property and the deleterious impact of human activity on the natural environment. The knowledge derived from the geological sciences serves as the basis for a more enlightened approach to the reduction of unnecessary risk involved in the siting and construction of buildings and transportation networks, as well as the extraction of natural resources and waste management. Armed with such knowledge along with political sensitivity, environmental managers will have opportunities for positive social impact in negotiating the challenges as …


Fossil Charcoal In Cretaceous-Tertiary Boundary Strata: Evidence For Catastrophic Firestorm And Megawave, Michael A. Kruge Jan 1994

Fossil Charcoal In Cretaceous-Tertiary Boundary Strata: Evidence For Catastrophic Firestorm And Megawave, Michael A. Kruge

Department of Earth and Environmental Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Organic matter separated from calcareous sandstone from the upper portion of a deep-water tsunami deposit at Arroyo el Mimbral, Taumalipas (Mexico), which marks the biostratigraphically-defined Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary, consists primarily of fossil charcoal, including semifusinite and pyrofusinite. Analytical pyrolysis-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry revealed the highly aromatic and polyaromatic character of the organic matter assemblage, typical of the products of partial combustion. The organic matter probably originated as terrestrial vegetation that was caught in a firestorm and subsequently transported far offshore in the backwash of a megawave. These data are consistent with the hypothesis of combustion of large masses of vegetation triggered by …