Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

The Garnet Line In Oxford County, Maine Pegmatites., Myles Mathew Felch, Myles M. Felch

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

The garnet line is a planar fabric occuring within the intermediate and core zone in many of the Oxford County, Maine pegmatites. This study focuses primarily on the textural and chemical characteristics of the garnet line within the Mt. Mica and western Mt. Apatite quarries. Smaller, but similarly textured garnet line analogs from the Bennett, Emmons, Havey and Tamminen quarries are also investigated. All of these textures represent specific fractionation events within their respective dikes. In some of these locations, multiple stages of crystallization occur and appear to be post-magmatic, related to late stage metasomatism. These late stage fluids are …

The Geologic Implications Of The Factors That Affected Relative Sea-Level Positions In South Carolina During The Pleistocene And The Associated Preserved High-Stand Deposits, William Richardson Doar Iii

Theses and Dissertations

This work utilizes the current understanding of South Carolina geology to provide a stratigraphic review of the late-Pliocene and Pleistocene marine deposits. Almost two centuries of recorded geological study includes geomorphic and stratigraphic units that were described, proposed, revised, abandoned, and revived. Along with the history of the age assignments, changes in geological time scales, and the changes in the understanding of geological concepts, this review is necessary because two concurrent and conflicting stratigraphies exist for late-Pliocene and Pleistocene marine sediments that record multiple sea-level transgressions that were more often destructive than constructive. The result, when tested against existing geological …

Temporal Constraints On Holocene Initiation And Termination Of Mound Development At An Episodic Gas Hydrate And Cold Seep System, Woolsey Mound, Northern Gulf Of Mexico, Nathan Robinson

Theses and Dissertations

Woolsey Mound is a thermogenic gas hydrate and cold seep system in the deepwater (900m) Gulf of Mexico. A set of sub-bottom seismic profiles acquired at MC-118 Woolsey Mound provide decimeter-scale vertical resolution of the upper ~50m of the subsurface throughout the lease block. Integration of these data with radiocarbon, lithostratigraphic, and biostratigraphic data from shallow gravity cores provides the basis for detailed interpretation of the mound evolution within the last 12,000 years. Uniform sedimentation during the Last Glacial Maximum and following changes in sediment distribution over MC-118 suggests modern mound activity did not begin until at least ~12ka. Development …

Chemical And Petrographic Survey Of Large, Igneous-Textured Inclusions In Ordinary Chondrites, Katherine Armstrong

Dissertations and Theses

Our inventory of material from the early solar system includes large, igneous-textured inclusions in O chondrites, whose origin and relationship to their host meteorite is unclear. These inclusions occur in approximately 4% of O chondrites, and are mineralogically, petrographically, and chemically diverse. Petrographic and chemical data from 29 inclusions from 23 host meteorites were collected with optical light and scanning electron microscopy, allowing for the determination of major phase modal abundance and major element bulk chemistry. No correlation between any inclusion property and host meteorite type were found, but some trends were observed. Nine of the inclusions show strong evidence, …

Morphological And Structural Mapping Of The Oudemans Impact Crater Layered Central Uplift, Mars, Bahareh Kasmai

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Central uplifts in large meteorite impact craters provide valuable information about the subsurface geology of planetary bodies. Compared to impact craters on Earth, Martian central uplifts can be well exposed and can be mapped in detail by using satellite imagery. Central uplifts preserve morphological and structural features formed as result of the combination of emplacement during the impact process, post impact modification, and erosion over time. In this study, the Oudemans Crater central uplift (the largest central uplift with layers on Mars) was investigated. Oudemans (9.89 S, 268.1 E) is 124 km in diameter and is located in the Sinai …

Comparisons Of Point And Average Capillary Pressure - Saturation Functions For Porous Media, Samuel Clark Cropper

Doctoral Dissertations

The relationship between the volume of water occupying pores in soil or rock and its energy state is called the capillary pressure–saturation function. This is an important hydrogeologic property needed for modeling multiphase flow and transport. Standard methods used to determine capillary pressure–saturation behavior produce volume averaged functions rather than point functions. Average functions can produce erroneous simulations in flow models. Analytical expressions permit extraction of point functions from average functions, and predictions of average functions from point function parameters. These concepts are discussed in Chapter I.

Chapter II compares average and point functions from centrifugation of Berea sandstone, glass …

Thermal Impacts Of Salt On Sandstones And Mudstones In The Lusitanian Basin, Portugal, Brett Perry

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

In order to assess the impact of salt structures on paleotemperatures in adjacent sedimentary rocks, a field based study which quantified thermally driven diagenetic products as a function of distance from salt was undertaken. Several salt diapirs are now exposed at the surface of the Earth within the Lusitanian Basin and offered a unique opportunity to document paleothermal anomalies by studying thermally controlled diagenesis in adjacent, exposed Upper Jurassic rocks. Four transects were chosen within Upper Jurassic rocks that contained both sandstones and mudstones. Quartz cementation and albitization of feldspars, both of which are thermally driven processes, were quantified in …

An Analysis Of Co2-Driven Cold-Water Geysers In Green River, Utah And Chimayo, New Mexico, Zachary T. Watson

Theses and Dissertations

The eruption periodicity, CO2 bubble volume fraction, eruption velocity, flash depth and mass emission of CO2 were determined from multiple wellbore CO2-driven cold-water geysers (Crystal and Tenmile geysers, in Utah and Chimayó geyser in New Mexico). Utilizing a suite of temporal water sample datasets from multiple field trips to Crystal geyser, systematic and repeated trends in effluent water chemistry have been revealed. Crystal geyser has a four part eruption cycle composed of a minor eruption period (mEP), major eruption period (MEP), aftershock eruption period (Ae) and recharge (R). Tenmile geyser has a four part eruption cycle composed of MEP, drainage …

Qualitative Comparison Of Offset Surfaces Between The Central And Eastern Garlock Fault, Thomas M. Crane

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

The Garlock Fault consists of three distinct segments, known as western, central, and eastern, together reaching approximately 260 km from the San Andreas Fault to the southern end of Death Valley. Although published slip rates are available along the western and central Garlock Fault segments, little is currently known of the Garlock Fault earthquake history or slip rate farther east. Using LiDAR and satellite imagery, the central and eastern Garlock Fault segments were analyzed for visibly offset, fault-adjacent, geomorphic surfaces that may potentially be used for estimating slip rate. Qualitative methods of assessing preserved alluvial surface maturity were adapted and …

Metamorphic Evolution Of Eastern Blue Ridge Calc-Silicates In Southwestern North Carolina, Northeastern Georgia, And Northwestern South Carolina, Gina Brianne Smith

Masters Theses

Calc-silicate rocks in the eastern Blue Ridge of SW North Carolina, NE Georgia, and NW South Carolina are products of contact and regional metamorphism. Two types of calc-silicates occur in this area: Type A rocks occur as contact metamorphosed xenoliths in the ~336 Ma Rabun Granodiorite batholith, and Type B rocks occur as mappable thin, elongate, ribbon-like units in the Tallulah Falls Formation east of the Rabun batholith. Petrographic and geochemical data confirm similar composition for both types and mineral assemblages that includes amphibole, garnet, epidote, diopside, quartz, and plagioclase with accessory zircon, sphene, and opaque minerals. Calcite, however, is …

A Hazard Assessment And Proposed Risk Index For Art, Architecture, Archive And Artifact Protection: Case Studies For Assorted International Museums, Clara Jeanene Kirk

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study proposes a hazard/risk index for environmental, technological, and social hazards that may threaten a museum or other place of cultural storage and accession. This index can be utilized and implemented to measure the risk at the locations of these storage facilities in relationship to their geologic, geographic, environmental, and social settings. A model case study of the 1966 flood of the Arno River and its impact on the city of Florence and the Uffizi Gallery was used as the index focus. From this focus an additional eleven museums and their related risk were assessed. Each index addressed a …

Fault-Controlled Advective, Diffusive, And Eruptive Co2 Leakage From Natural Reservoirs In The Colorado Plateau, East-Central Utah, Na-Hyun Jung

Theses and Dissertations

This study investigated a natural analogue for CO2 leakage near Green River, Utah, aiming to understand the influence of various factors on CO2 leakage and to reliably predict underground CO2 behavior after injection for geologic CO2 sequestration. Advective, diffusive, and eruptive characteristics of CO2 leakage were assessed via a soil CO2 flux survey and numerical modeling. The field results show anomalous CO2 fluxes (> 10 g m-2 d-1) along the faults, particularly adjacent to CO2-driven cold springs and geysers (e.g., 36,259 g m-2 d-1 at Crystal Geyser), ancient travertines (e.g., 5,917 g m-2 d-1), joint zones in sandstone (e.g., 120 …

Transformation Of Uranium In A Geological Environment, Derrell Hood

All Theses

Incorporation of uranium into iron oxide minerals is a promising mechanism for the environmental immobilization of U(VI). In this study, synthesized hematite was doped with uranium and analyzed with SEM-EDS, TEM, XRD, and ICP-MS. The results of this analysis strongly indicate uranium incorporation into the mineral, as well as the possible presence of a co-precipitated uranium mineral clarkeite. Preliminary results also shows an increase in the amount of uranium associated with the hematite particles as a function of mineral aging. Cyclic Voltammetry (CV) was used to induce and characterize electrochemical changes of uranium in the doped hematite system; these changes …

Structural And Metamorphic Evolution Of The Haimanta Group: Insights From P-T-T-D Path Modeling Of Rocks Near The Leo Pargil Dome, Nw India, Kyle Vincent White

Masters Theses

The metasedimentary rocks of the Haimanta Group in the upper Sutlej Valley, NW India, record an extensive history of Himalayan deformation and metamorphism. Situated beneath the low-grade metasediments of the Tethyan Sedimentary sequence in the hanging wall of the South Tibetan detachment system (STDS), these poly-deformed rocks record Eocene–Oligocene burial metamorphism, crustal thickening and shortening, decompression and mid-crustal melting in the early Miocene, and exhumation along extensional shear zones related to the orogen-parallel exhumation of the Leo Pargil dome (LPD). Low-pressure assemblages (cordierite + sillimanite + quartz) overgrow Barrovian porphyroblasts in Haimanta Group rocks in the NE portion of Sutlej …

Refraction Microtremor Analysis Of Areas Surrounding California State University San Bernardino, Malcolm D. Thomas

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

The San Andreas Fault stretches for over 800 miles through California. Along the foothills of the San Bernardino Mountains, areas in close proximity to the San Andreas Fault Zone may be subject to site amplification of ground motion caused by seismic activity via wave propagation through the subsurface. These seismic hazards are being addressed via the Alquist-Priolo Earthquake Faulting Zone Act and the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program (NEHRP). Shear wave velocity of the subsurface has served as a proxy for ground motion amplification and is therefore a useful parameter to help analyze and reduce seismic hazards. Low shear wave …

Transport Of Fecal Pollution Indicators: Impacts From The Land Spreading Of Liquid Manure On Water Quality, Derek Lee Street

Masters Theses

This thesis is a case study to determine if groundwater and/or drainage tiles are important pathways for fecal migration to streams resulting from the application of liquid manure to cropland at a small dairy farm, the Little River Animal and Environmental Unit, near Townsend, TN. Traditional biological indicators, coliforms and E.coli, were used in conjunction with a bovine specific Bacteroides assay to measure fecal microbes. Total nitrates, turbidity, and other chemical parameters for water quality also were used to identify related fecal contamination. This thesis covers three separate manure applications. The first manure application occurred in May 2013, the …

Ore Classification And Breccia Formation In The 144 Zone Gold Deposit: A Chemical Replacement Model, Bare Mountain Range, Nevada, William Thomas Fischer

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The 144 Zone is an oxidized, breccia-hosted, disseminated gold deposit that formed along the contact between Early Cambrian Carrara Formation limestone and overlying Bonanza King Formation dolomite within the Bare Mountain range in southern Nevada. Gold mineralization occurs within a breccia body that contains a variety of breccia types. Research goals of this project included classifying clay, oxide and other minerals as well as breccia types to identify the habits of gold mineralization and the minerals associated with gold. Research was also aimed at determining the paragenesis of Au mineralization and brecciation in the 144 Zone. Underground mapping provided spatial …

Subalklaine Volcanism In The Eastern Basin And Range Province: Examples From The Miocene Mccullough Range Volcanic Field And The Pliocene To Holocene Black Rock Desert Volcanic Field, Racheal Leighann Johnsen

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This dissertation is composed of three papers that apply geologic mapping, whole rock geochemical and isotopic analysis, and mineral chemistry to describe two large, long-lived (~6 million years), and compositionally heterogeneous volcanic fields and posit sources of the rock types present in each. These fields are the McCullough Range in southern Nevada, which was a locus of volcanic activity from ~19 - 12 Ma and the Black Rock Desert volcanic field in west-central Utah, which began forming at ~6 Ma and is still active today, with the most recent eruption occurring ~720 years ago.

Chapter Two is composed of a …

New Early Miocene 40ar/39ar Ages For Nakwai, Northwest Kenya, Africa, And Paleontological Analysis Of Meroehyrax Kyongoi Dentition, Dawn Elena Reynoso

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Nakwai is a fossiliferous region in the Turkana Basin of northwestern Kenya. Until recently the only ages for the Nakwai formation were based on biostratigraphic correlation with Losodok; a late Oligocene site located to the north of Nakwai. The new 40Ar/39Ar ages in this study range from 23 Ma to 15 Ma and constrain the upper portions of the Nakwai section to the early Miocene. These ages make it the only securely dated fossil locality in the region that represents the earliest Miocene; all of the other early Miocene fossil localities date back to ~20 Ma or younger. The time …

Estimating Aquifer Characteristics And Identification Of A Sub-Basin For Artificial Storage And Recovery, Northeastern Ivanpah Valley, Nevada, Nikolas James Taranik

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The identification of a structurally controlled sub-basin with impediments to groundwater flow within Southern Nevada could provide a favorable area for artificial recharge and storage of native or imported water, extending the water supply of Southern Nevada. For this purpose, the area of northeastern Ivanpah Valley was investigated to determine the ability of the aquifer to accept and recover stored water, if acceptable water quality existed in the potential sub-basin storage area, and if structural controls impeded and isolated groundwater flow. The results found evidence the proposed sub-basin is structurally isolated by the McCullough, Roach, and Stateline Faults, which was …

The 1852 Banda Arc Mega-Thrust Earthquake And Tsunami In Indonesia, Tsz Man Fisher

Theses and Dissertations

In 1852, a five-minute long earthquake hit the Banda Arc region that was felt over most of Indonesia. It caused uplift of new islands and sent a tsunami across the Banda Sea that reached a height of 8 meters at Banda Neira and was also registered at Ambon, Saparua and other islands. Records of the 1852 earthquake at multiple locations provide the constraints needed to reconstruct the disastrous event through earthquake intensity analysis and numerical modeling of the tsunami. Using tsunami heights and arrival times as the major constraints, best fit numerical models of the tsunami were constructed using Clawpack. …

Compositional Analysis Of Three Clay Artifact Collections From The Southwestern United States, Kathleen R. Kirkham

Theses and Dissertations

This study assessed ways compositional analysis, facilitated by portable X-ray fluorescence technology (PXRF), can be applied in the museum setting to resolve provenance issues and other collections management questions. A major segment of the study evaluated PXRF as a non-invasive geochemical analysis technique to address concerns about whether the resolution of results is sufficient to draw meaningful conclusions. Compositional analysis, mainly facilitated by PXRF, was successfully applied to three clay artifact collections from the southwestern United States. Pottery sherds from Fourmile Ruin were analyzed using PXRF and compared to analyses from invasive wavelength-dispersive XRF and X-ray diffraction techniques. Expanding the …

Normal Fault Block Or Giant Landslide? Baldy Block, Wasatch Range, Utah, Eric R. Meyer

Theses and Dissertations

Understanding the interplay between surficial and tectonic processes in the development of Utah's Wasatch Range is vital to evaluating geologic hazards along the Wasatch Front. Baldy is a large (6.125 km3) block of limestone and sandstone structurally overlying shale on the western flank of Mount Timpanogos. It has been mapped as a downdropped normal fault block of Permian units, but no other trace of such a fault exists along the range. The Baldy block structurally overlies the weak Manning Canyon shale, which has produced a regional geomorphology replete with faceted spurs, landslide scarps and deposits. Structural, bio- and litho-stratigrahic mapping …

Controls On Syenite-Hosted Gold Mineralization In The Western Timmins Camp, Robert A. Campbell

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The Abitibi granite-greenstone belt has long been known for its’ world-class Archean

lode gold deposits. With exploration and production commencing in the early nineteen

hundreds and continuing into the twenty-first century, this prolific mining camp is rich

in history, research and precious/base metals. The Thunder Creek deposit and Hwy-144 gold prospect are two recently discovered and exploited syenite associated gold plays in the Timmins Camp. The research compares the Thunder Creek and Hwy-144 properties providing new observations on the variable mechanisms for gold mineralization that can change over a short strike distance (0.5-1.5 km’s) hosted in a geologically similar environment. …

Mantle-Crust Interaction In Granite Petrogenesis In Post-Collisional Settings: Insights From The Danubian Variscan Plutons Of The Romanian Southern Carpathians, Ciprian Cosmin Stremtan

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The issue of granite petrogenesis plays a key role in our overall understanding of the growth and differentiation of continents, as well as in our ability to unravel the tectonic histories of orogenic belts. Granites are ubiquitous magmatic products found in almost all tectonic settings: oceanic and continental rifts (i.e., plagiogranites - extreme basalt differentiates), active continental margins (e.g,. the granitic batholiths of central and southern Andes), continent-continent collision zones (e.g., the orogenic batholiths of the Himalayas, Western Anatolia), post-collisional settings (e.g., the Variscan provinces of Europe), complex within-plates settings (e.g., Limmo massif, Afar, Ethiopia). Furthermore, granitoids are characterized by …

Investigating Fault System Deformation With Numerical Models And Analog Experiments, Justin W. Herbert

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation aims to understand fault system deformation using numerical models and analog experiments. In southern California, the southern Big Bend of the San Andreas fault (SAF) is a zone of transpression that accommodates deformation associated with the Pacific-North American plate boundary. Using three-dimensional boundary element method (BEM) models, I test the sensitivity of fault slip rates to a range of tectonic boundary conditions constrained by Global Positioning System (GPS) studies of the region (45–50 mm/yr and 320°– 325°). I have modified fault configurations derived from the Southern California Earthquake Center Community Fault Model of the San Gorgonio knot and …

Short- And Long-Term Trends In Ecological Interactions: From Predator-Prey Interactions To Phanerozoic Diversification, Subhronil Mondal

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

During the last two decades, a broad spectrum of short- and long-term studies on different taxonomic groups has enriched our understanding about how dynamics of taxonomic and ecological diversification have changed through geologic time. There are two major issues that have impacted these studies: the quality and quantity of data used are often insufficient in various ways and the methods used may produce results that are more equivocal than supposed. To investigate these issues more fully, this dissertation focuses on studies on two major aspects: 1) short-term studies examining the nature of successful and unsuccessful predatory attacks on Plio-Pleistocene bivalves; …

The Timing Of Deformation In The Four Peaks Area, Central Arizona, And Relevance For The Mazatzal Orogeny, Calvin A. Mako

Masters Theses

The Mazatzal orogeny (1.66-1.60 Ga) is a key element of the tectonic evolution of the North American continent during the Proterozoic (Whitmeyer and Karlstrom, 2007). Recently, Mesoproterozoic detrital zircon grains (1.55-1.45 Ga) have been found in metasedimentary rocks that were thought to have been deformed during the Paleoproterozoic Mazatzal orogeny (Jones et al. 2011; Doe et al. 2012, 2013; Daniel et al. 2013). Some type examples Mazatzal deformation now seem to be too young to have been deformed in the accepted time of that orogeny (1.66-1.60 Ga) and may have been deformed in the younger, newly defined, Picuris orogeny. This …

Evolution Of Off-Fault Deformation Along Analog Strike-Slip Faults, Alexandra E. Hatem

Masters Theses

Strike-slip faults evolve to accommodate more fault slip, resulting in less off-fault deformation. In analog experiments, the measured fault slip to off-fault deformation ratios are similar to those measured in crustal strike-slip systems, such as the San Andreas fault system. Established planar faults have the largest fault slip to off-fault deformation ratio of ~0.98. In systems without a pre-existing fault surface, crustal thickness and basal detachment conditions affect shear zone width and roughness. However, once the applied plate displacement is 1-2 times the crustal thickness, partitioning of deformation between fault slip and off-fault distributed shear is >0.90, regardless of the …

From ~1.5 Ma To Today: Insights Into The Southern San Andreas Fault System From 3d Mechanical Models, Laura Fattaruso

Masters Theses

Three-dimensional mechanical simulations of the San Andreas fault (SAF) within the Coachella Valley in California produce deformation that match geologic observations and demonstrate the impact of fault geometry on uplift patterns. Most models that include the Coachella Valley segment of the SAF have assumed a vertical orientation, but recent studies suggest that this segment dips 60-70° northeast. We compare models with varied fault geometry and evaluate how well they reproduce observed uplift patterns. Our model with a dipping SAF matches geologic observations, while models containing a vertical fault do not. This suggests that the active Coachella Valley segment of the …