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Articles 1 - 14 of 14
Full-Text Articles in Earth Sciences
A New Method For Ultra-Low Sulfate Extraction And A Pilot Study In Arid Soils, Marisela Montelongo
A New Method For Ultra-Low Sulfate Extraction And A Pilot Study In Arid Soils, Marisela Montelongo
Open Access Theses & Dissertations
Sulfur in soils is a crucial nutrient for all organisms including plants. Sulfate (SO42-), a water soluable anion, is a good source of this important element. Because of the importance of sulfur for agriculture, the use of sulfate has been well studied in temperate climate zones, and it is generally accepted that microbes play a critical role in controlling the availability of sulfate. Organically bound sulfur, such as sulfate esters and carbon-bonded sulfur, compounds that are generated and decomposed by microbes, are essential sulfur sources for plants under these conditions. For arid environments, knowledge of sulfate turnover in soils by …
Tracing Anthropogenic Salinity Inputs To The Semi-Arid Rio Grande River: A Multi-Isotope Tracer Approach, Sandra Garcia
Tracing Anthropogenic Salinity Inputs To The Semi-Arid Rio Grande River: A Multi-Isotope Tracer Approach, Sandra Garcia
Open Access Theses & Dissertations
Water is an important component for life and as such water quality and availability are major concerns in the world today. In arid to semi-arid regions, freshwater quality is especially important due to its scarcity. Elevated salinity of rivers in arid regions poses potentially devastating consequences for the communities that depend on these rivers as a source of freshwater. In the Rio Grande region, high salinity has led to severe reductions in crop productivity and accumulation of salts in soils. Salinity inputs into the river may come from both anthropogenic and natural sources. Thus, identifying and quantifying salinity inputs to …
Near-Surface And High Resolution Seismic Imaging Of The Bennett Thrust Fault In The Indio Mountains Of West Texas, Alan Thomas Vennemann
Near-Surface And High Resolution Seismic Imaging Of The Bennett Thrust Fault In The Indio Mountains Of West Texas, Alan Thomas Vennemann
Open Access Theses & Dissertations
My research investigates the structure of the Indio Mountains in southwest Texas, 34 kilometers southwest of Van Horn, at the UTEP (University of Texas at El Paso) Field Station using newly acquired active-source seismic data. The area is underlain by deformed Cretaceous sedimentary rocks that represent a transgressive sequence nearly 2 km in total stratigraphic thickness. The rocks were deposited in mid Cretaceous extensional basins and later contracted into fold-thrust structures during Laramide orogenesis. The stratigraphic sequence is an analog for similar areas that are ideal for pre-salt petroleum reservoirs, such as reservoirs off the coasts of Brazil and Angola …
Depositional Controls And Sequence Stratigraphy Of Lacustrine To Marine Transgressive Deposits In A Rift Basin, Lower Cretaceous Bluff Mesa, Indio Mountains, West Texas, Andrew Anderson
Open Access Theses & Dissertations
Successful hydrocarbon exploration in former rift basins of the South Atlantic pre-salt has generated interest in understanding depositional, diagenetic, and stratigraphic controls on pre-salt deposits. However, most studies to date have focused on attributes and controls on presalt lacustrine carbonate reservoir systems and little work has been done on the overlying marine sealing facies. Currently our standard sequence stratigraphic model of marine transgression of rift systems involves a single pulse of marine flooding over fluvially-incised valleys resulting in backstepping of fluvial and estuarine siliciclastic facies within the erosionally confined zone of an incised valley. However, the pre-salt systems of the …
Constraining Times Of Extension In The Southern Rio Grande Rift And Basin And Range Using Apatite And Zircon (U-Th)/He Thermochronology, Julian Biddle
Constraining Times Of Extension In The Southern Rio Grande Rift And Basin And Range Using Apatite And Zircon (U-Th)/He Thermochronology, Julian Biddle
Open Access Theses & Dissertations
The Rio Grande rift and the Basin and Range are adjacent extensional domains that have evolved contemporaneously in western North America. Although the rift is often considered to be the easternmost boundary of Basin and Range extension, there is geologic and geophysical evidence that suggests the two are discrete provinces. Existing low-temperature thermochronologic data indicate that a period of synchronous extension occurred across the entire length of the rift from ~25-10 Ma. However, these studies were more focused on the northern and central sections of the rift, and thermochronologic data remains sparse in southern New Mexico. We collected rock samples …
Investigation Of Earthquake And Geyser Activity From Short-Term Nodal Array Deployment Centered At Old Faithful Geyser, Susana I. Garcia
Investigation Of Earthquake And Geyser Activity From Short-Term Nodal Array Deployment Centered At Old Faithful Geyser, Susana I. Garcia
Open Access Theses & Dissertations
Yellowstone National Park is home to an active caldera, centrally located on the North American continent. Several studies have concluded the existence of a hotspot that fuels the hydrothermal, geothermal and earthquake activity in the Yellowstone region. The geologic record of Yellowstone contains multiple layers of volcanic deposits that indicate the region experienced three previous massive volcanic eruptions dating back 2.05Mya, 1.2Mya and the most recent 640,000 years ago. Yellowstone is also home to one of the largest geothermal areas in the world. With this study, an in-depth look at seismicity and geyser events recorded within an active geothermal region, …
Gypsum, Calcite, And Dolomite Caprock Fabrics And Geochemistry From The Gypsum Valley Salt Diapir, Paradox Basin, Southwestern Colorado, Kevin Lerer
Open Access Theses & Dissertations
Caprocks are found on top of or in a lateral position relative to salt diapirs. The caprocks predominantly comprise sulfate minerals such as anhydrite or gypsum, which presumably accreted during the dissolution of salt from evaporite sediments. In some cases, the sulfate minerals are replaced by carbonate minerals, referred to as "carbonate caprock". Carbonate caprocks associated with salt diapirs are important because they can act as reservoirs or conduits for hydrocarbons, and because they can be easily misidentified as carbonate lithologies belonging to the stratigraphy of the sedimentary sequences adjacent to the diapir, which can jeopardize the accurate interpretation of …
Genesis Of Unique Carbonate Fans In A Pre-Salt Reservoir Analogue, Indio Mountains, West Texas, Andre Llanos
Genesis Of Unique Carbonate Fans In A Pre-Salt Reservoir Analogue, Indio Mountains, West Texas, Andre Llanos
Open Access Theses & Dissertations
Hydrocarbon exploration in pre-salt sediments of rift basins on the South Atlantic Margin have proven to be successful major oil plays. Located on the western margin of the rift, the Brazilian pre-salt reservoirs of the Santos, Campos, and Espirito Santo Basins are hosted by lacustrine/marine-influenced carbonates that comprise laterally extensive, laminated microbialite facies. The Indio Mountains, located in West Texas, provide well-exposed outcrops of Lower Cretaceous marine and non-marine rift basin strata that can be considered a reservoir-analog to the South Atlantic Margin pre-salt facies. Of particular interest for hydrocarbon exploration are unique carbonate features that have been discovered in …
Evaluation Of Cryptic Sulfur Cycling In Marine Sediments, Michael Ngari Mathuri
Evaluation Of Cryptic Sulfur Cycling In Marine Sediments, Michael Ngari Mathuri
Open Access Theses & Dissertations
Despite the importance of marine sediments as a carbon sink and many efforts to integrate microbiological with geochemical and geological data, the understanding of microbial organic carbon mineralization processes in marine sediments remains incomplete. There is growing evidence for the existence of an unrecognized oxidative sulfur cycling (cryptic sulfur cycling) above, within and below of the main sulfate reduction zone. For example, sulfate exists in supposedly sulfate-free methanogenic marine sediments from the Aarhus Bay and Black Sea. This implies that sulfur cycling is an ongoing process in the deep biosphere. Quantification of cryptic sulfur cycling is a major challenge because …
A Quantitative Analysis Of The Fretted Terrain Valleys, Arabia Terra, Mars, Kelsey Anne Mason
A Quantitative Analysis Of The Fretted Terrain Valleys, Arabia Terra, Mars, Kelsey Anne Mason
Open Access Theses & Dissertations
Fretted terrain describes regions on Mars with low-lying, flat valleys separated by steep cliffs that often form polygonal-shaped mesas. The fretted terrain valleys have a morphology distinct from other valleys found on Mars, and their unknown origin may hold insights into critical questions about Mars' tectonic, magmatic, and hydrologic history. Current hypoThesis for the formation of the fretted terrain include fracturing as well as hydrological flow processes such as fluvial or glacial erosion. The region for this study is located in eastern Arabia Terra and is the type-location for fretted terrain. By qualitatively and quantitatively documenting the planform, or map-view, …
Airborne Lead In El Paso, Texas, Usa, Lisa Marie Paz
Airborne Lead In El Paso, Texas, Usa, Lisa Marie Paz
Open Access Theses & Dissertations
Despite significant strides to minimize lead in our air, water, soil, food, homes, workplaces, and consumer products, sporadic and systemic lead poisoning persists in industrial societies, e.g., the contemporary Flint (Michigan, USA) municipal water tragedy. Because lead exposure is cumulative, the sum of exposure from all sources, it is important to document and update potential community or neighborhood exposure levels from such environmental compartments as air, water, and housing. Here we present ambient airborne lead levels in El Paso, Texas, USA, parsed by particulate matter (PM) size fraction, geography, and season. Dichotomous samplers at 8 stations collected particulate matter continuously …
Cycling Of Gypsiferous White Sands Aerosols In The Shallow Critical Zone At White Mountain, New Mexico, Patrick Richard Rea
Cycling Of Gypsiferous White Sands Aerosols In The Shallow Critical Zone At White Mountain, New Mexico, Patrick Richard Rea
Open Access Theses & Dissertations
Dry deposition significantly affects evolution of the critical zone by nutrient supply and contributing to soil genesis. Dust influx and cycling in soils are difficult to quantify because dust sources can be chemically similar to local soils. White Sands, New Mexico, emits gypsum dust with a unique chemical and isotopic signature, providing an opportunity to investigate dust deposition and its movement in soils. This study evaluated the mobility of White Sands dust particles in the critical zone at White Mountain, New Mexico, a highland 100 km downwind. Four soil profiles were collected over limestone, igneous, mixed limestone and dolostone, and …
Using Underground Radon To Detect Inactive Geological Faults, Germán Rodríguez Ortiz
Using Underground Radon To Detect Inactive Geological Faults, Germán Rodríguez Ortiz
Open Access Theses & Dissertations
This Thesis presents the results of an investigation of the concentration of radon in soil around a fault in the East Franklin Mountains in the El Paso area in West Texas. The connection between underground radon exhalations near active faults has been known for decades, but possible similar increases of underground radon levels around inactive faults have not been studied as thoroughly. Arguing that the dilatancy-diffusion model used to explain the phenomenon near active faults does not apply to the case of inactive faults, a hypoThesis is formulated under which increased levels of underground radon must be present near inactive …
Seismic Investigation Of The Kunlun Fault: Analysis Of The Indepth Iv 2-D Active-Source Seismic Dataset, William Seelig
Seismic Investigation Of The Kunlun Fault: Analysis Of The Indepth Iv 2-D Active-Source Seismic Dataset, William Seelig
Open Access Theses & Dissertations
The Tibetan Plateau has experienced significant crustal thickening and deformation since the continental subduction and collision of the Asian and Indian plates in the Eocene. Deformation of the northern Tibetan Plateau is largely accommodated by strike-slip faulting. The Kunlun Fault is a 1000-km long strike-slip fault near the northern boundary of the Plateau that has experienced five magnitude 7.0 or greater earthquakes in the past 100 years and represents a major rheological boundary. Active-source, 2-D seismic reflection/ refraction data, collected as part of project INDEPTH IV (International Deep Profiling of Tibet and the Himalaya, phase IV) in 2007, was used …