Earth Sciences Commons^™

Simple Soil Quality Tests And Organic Management Practices For Orchards In The Intermountain West, Esther Oline Thomsen

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Soil health is often overlooked as a long-term management strategy as growers face an increasing number of short-term management challenges in the Intermountain West. The costs of inputs are rising and water resources are becoming more limited. Soil with poor health typically requires more amendments and fertlizers to meet crop needs. Soil health tests can help reveal management practices that reduce soil health, as well as those that improve soil health. Practices known to improve soil health are reduced to no tillage, cover crop use- especially legumes, and addition of mulch and other organic materials. Soil health testing is not …

The Mh-2 Core From Project Hotspot: Description, Geologic Interpretation, And Significance To Geothermal Exploration In The Western Snake River Plain, Idaho, Jerome A. Varriale

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Harnessing the earth’s natural heat generation as an energy resource has seen increased interest in recent history. While geothermal energy is a sustainable, low-carbon emitting, and viable source of energy in certain regions, large upfront risks, including costs of exploration and deep well drilling, have kept private sector investment at bay. Lowering the risks to capital investment that are inherent to subsurface exploration can help to assuage investors and bring this well-known energy-generating technology to the masses.

A blind potential geothermal system was encountered while drilling the MH2 science drill hole, on Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho. The MH-2 …

The Influence Of Small Displacement Faults On Seal Integrity And Lateral Movement Of Fluids, Eric A. Rasmusson

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

As groundwater, liquid and gas hydrocarbons, or CO₂ fluids move through the subsurface, faults can act as pathways or barriers to flow. Recent studies also show that when a fault juxtaposes high permeability sandstone against a low permeability shale, the corner at the sandstone-shale interface and the fault can become a site of high pressure that may fracture the seal and allow fluids to escape. This can have negative implications for industries dependent on the quality of that seal, for example, petroleum, CO₂ sequestration, waste fluid injection, and nuclear waste storage industries.

We examined five small-scale faults in …

Confirmation Of A New Geometric And Kinematic Model Of The San Andreas Fault At Its Southern Tip, Durmid Hill, Southern California, Daniel K. Markowski

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This study explains the origin of the deforming structures between the San Andreas fault and the Salton Sea within the Salton Trough in Southern California. ShakeOut simulations and other studies model shaking resulting from a large rupture on the San Andreas fault. These models simulate a start at the southern fault tip of the San Andreas fault that propagates to the northwest. A secondary strand of the San Andreas fault called the East Shoreline fault is located at the southern tip of the San Andreas fault near the shoreline of the Salton Sea. Between the East Shoreline fault zone and …

Structural And Lithological Influences On The Tony Grove Alpine Karst System, Bear River Range, North-Central Utah, Kirsten Bahr

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Caves are access points into the subsurface for humans, water, and, in many cases, contaminants. Many caves are connected via a series of conduits that carry water from one cave to another and, eventually, to a spring. However, because most of these conduits are inaccessible, it is difficult to determine the pathway groundwater takes on its way to the spring. The primary objective of this study was to examine the effects of folds, fractures, and rock type upon the formation and orientation of cave passages as well as groundwater flow patterns in the Tony Grove alpine karst system.

Although water …

Crustal Architecture Of The Snake River Plain, Idaho, Through Geochemical Investigation Of Crustal Sill And Shallow Subvolcanic Xenoliths, Douglas James Jones

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The Snake River Plain (SRP) in southern Idaho is one of the most well-preserved examples of continent-hotspot interaction available today. Geophysical studies have imaged a feature ~10 km thick at the base of the upper crust. This feature, termed the “mid-crustal sill complex” is likely a layered mafic intrusion. The study of layered mafic intrusions is important because it provides a link between deep plutonic processes and shallow volcanic processes. Investigation of the mid crustal sill complex will provide better understanding of the evolutionary process of SRP basalts.

This thesis investigates three xenoliths sampled from the Kimama drill core collected …

Sagebrush Ecology Of Parker Mountain, Utah, Nathan E. Dulfon

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

On Parker Mountain located in south central Utah, management actions such as controlling mountain big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata Nutt. subsp. vaseyana), with mechanical and chemical treatments can increase forage for livestock and benefit wildlife such as greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus). Tebuthiuron treatments were applied on Parker Mountain from 2000-2012 with assistance from the Utah School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration, the Utah Department of Food and Agriculture, and the Natural Resources Conservation Service. Treatments applied to mountain big sagebrush on Parker Mountain provide an important opportunity to evaluate the value of mountain big sagebrush treatments in …