Earth Sciences Commons^™

Stratigraphic Analysis Of The Capps Limestone In The North Norton Oil Field In Runnels County, Texas, William Thompson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Desmoinesian (Middle Pennsylvanian) Capps Limestone Member of the Mineral Wells Formation is a carbonate reservoir located in North Central Texas. It consists of interbedded limestone, sandstone, and shale units. Much of the Capps Limestone exists in the subsurface of Brown, Coleman, Runnels, Coke, Nolan, and Taylor counties, however, the Capps Limestone outcrops on the surface in Brown, Eastland, and Palo Pinto counties.

The cored interval from Runnels County was deposited in a marginal marine environment during the Middle Pennsylvanian Period. Although the Capps Limestone was first described in the 1890s, there is still much to be discovered about its …

Detailed Structural And Stratigraphic Analysis Of The Salt-Sediment Interactions On Top Of The Wheeler Dome Salt Tongue, Mississippi Canyon Area, Gulf Of Mexico, Ryan Jaska

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Mississippi Canyon is in the northeastern part of the Gulf of Mexico, south of the state of Mississippi. In this area, there are many different salt structures present including salt canopies, diapirs, and salt pillows. The Callovian aged Louann Salt covers this area and is the cause of many of the salt structures and structures of the overlying formations seen in Gulf of Mexico today. Salt is mobile when subjected to stress from overlying sediment and gravity. Stress will force the salt to not only move upward, but to also move down slope deeper into adjacent basins through the …

Numerical Modeling Of Controlling Factors For Formation Of Unconformity-Related Uranium Deposits In Sedimentary Basins, Jiayue Shen

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Unconformity-related uranium (URU) deposits are the most profitable uranium deposits in the world. Among those deposits, the Athabasca Basin hosts the world’s largest high-grade uranium deposits. A series of numerical experiments regarding the effect of uranium source location, fault location, and fault dip angle on the formation of URU deposits have been conducted by using software TOUHREACT.

Simulation results suggest that although both sandstone-sourced and basement-sourced models can generate economical deposits, basement-sourced models are more likely to form larger deposits since uranium-carrying fluid only needs to move a shorter distance to reach the structural trap for further ore forming reaction. …

Geology And Lithogeochemistry Of The Pickett Mountain Volcanogenic Massive Sulfide Deposit, Northern Maine, Michael J. Mccormick

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Pickett Mountain deposit is a volcanogenic massive sulfide (VMS) base-metal deposit located 15 miles north of Patten, ME. The deposit, discovered in 1979, was abandoned in 1989. The deposit remained abandoned until 2017, when Wolfden Mt. Chase LLC purchased the land for further development after Maine mining regulations changed. This project is a collaboration between the University of Maine, the University of Maine – Presque Isle, Wolfden Resources Corp., and the University of New Brunswick to better understand the regional and deposit-scale geology related to the deposit to fill in gaps of the geologic story of northern Maine as …

Analysis And Risk Estimation Of High Priority Unstable Rock Slopes In Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee And North Carolina, Samantha Farmer

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GRSM) received 12.5 million visitors in 2020. With a high traffic volume, it is imperative roadways remain open and free from obstruction. Annual unanticipated rockfall events in GRSM often obstruct traffic flow. Using the Unstable Slope Management Program for Federal Land Management Agencies (USMP for FLMA) protocols, this study analyzes high priority unstable rock slopes through 1) creation of an unstable slope geodatabase and 2) generation of a final rockfall risk model using Co-Kriging from a preliminary risk model and susceptibility model. A secondary goal of this study is to provide risk estimation for the …

Using An Inventory Of Unstable Slopes To Prioritize Probabilistic Rockfall Modeling And Acid Base Accounting In Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Thomas A. O'Shea

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

An inventory of unstable slopes along transportation corridors and performance modeling are important components of geotechnical asset management in Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GRSM). Hazards and risk were assessed for 285 unstable slopes along 151 miles of roadway. A multi-criteria model was created to select fourteen sites for two-dimensional probabilistic rockfall simulations and Acid Base Accounting (ABA) tests. Simulations indicate that rock material would likely enter the roadway at all fourteen sites. ABA test results indicate that influence of significant acid-producing potential is generally confined to slaty rocks of the Anakeesta Formation and graphitic schist of the Wehutty Formation. …

Spatial Analyses Of Gray Fossil Site Vertebrate Remains: Implications For Depositional Setting And Site Formation Processes, David Carney

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This project uses exploratory 3D geospatial analyses to assess the taphonomy of the Gray Fossil Site (GFS). During the Pliocene, the GFS was a forested, inundated sinkhole that accumulated biological materials between 4.9-4.5 mya. This deposit contains fossils exhibiting different preservation modes: from low energy lacustrine settings to high energy colluvial deposits. All macro-paleontological materials have been mapped in situ using survey-grade instrumentation. Vertebrate skeletal material from the site is well-preserved, but the degree of skeletal articulation varies spatially within the deposit. This analysis uses geographic information systems (GIS) to analyze the distribution of mapped specimens at different spatial scales. …

Precambrian Basement Influence On The Deposition Of The Upper Ordovician Utica Shale Play In East Central Ohio, William Kaleb Kirk

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Ordovician Utica shale play is a major oil and gas producing interval in the Appalachian Basin. The Utica shale play can be found as far as New York and Canada and to the south into Indiana and Kentucky. The play consists of the Trenton/Lexington limestones, Point Pleasant Formation, and Utica shale. The shallow marine fossiliferous limestones of the Trenton and shallow marine shaley limestones of the Lexington are overlain by an interbedded shale and limestone of the Point Pleasant Formation, which grade into the deeper marine interbedded shales and limey shales of the Utica. These formations are highly heterogeneous, …

Mineralogical Restrictions On Porosity In The Taylor Sand Of The Cotton Valley Group, Northern Louisiana Salt Basin, Claiborne Parish, Louisiana, Kaleb C. Mcclain

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Cotton Valley Group has been targeted for hydrocarbons since the 1940s. However, the reservoir was initially considered uneconomical to drill due to its low permeability and porosity. Since then, recent technological advances in hydraulic fracturing have allowed the Cotton Valley Sandstone members to become prolific, profitable plays, renewing interest in drilling and exploration across the northwest/northern Louisiana region.

In this research, mineralogical restrictions on the porosity in the Lower Taylor Sand of the Cotton Valley Group were studied from core (10,035’ft/3,059m -10,150’ft/3,094m) from Blackburn Field, northwest Claiborne Parish. Twelve samples were taken at intervals throughout the Taylor Sand, starting …

Deposition And Diagenesis Of The Blossom Sand, Panola County, Texas, Hannah Chambers

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Late Cretaceous Blossom Sand within the Austin Group is a historic gas reservoir in the East Texas basin, located at depths of approximately 2,000 ft below the surface. Since the discovery of the Carthage Field in 1918 in the East Texas Basin, the Blossom Sand has produced approximately 26 BCF of gas with minor amounts of oil. Despite its notoriety in the Carthage Field, there is very little research that has been conducted on this unit, although it crops out in northeast Texas and is found in the subsurface of southwest Arkansas, western Louisiana, and the East Texas Basin. …

Geochemical Characterization Of The Utica Shale Play Using Xrf-Based Chemostratigraphy In Ohio, Barbara Kemeh, Julie M. Bloxson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Utica shale is an extensive gas shale play within the Appalachian Basin, expanding from Quebec through New York, into Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio. Currently a target for gas exploration, it is also the source rock for much of the Paleozoic reservoirs throughout the basin. However, the Utica-Point Pleasant lithology varies significantly across the Appalachian Basin which can make it challenging to characterize.

The Utica shale Play consists of the Trenton/Lexington Limestones, Point Pleasant Formation and Utica shale. The Point Pleasant Formation and Utica shale are often grouped together, especially in Ohio because they are difficult to visually distinguish …

Sub-Surface Structural Analysis Of The Appalachian Basin In Morrow County, Ohio, Adrian Isaiah-Sias Valdez

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Located in the western most region of the Appalachian Basin, Morrow County, Ohio, was once one of the largest oil-producing regions in the nation and continually produces today. To date, approximately 30 million barrels of oil and 6.5 billion cubic feet of gas have been produced, primarily from the Copper Ridge Dolomite. Past studies suggest that regional remnant doming within the Copper Ridge accounts for production, however it is hypothesized that faulting within the basement rock exerts an important control on trapping and migration of hydrocarbons. In order to gain insight into the underlying structure and the causes of significant …

Characterization And Delineation Of Potential Evaporite Geohazards Using Electrical Resistivity Methods Along Fm 2185, Culberson County, Texas, Lenora Diane Perkins

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Extensive karst development within the Delaware Basin of West Texas and southeastern New Mexico poses a significant geohazard threat to infrastructure. Dissolution of regional evaporite strata have led to manifestations of karst geohazard phenomena including sinkholes, subsidence features, and caves. The study area is located within the Gypsum Plain in Culberson County, Texas, and includes outcrops of Castile and Rustler strata that host gypsum karst geohazards. Land reconnaissance surveys conducted during the summer of 2019 documented numerous surficial manifestations of karst features proximal to Farm to Market Road 2185 (FM 2185). In combination with traditional survey techniques, electrical resistivity methods …

Gravel Geology And Muskoxen Paleontology Of A Late Pleistocene Fossil Site In Saltville, Virginia, Nickolas A. Brand

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Two distinct studies within the Saltville Valley of southwestern Virginia revealed insights into local Pleistocene geology and paleontology. A variety of analytical techniques were applied to gravel deposits within the paleontological site of SV-5/7 that revealed this unit is very poorly sorted, has a subangular matrix, and contains significant components of silt and sand in addition to rounded cobbles. These results suggest that rather than being deposited by fluvial processes as previously suggested, these gravels were likely the result of one or many debris flows. Additionally, the identity of fossil muskoxen from Saltville was reassessed using cranial and dental material. …

Stratigraphy And Geochemistry Of Paleocene-Aged Bauxites From North Mississippi, Timothy Brendan Clark

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Bauxite is a heavily-mined aluminum ore that forms through the relative depletion of silica to aluminum. In North Mississippi, bauxite occurring within the Upper Midway and Lower Wilcox groups has been the subject of study for over a century. Despite the abundance and duration of research, controversy surrounds the subjects of bauxite genesis and economic value. The last detailed study of North Mississippi bauxite was in the 1980’s, so the goal of this project is to apply newly available technologies and modern hypotheses on bauxite formation to refine and obtain new data. Fieldwork observations yielded pisoliths, horizonation, and possible rhizoliths, …