Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

The Effect Of Interactive Computer Animations On Introductory Geology Students' Conceptual Understanding Of Mountain Building Processes, Michelle (Michelle Alicia) Malone

WWU Graduate School Collection

The use of computer animations to help students visualize processes they cannot observe directly is becoming more widespread in geoscience classrooms, but few studies have formally assessed the effectiveness of these technological aids as learning tools. This research project evaluated the effect of interactive computer animations on undergraduate introductory geology students' understanding of mountain building processes. The study focused on introductory geology students’ misconceptions about the formation of mountains. With the assistance of Flash programmers, an online interactive web activity was developed. This tool was aimed at reducing misconceptions, and included activities related to plate tectonics, isostasy, erosion and rock …

The Hydrogeology Of North Lummi Island, Washington, William M. (William Martin) Sullivan

WWU Graduate School Collection

Lummi Island is a 10.8 square mile island in the northern Puget Sound Region, west of Bellingham, Washington. The population of Lummi Island has grown steadily for decades to approximately 900 permanent and 1,500 seasonal residents. The increasing demand for groundwater resources on the island has caused some wells to experience seasonal shortages and seawater intrusion, prompting an assessment of the hydrogeology for growth-management purposes. My study focused on characterizing the hydrogeology of the north half of the island (3.9 square miles) where most residents live and where groundwater is the sole source of potable water.

I examined data collected …

A Paleomagnetic Paleolatitude Determination From The Upper Cretaceous Units Of The Gold Beach Terrane, Southwest Coastal Oregon, Noel Liner

WWU Graduate School Collection

The paleolatitude for the Gold Beach terrane has been under debate from several sources (Bourgeois, 1980b; Bourgeois, 1985; Jayko and Blake, 1985; Seiders and Blome, 1987; Aalto, 1989) since the 1980 publication of Joanne Bourgeois’ PhD thesis connecting the Upper Cretaceous formations of the Gold Beach terrane to the Nacimiento Block, currently in the vicinity of Southern California; During the Cretaceous, the Nacimiento Block was farther south than its present position by about 200 km (Blake and Jayko, 1985). The opposing hypothesis of Seiders and Blome (1987) connects the Gold Beach terrane to the neighboring Klamath block, implying at most …

Brittle Deformation In An Ancient Accretionary Prism Setting: Lopez Structural Complex, San Juan Islands, Nw Washington, John R. (John Rhea) Gillaspy

WWU Graduate School Collection

Fault-bounded slices of allochthonous Paleozoic to Mesozoic bedrock of the San Juan Islands in northwest Washington provide a locality in which to study terrane translation and ductile and brittle deformation in an accretionary wedge setting, as well as the factors involved in preservation of blueschist-facies terranes. This study contributes to understanding of the tectonic evolution of the Lopez Structural Complex, a major Late Cretaceous terrane-bounding fault zone in the San Juan Thrust System. Structural study is combined with X-ray diffraction and fluid inclusion analysis to constrain the relative timing, kinematics, and P-T conditions of fabric formation and post-fabric brittle deformation …