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Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics

Geochemical And Sensor-Based Monitoring Of Fault-Associated Carbonic Springs In Grand Canyon And Northern New Mexico: Identifying Hydrologic Pathways And Establishing Baselines, Chris Mcgibbon Dec 2021

Geochemical And Sensor-Based Monitoring Of Fault-Associated Carbonic Springs In Grand Canyon And Northern New Mexico: Identifying Hydrologic Pathways And Establishing Baselines, Chris Mcgibbon

Earth and Planetary Sciences ETDs

This dissertation examines the interaction of spring systems and faulting. When springs discharge within a fault zone the interaction is often complex, and multiple methods are required to understand the flow, mixing and evolution of groundwater. In karst aquifer systems fracture networks can range from sub-millimeter to meters and only adds to the complexities involved in examining spring hydrology. The Interest in springs and faulting is not only driven by science, but also has applied applications. Faulting and fluid flow are of interest to the oil and gas industry, and potential CO2 sequestration. In the southwestern US, water quantity …


The Birth And Incision History Of The San Juan River In The Past 5 Ma, Micael T. Albonico Nov 2021

The Birth And Incision History Of The San Juan River In The Past 5 Ma, Micael T. Albonico

Earth and Planetary Sciences ETDs

This study addresses the evolution of the San Juan River system and its confluence with the Colorado River, ~ 100 km above the regionally important Lees Ferry knickzone. The San Juan River is a 600-km-long continental-scale tributary of the Colorado River. From its headwaters in the San Juan Mountains in Colorado, the San Juan River flows across the Colorado Plateau, and into the Colorado River upstream of Grand Canyon. Published apatite fission track and apatite (U-Th)/He thermochronologic data show that rocks in Marble Canyon, as well as in middle and upper reaches of the San Juan River, were >75 °C …


The Morphology And Evolution Of Transverse Aeolian Ridges On Mars, Timothy Paul Nagle-Mcnaughton Oct 2021

The Morphology And Evolution Of Transverse Aeolian Ridges On Mars, Timothy Paul Nagle-Mcnaughton

Earth and Planetary Sciences ETDs

Transverse aeolian ridges (TARs) are enigmatic and largely relict bedforms on the surface of Mars. TARs are sparsely distributed but common on Mars, but their history, preservation, and past role in the sediment cycle is not well understood. First described in 2003, and detailed extensively in 2008, our study of TARs has been narrowly focused in the last decade, with more and more research noting their presence, but little investigation of the features themselves. Recent work has mostly focused on identifying Terran analogues for TARs, but TARs remain largely a unique Martian feature. In this manuscript, I clarify and refine …


Single-Crystal Elasticity Of Tremolite At High-Pressure Conditions And Its Implication For The Mid-Lithospheric Discontinuity, Soisiri Charin Jul 2021

Single-Crystal Elasticity Of Tremolite At High-Pressure Conditions And Its Implication For The Mid-Lithospheric Discontinuity, Soisiri Charin

Earth and Planetary Sciences ETDs

Tremolite is the calcium magnesium amphibole that widely occurs in igneous and metamorphic rocks of the crustal and upper mantle lithosphere, especially in the greenschist facies to amphibolite facies of ultramafic assemblages. The stability field of amphibole reaches 3-4 GPa and 1100-1200°C depending on water content and cation substitutions giving rise to amphibole to occur in highly variable compositions. This P-T condition, corresponding to the depth about 80-120 km, coincides with the depth range that a negative velocity gradient usually found within most stable cratonic lithospheres. This depth range is seismically called Mid-lithosphere discontinuity (MLD). The geologic processes that might …


Petrology And Geochemistry Of Evolved Achondrites: Planetesimal Mantles And Crusts, Zoltan Vaci Jul 2021

Petrology And Geochemistry Of Evolved Achondrites: Planetesimal Mantles And Crusts, Zoltan Vaci

Earth and Planetary Sciences ETDs

Melting and differentiation are fundamental to early solar system evolution on planetary bodies that accreted enough material to heat up radioactively or through impacts and breach their solidi. Partially and fully melted material is present in the meteorite record in the form of primitive achondrites and achondrites, which are fragments of planetesimals that underwent heating events in the first few million years of solar system history. Although the vast majority of this material is mafic or ultramafic, new evolved samples, recovered in the last few decades, are pushing the petrologic and geochemical boundaries of planetesimal melting, differentiation, and crust formation. …


Investigations Of Geochemical Variations With Depth At The First 15 Drill Sites On Mars Analyzed By The Chemcam Instrument Onboard The Curiosity Rover And Supported By Laboratory Studies And Analog Research At The Valle Grande Paleolake, Valles Caldera, New Mexico, Usa, Ryan S. Jackson May 2021

Investigations Of Geochemical Variations With Depth At The First 15 Drill Sites On Mars Analyzed By The Chemcam Instrument Onboard The Curiosity Rover And Supported By Laboratory Studies And Analog Research At The Valle Grande Paleolake, Valles Caldera, New Mexico, Usa, Ryan S. Jackson

Earth and Planetary Sciences ETDs

The ChemCam instrument collected a wealth of data during the first 15 drill campaigns and on the distribution of trace elements at Yellowknife Bay, Mars. The drill sites investigation showed that most sites were geochemically homogenous down the depth of the drill hole. Two sites in the Stimson formation contained a vertical gradient of decreasing silica down > 3 cm. This gradient may be the result of groundwater flow and is likely recent, within 2.3 Ma. The trace element research was grounded with an analog study at the Valle Grande paleolake in New Mexico. We observed progressive alteration in the minerology …


A Triple Oxygen Isotope Analysis Of Altered Oceanic Crust And Its Buffering Effect On The Steady State Oxygen Isotope Composition Of Seawater, Jesse P. Mcgunnigle May 2021

A Triple Oxygen Isotope Analysis Of Altered Oceanic Crust And Its Buffering Effect On The Steady State Oxygen Isotope Composition Of Seawater, Jesse P. Mcgunnigle

Earth and Planetary Sciences ETDs

The secular chemical marine sediment trend showing an increase in δ18O over geologic time has traditionally been investigated using δ18O modelling of ancient ocean compositions, ocean surface temperatures, and sample diagenetic alteration. This study presents a triple oxygen isotope mass balance for the oceans using high precision δ18O and Δ'17O measurements of altered oceanic crust. The mass balance model predicts an ice-free seawater with δ18O = -0.29‰ and Δ’17O = -0.002‰ with steady state reached at approximately (0.5 to 1)×109 years. Modifications to the hydrothermal alteration and …


Diversity – Independent Factors Predict Elevated Extinction Rates, Dustin Perriguey, Corinne Myers, Jason Moore, Louis Scuderi Apr 2021

Diversity – Independent Factors Predict Elevated Extinction Rates, Dustin Perriguey, Corinne Myers, Jason Moore, Louis Scuderi

Earth and Planetary Sciences ETDs

Multiple linear regression was used to determine the relationships between diversity-independent factors (i.e., abiotic, climatic) 2, 5, and 10 Myrs-prior to the most elevated Phanerozoic extinctions. We constructed five abiotic variables from Phanerozoic proxy records1–5 to compare to extinction rates: mean temperature, temperature instability, carbon cycle instability, continental weathering rates, and habitat instability. All three models were statistically significant (P < 0.05) and explained > 70% of the variation in Alroy’s6 three-timer generic extinction rates. However, the 2 Myr-prior model explained the most variance in extinction rates and had the most predictive power, based on adjusted and predictive R2 (~ 72% and 41%, respectively). Carbon …