Earth Sciences Commons^™

Remote Sensing Satellite Image Acquisition Planning: Framework, Methods And Application, Shufan Liu

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation explores the theories and methods of satellite remote sensing image acquisition planning within a spatial temporal context. For many time sensitive applications, such as disaster emergency response, timely acquisition of critical information is the key to intelligent and effective decision making. Remote sensing plays an important role in information collection for these time sensitive applications. Imagery collected from hundreds of remote sensing satellite sensors offer accurate, frequent and almost instantaneous data covering the Earth in a relatively short time. However, determining which satellite sensors can provide an appropriated kind of imageries during a restricted collection window for the …

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 …

Climate-Induced Changes In The Germination Phenology Of Boechera Stricta, Samuel Johnson

Theses and Dissertations

Climate change is having demonstrable, worldwide impacts on ecological systems in ways that have modified aspects of organism behavior. Plant phenologies have responded to warmer temperatures in a variety of ways that may have implications for long-term species survival. How germination phenology changes in response to warmer climate is a largely unexplored question yet the ability of a plant to advance or delay germination in unfavorable conditions is critical for survival. Knowing the relative success and timing of germination under different climate regimes is important in understanding whether species can keep pace with the rate of climate change via migration …

Modeling Mussel Mortality: Investigating The Importance Of Swash And The Potential Implications Of Changing Wave Environments, Shadow Leigh Gulledge

Theses and Dissertations

Rising sea level and increases in temperature are causing biogeographic shifts in intertidal zones and can also lead to shifts in the local vertical zonation of organisms due to changes in body temperature during aerial exposure during low tide. Swash is an important determinant of aerial body temperatures, and vulnerability of intertidal zones to changes in climate could potentially depend on how much and how often animals are cooled by waves. While wave heights (and thus swash) are generally expected to increase with climate change, anthropogenic physical structures, such as breakwaters and wave energy converters, can decrease wave height and …

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 …

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 …

Spatial Dimensions Of Tower Karst And Cockpit Karst: A Case Study Of Guilin, China, Wei Huang

Theses and Dissertations

Tower karst (fenglin) and cockpit karst (fengcong) are two globally important representative styles of tropical karst. Previously proposed sequential and parallel development models are preliminary, and geomorphological studies to date do not provide enough satisfactory evidence to delineate the spatial and temporal relation between the two landscapes. This unclear interpretation of tower-cockpit relationships not only obscures understanding of the process-form dynamics of these tropical karst landforms, but also confuses their definition. Moreover, previous technological limitations, as well as the fragmental nature of the karst landscapes, has limited incorporation of geologic and other data into broad geospatial frameworks based on geographic …

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 …

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. …

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 …

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 …

The Nature And Origin Of Pebble Dikes And Associated Alteration: Tintic Mining District (Ag-Pb-Zn), Utah, Douglas M. Johnson

Theses and Dissertations

In many ore deposits throughout the world, brecciation often accompanies or occurs in association with mineralization (Sillitoe, 1985). Such is the case in the Tintic Mining District (Ag-Pb-Zn) of north-central Utah, where unique breccia features called pebble dikes occur alongside significant mineralization. Pebble dikes are tabular bodies of breccia, which consist of angular to rounded clasts of quartzite, shale, carbonate, and minor igneous rock cemented in a fine-grained clastic matrix. All clasts now lie above or adjacent to corresponding source rocks. Dikes are thin, typically less than 0.3 m wide to as much as 1 m, and can exceed 100 …

The Relationship Between Environmental Factors And Cyanobacteria Population In Lake Bloomington And Evergreen Lake In Mclean County, Illinois, Matthew Douglas Meyers

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis investigates cyanobacteria on two lakes in McLean County, Illinois from the months of August to October. Data was collected every other week.Cyanobacteria are prokaryotes that may be unicellular, colonial or filamentous in form. These cells can be known to be toxic or non-toxic. The factors that control the reproduction of cyanobacteria are the temperature and nutrients of nitrogen and phosphorus. These microorganisms are located in marine and terrestrial settings worldwide. The focus of this study was at two man-made lakes which are Lake Bloomington and Lake Evergreen. Sampling and collection of data was done on two lakes to …

Garzón Massif Basement Tectonics: A Geopyhysical Study, Upper Magdalena Valley, Colombia, Kadir Baris Bakioglu

Theses and Dissertations

The mechanics and kinematics of basement tectonic uplifts, such as the Laramide Rocky Mountain orogeny, remain poorly understood and controversial. The debate continues in part because of the limited number of well-documented present day analogs. The Garzón Massif rising between the Upper Magdalena Valley and the Llanos Basin of Colombia is an active basement uplift with well, seismic, gravity, and magnetic data available. In the past 10 Ma, PreCambrian age granitic rocks of the Garzón Massif have been uplifted and displaced against Cretaceous and Tertiary sediments of the Upper Magdalena Valley along the Garzón fault.

Aerogravimetric data calibrated by well …

Genes Mediating Cardiac Remodeling During Pregnancy And The Early Post-Partum-Period In Mice, Esam Aljrbi

Theses and Dissertations

The female heart undergoes adaptive remodeling during pregnancy to compensate for the increased hemodynamic load imposed by the developing fetus. However, unlike a similar adaptive process which occurs under pathological conditions (such as hypertension and valvular heart disease) the cardiac changes observed during hypertrophy associated with pregnancy are reversible. The goal of this study is to identify changes in gene expression associated with pregnancy-induced hypertrophy. We tested the hypothesis that pregnancy-induced physiological hypertrophy has a unique genetic signature, likely due to altered hormone levels, which supports and promotes reversible remodeling. Comparing the gene expression profile associated with physiological remodeling with …

Flow Dynamics In The Transition Zone From Estuarine Tidal To Fluvial Regime In The Santee River, Sc, Usa, Legna M. Torres-Garcia

Theses and Dissertations

Estuaries are important systems that link fresh, inland waters to oceanic salt water, where they act to deliver large amounts of nutrients, sediments and pollutants into the ocean. Traditionally, the study of estuarine systems has been marked by difficulty owing to the complex hydrodynamics influenced by strong bathymetric changes, changes in tidal range, intricate geomorphology, among other factors; thus beginning to unravel the complexities of estuarine hydrodynamics will help to illuminate the nature of estuaries as well as to provide a foundation for their further study. In this study I focus on the transition zone from tidal to fluvial regime, …

Channel Properties Of Fluvial-Tidal Transition, Santee River, Sc, Kyungho Jeon

Theses and Dissertations

A range of studies shows that terrestrial and tidal channel dimensions increase in the downstream direction, transitioning seaward from a power function of discharge to an exponential function of distance from the coast. There are also an increasing number of studies on tidal hydrodynamics and sedimentology in channel reaches where river and tidal flows meet. However, there is a dearth of information on the channel form in fluvial-tidal transition, and therefore we have little understanding of what constitutes the fluvial-tidal transition channel, or channel reach. The Santee River in South Carolina is a gently sloping (average 10-5) coastal plain river …

Tectonic Studies Of The Atlantic Margin In The Southeastern United States, Andrew C. Pollack

Theses and Dissertations

Reanalysis of published seismic and well data from the South Georgia Embayment provides important new constraints on the geologic structure and evolution of the Eastern North American margin. A lower Paleozoic stratigraphic section (Silurian to Devonian) sampled in offshore wells drilled in the late 1970’s, can be correlated continuously along the entire ~250 km N-S length of the BA-3 profile acquired in 1989. Other than gentle warping and minor fault offsets, this Paleozoic section is essentially undeformed, precluding both Paleozoic contractional deformation associated with Appalachian orogeny, or subsequent Mesozoic extensional deformation and magmatism associated with continental rifting and formation of …

Nitrate Uptake In Central Illinois Streams: A Comparison Along A Transient Storage Gradient, Kristen Lynn Theesfeld

Theses and Dissertations

Transient storage can be influenced by channel morphology. Anthropogenic activities can alter stream morphology by straightening channels, lining channels, or even restoration of previously altered channels. This study focused on whether relative transient storage (RTS) was related to stream type - modified lined, modified unlined, or natural. The study further sought to determine if a greater RTS is correlated to a decrease in percent nitrate-N.

Eight (8) sites, encompassing three (3) different stream types - modified lines, modified unlined, and natural - were studied. Chloride and nitrate tracers were added to streams, and samples were analyzed for tracer concentrations and …

Mineralogy And Geochemistry Of Pleistocene Volcanics At Embagai Caldera And Natron Basin, Tanzania: Potential Constraints On The Stratigraphy Of Olduvai Gorge, Steven Michael Greenwood

Theses and Dissertations

Olduvai Gorge is a paleoanthropologically significant site on the shoulder of the East African Rift Valley of north-central Tanzania, hosting Pleistocene-aged hominid fossils and stone tools. Several volcanoes in the adjacent Ngorongoro Volcanic Highlands (NVH) have erupted volcanic material into Olduvai and other nearby sedimentary basins.

Embagai (Elanairobi) is a Pleistocene caldera within the NVH. It is a potential source volcano for Olduvai tuffs, particularly for Bed II and younger deposits, as it is consistent in overall composition (nephelinite and trachybasalt) and general age. Nephelinitic and phonolitic lava and tuff samples were collected from the caldera floor and the western, …

Early Triassic Echinoids Of The Western United States: Their Implications For Paleoecology And The Habitable Zone Hypothesis Following The Permo-Triassic Mass Extinction, Jenna Rolle

Theses and Dissertations

Confronted with global climate change and ocean acidification, our collective knowledge of ecosystem response during times of environmental crisis in Earth's ancient past may provide insights towards combating ecological degradation in modern oceans. Early Triassic marine environments were characterized by oceanic warming due in part to elevated levels of atmospheric CO₂ and periodic intervals of localized anoxia, resulting in an overall restructuring of faunal dominance, distribution, and biodiversity. Re-assembly of ecological communities during the Early Triassic are largely unknown; however, a previous paleoecological study by Tyler Beatty et al. (2008), suggests that post-extinction recovery length was minimized in shallow …

Build-And-Fill Development Of Lower Ismay (Middle Pennsylvanian Paradox Formation) Phylloid-Algal Mounds Of The Paradox Basin, Southeastern Utah, Lincoln H. Reed

Theses and Dissertations

Phylloid-algal mounds form heterogeneous hydrocarbon reservoirs in the southeastern portion (Blanding sub-basin) of the Paradox Basin. Well-studied Lower Ismay mounds exposed along walls of the San Juan River gorge in the vicinity of Eight Foot Rapids, the west limb of the Raplee Anticline, and at the classic Honaker Trail locality (southwestern Paradox Basin) have often been cited as outcrop analogs of productive subsurface mounds. Until now, however, there has not been a complete description of the distribution, size, and spacing of outcropping algal mounds at the classic Eight Foot Rapids locality. The Lower Ismay sequence was analyzed in the context …

Paterae On Io: Geologic Mapping Of Tupan Patera And Experimental Models, Megan Carolee Decker

Theses and Dissertations

Paterae cover approximately 2% of the surface of Io, Jupiter’s volcanically active moon. To understand the formation of these volcano-tectonic depressions we created a geologic map of a key region and compared this map with experimental models for Io paterae. Our mapping region is Tupan Patera, a patera that has experienced recent activity and is a detected hot spot. We identified four primary types of geologic materials: plains, patera floors, flows, and diffuse deposits. We constructed an experimental model to test previous suggestions that paterae may form as volatiles in the silicate crust are vaporized by rising magma, creating instability, …

Tectonics Of Saturn's Moon Titan And Tsunami Modeling Of The 1629 Mega-Thrust Earthquake In Eastern Indonesia, Yung-Chun Liu

Theses and Dissertations

Chapter 1-2:The Cassini RADAR mapper has imaged elevated blocks and mountains on Titan we term ‘ridges’. Two unresolved problems regarding Titan's surface are still debated: what is the origin of its ridges and was there tectonic activity on Titan? To understand the processes that produced the ridges, in this study, (1) we analyze the distribution and orientation of ridges through systematic geomorphologic mapping and (2) we compare the location of the ridges to a new global topographic map to explore the correlation between elevation and ridges and the implications for Titan's surface evolution. Globally, the orientation of ridges is nearly …

Wetlands On The Thousand Lake Mountain Mega-Landslide As Paleoclimate Proxies, Ryan Andros Shurtliff

Theses and Dissertations

The Windy Ridge mega-landslide in Wayne and Sevier Counties originated in Lates tPleistocene time as established by 14C ages on basal organic-rich clay and peat sediment from bogs that developed on the slide. The contact depth between bog and landslide was estimated using high-resolution seismic reflection to find the thickest sediment. Four bogs were cored at their depocenters, and organic material at the slide contact was used for age determinations. The oldest bog sediments ages are 10,600 ± 46, 10,556 ± 34, 12,511 ± 134, and 12,886 ± 91 calibrated years BP. Ages represent two sliding events. First, at the …

Sand Sea Extents And Sediment Volumes On Titan From Dune Parameters, Karl D. Arnold

Theses and Dissertations

Linear dunes are one of the most abundant and important features on the surface of Titan. We present a model for estimating the volume of dune sediment using the area coverage of Titan's sand seas along with dune widths, spacings, and heights. This helps to reveal local sediment transport and deposition. We refine global dune area estimates from Cassini SAR (Synthetic Aperture RADAR) of 20 million km2 or 24 ± 3% of Titan's surface based on ~50% Cassini RADAR global coverage. Additionally, the global area of sand seas is estimated from a joint analysis of Cassini SAR and ISS (Imaging …

Along Strike Variability Of Thrust-Fault Vergence, Scott Royal Greenhalgh

Theses and Dissertations

The kinematic evolution and along-strike variation in contractional deformation in overthrust belts are poorly understood, especially in three dimensions. The Sevier-age Cordilleran overthrust belt of southwestern Wyoming, with its abundance of subsurface data, provides an ideal laboratory to study how this deformation varies along the strike of the belt. We have performed a detailed structural interpretation of dual vergent thrusts based on a 3D seismic survey along the Wyoming salient of the Cordilleran overthrust belt (Big Piney-LaBarge field). The complex evolution of the thrust faults that parallel the overthrust belt is demonstrated by the switching of the direction of thrust …

A New Geophysical Strategy For Measuring The Thickness Of The Critical Zone, Johnathan R. Yaede

Theses and Dissertations

Estimates of the depth and variation of lateritic weathering profiles are especially important in tropical areas such as Oahu, HI. Shear-wave velocity data were obtained by a new application of Multi-channel Analysis of Surface Waves (MASW) to map the base of the critical zone, to show variations in the LWP, and to derive weathering rates. The MASW technique proved highly capable of imaging the base of the critical zone, confirmed by lithological well data and direct field measurements. Profile thickness can be obtained without drilling, which has applications in engineering and geochemical studies. The measured rate of advance of the …

Facies Analysis, Sequence Stratigraphy And Paleogeography Of The Middle Jurassic (Callovian) Entrada Sandstone: Traps, Tectonics, And Analog, George R. Jennings Iii

Theses and Dissertations

The late Middle Jurassic (Callovian) Entrada Sandstone has been divided into two general facies associations consisting primarily of eolian sandstones in eastern Utah and "muddy" redbeds in central Utah. Sedimentary structures within the redbed portion are explained by the interfingering of inland sabkha, alluvial, and eolian depositional systems. A complete succession from the most basinward facies to the most terrestrial facies in the Entrada Sandstone consists of inland sabkha facies overlain by either alluvial or eolian facies. Where both alluvial and eolian facies interfinger, alluvial facies overlain by eolian facies is considered a normal succession. Sequence boundaries, often identified by …

The Bell Springs Formation: Characterization And Correlationof Upper Triassic Strata In Northeast Utah, Skyler Bart May

Theses and Dissertations

Upper Triassic strata that lie between the Chinle Formation and Nugget Sandstone along the south flank of the Uinta Mountains in northeastern Utah are distinctive. In the past, these rocks have been lumped together with the overlying or underlying units. These strata are equivalent to the Bell Springs Member of the Nugget Sandstone as defined in Wyoming and perhaps to the Rock Point Formation of the Chinle Formation near the Four Corners region. In this study, these rocks will be called the Bell Springs Formation following the usage of Lucas (1993) in Wyoming. The unit is regionally mappable in northeastern …