Geology Commons^™

Building And Using A Hydrology Experiment For Place-Based Learning With Native American Students, Michaela Shallue

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Geoscience has a known diversity problem, specifically a participation gap of ethnic minority representation, and it is especially severe regarding Native American representation. To address this participation gap, an identity gap needs to be addressed first. Native students need to visualize themselves as geoscientists before they can commit to geoscience programs and careers. This project uses a hands-on, place-based learning activity as an opportunity for Native students to better see themselves as geoscientists.

A portable rainfall simulator was constructed, calibrated, and refined for use in teaching concepts about rainfall, runoff, and erosion. It was employed in place-based learning exercises with …

Cambrian Trilobites From The Nounan Dolomite And Lower St. Charles Formation (Upper Marjuman To Lower Sunwaptan; Miaolingian To Furongian Series), Smithfield Canyon, Northern Utah, Frederick A. Sundberg, Hannah R. Cothren, Carol M. Dehler

Geosciences Faculty Publications

The trilobite faunas that occur with the Steptoean Positive Isotope Carbon Excursion (SPICE) at Smithfield Canyon, Utah, have been reported, but not illustrated. Given the importance of the SPICE at this section for international correlations, the trilobites from new collections from the upper Nounan Dolomite to lower St. Charles Formation at Smithfield Canyon are reported herein and integrated with the previously reported taxa. Trilobite assemblages indicate that the upper Cedaria to the Ellipsocephaloides biozones (Miaolingian Series, Guzhangian Stage to Furongian Series, Jiangshanian Stage) are present stratigraphically below or above the SPICE.

Some of the taxa reported herein may represent new …

Tropical Atlantic Temperature And Hydrologic Shifts During The Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum, Chels Howard

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

The Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) is a geologic climate event that is studied heavily due to the similarities to anthropogenic climate change. This event occurred approximately 56 million years ago (Ma) and is characterized by a rapid release of carbon into the atmosphere, which resulted in an increase in temperature and a change in global climate events such as changes in patterns of evaporation and precipitation. We see this effect occurring in modern anthropogenic climate change due to the burning of fossil fuels releasing carbon dioxide (CO₂) into the atmosphere. In this study I use elemental data of …

Constraining Silicate Weathering During The Middle Eocene Climatic Optimum (Meco) Using Radiolarian Ge/Si, Olivia R. Laub

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Silicate weathering has long been considered a fundamental component of the earth system and has been cited as one of, if not the primary stabilizing feedback for climate. However, recent work has shown that the role of silicate weathering in the climate system is more complicated and dynamic than previously assumed. In this study I examine the role of weathering in the enigmatic warming event, the Middle Eocene Climatic Optimum (MECO) that occurred approximately 40 Ma. This event works as a good case study as there are multiple features of the MECO that differentiate it from other warming events that …

Volatile Cycling And Metasomatism In Flat-Slab Subduction Zones Of The Central Andes, Coleman Hiett

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Flat-slab subduction, where an oceanic plate subducts horizontally below a continental margin for hundreds of kilometers, is an enigmatic but prevalent tectonic configuration in which chemical cycling and alteration of the continental plate is poorly constrained. Geochemical investigations in regions of modern and ancient flat-slab subduction in the Central Andes afford an opportunity to study this process. Certain elements naturally occur with varying number of neutrons in their nuclei (isotopes), and measurements of isotope ratios within geologic materials inform on chemical sources and geologic processes. This research leverages stable isotope analyses and other geochemical tools to investigate volatiles and other …

Pleistocene Deposits Of Lower Wahweap Creek And Its Tributaries, Southern Utah, Noah Slade

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The famous landscapes of the Colorado Plateau have been created over millions of years, primarily by erosive forces of wind and water. Interruptions in the long-term erosion of the landscape occur when streams gain more sediment than they can transport, which causes deposition along channels and floodplains. The resulting sequences of terrace deposits are used by geologists to study when and how river systems have evolved.

Mammoth bones were recently discovered in stream deposits along Wahweap Creek, a tributary of the Colorado River in southern Utah. Previous work indicates that the deposits pre-date the last ice age, making it one …

Late Pleistocene Piedmont Records In The Grand Staircase Region, Southern Utah, Alexander K. Short

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Today the climate in the southwestern United States is arid, characterized by desert landscapes and habitats, periods of drought, and arroyo streams that frequently fill with, and erode, through fine riverbed sediments. A series of cliffs and benches rising from the Grand Canyon to the southern plateaus of Utah, known as the Grand Staircase - home to Kodachrome Basin State Park, Bryce Canyon, are a classical example of this environment as we know it today. However, a record spanning the past 300 thousand years is preserved on the steps of the staircase indicating periods in the past where the climate …

Bedrock Geology Map Of The Naomi Peak 7.5' Quadangle, Cache County, Utah And Novel Age Constraints On Its Cambrian Strata, Hannah R. Cothren

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Geologists use various “rock-clocks” in order to interpret the timing and tempo of events in Earth’s history. These include global geochemical events in the oceans (chemostratigraphy), the evolution of certain fossil species (trilobite biostratigraphy), and the radiogenic decay of uranium to lead in certain mineral such as zircon (U-Pb geochronology). Integrating these methods in the stratigraphic record in one location can provide a well-constrained timeline for a select part of the Geologic, or Deep Time, record. This technique is especially important in the Cambrian Period (538.8 to 486.9 million years; Ma), which sets the stage for life today with the …

Evaluation Of The Geothermal Potential Of The Camas Prairie, South-Central Idaho, Connor J. Smith

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The area studied in this thesis was assessed based on the analysis of a water sample collected from the exploratory well USU Camas-1. The water sample was characterized and compared to other water samples collected and analyzed during a previous phase of this project according to its water chemistry.

Lithologic, geophysical, and temperature logs were also used to assess the study area. The depth sensitive data was analyzed to determine the characteristics of the formation as they relate to the favorable parameters of a geothermal resource, those being permeability of the subsurface, heat, and the presence of a clay seal. …

Natural And Experimental Slow Slip Observed Along Shallow Hematite Faults, Alexandra A. Dimonte

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Fault slip relieves stress in the shallow crust by slipping suddenly during earthquakes, but some faults also slip slowly in between earthquakes. Exhumed faults, brought up to the Earth’s surface from depth, preserve a record of fault processes and slip rates informed by fault rock structures, textures, and chemistry. Hematite, a common iron oxide mineral that precipitates on fault surfaces, exhibits crystal textures that potentially indicate past slip rate. Hematite can be dated using the radioisotopic system of (U-Th)/He thermochronometry, which constrains the time when He is trapped within a crystal, a process that is a function of temperature. Exhumed …

Shallow Composition And Structure Of The San Gabriel Fault, California In Drill Core And Geophysical Logs: Implications For Fault Slip And Energetics, Kaitlyn A. Crouch

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Earthquakes are the sudden and intensive release of energy due to slip along faults. This energy may be felt on the Earth’s surface and may cause displacement of the Earth’s crust (seismic slip). As an earthquake ruptures, rocks in and around the fault are damaged and altered. When a fault displaces without earthquakes, it is referred to as aseismic creep. Faults may experience both seismic slip and aseismic creep throughout their cycles. In order to better model earthquake hazards and understand the cause of seismic slip versus aseismic creep in the shallow crust, we need to characterize the properties of …

Lithological And Geochemical Characterization Of Ramp Sediments And A Depositional Model Of The Ordovicain Garden City Formation, Northeastern Utah, Kenneth W. Kehoe

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The Ordovician Garden City Formation is a mostly marine limestone rock formation deposited in what is known today as the Northern Utah Basin in North America ~485.5 million years ago. Previous research on the Pogonip Group, a time equivalent rock formation located in the Ibex Basin south of the Northern Utah Basin, has identified nine cycles of sea-level fall and rise. However, these nine sea-level cycles have proven difficult to identify within the Garden City Formation due to the limited contrast between rock types within the rock formation. Previous research on the Garden City has approximated these sea-level cycles through …

Collaborative Research: Deciphering The Role Of Extreme Rainstorms And Hydroclimatic Regime On Arid Escarpment Retreat And Sub-Cliff Slope Evolution, Joel Pederson

Funded Research Records

No abstract provided.

Exploring Questions Of Tectonic Geomorphology In The Bear River Range, Utah Using Terrain Analysis And Reconstruction, Edward M. Grasinger

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

Despite a long tradition of geologic studies in the region surrounding Utah State University, there remain unexplored questions and unutilized approaches for understanding the landscape evolution of the Bear River Range. A large-scale reconstruction of the East Cache fault system can be useful in estimating the total displacement of the fault, its geologic longevity, and total energy involved. Likewise, an analysis of reach-scale features of the Logan River can explore how tectonics and bedrock type affect the patterns and history of the river. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) software is useful in reconstructing, visualizing, and measuring such geomorphological features and changes …

Constraining Deformation Mechanisms Of Fault Damage Zones: A Case Study Of The Shallow San Andreas Fault At Elizabeth Lake, Southern California., Caroline Studnicky

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Earthquakes nucleate at depth and rupture along the fault plane up to the Earth’s surface releasing seismic energy as the fault propagates. This energy creates the shaking we feel on the surface. Some faults do not rupture and create shaking but deform slowly and smoothly accommodating fault slip over extended time periods. This process is referred to as aseismic slip or creep. Whether a fault ruptures or creeps depends on the properties of the rocks through which the fault plane extends. In order to model seismic hazards correctly, we need to characterize the composition, deformation structures, and alteration materials of …

Multi-Proxy Approach To Robustly Capture Earthquake Temperature Rise At The Punchbowl Fault, California, Emma M. Armstrong

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Earthquakes produce heat along a fault surface from friction created as two blocks of rock move past each other. The amount of heat generated depends on a variety of factors, including rock type, stresses, and thickness of the fault zone. Identifying evidence for and quantifying this earthquake (coseismic) temperature rise are essential for identifying past earthquakes in the rock record. Indirect methods, such as textures and geochemical signatures that change with temperature, can serve as paleothermometers. Here we compare two paleothermometers, biomarkers and thermochronometry, from two transects across the Punchbowl fault (PF), California. The PF is an ancient fault strand …

Geologic Characterization Of The Nonconformity Interface Using Outcrop And Drillcore Analogs: Implications For Injection-Induced Seismicity, Kayla Smith

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Starting around 2009, a greater number of earthquakes than anticipated have occurred in the midcontinent region of the United States. These earthquakes have been linked to increased rates and volumes of wastewater injection at several km’s depth into the Earth’s crust near a contact between crystalline metamorphic or igneous rock and overlying sedimentary rock, known as a nonconformity. While much is known about why these new earthquakes occur, comparatively little is known about the physical and chemical rock properties because the nonconformity contact is primarily buried under km’s of sedimentary rock in the midcontinent region. These rock properties are important …

Collaborative Research: A Fossil Ecosystem Under The Ice: Deciphering The Glacial And Vegetation History Of Nothwest Greenland Using Long Lost Camp Century Basal Sediment, Tammy M. Rittenour

Funded Research Records

No abstract provided.

Digital Appendix Of Masters Thesis "Constraining Deformation Mechanisms Of Damage Zones: A Case Study Of The Shallow San Andreas Fault At Elizabeth Lake, Southern California, James P. Evans, Caroline Studnicky

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We performed macroscopic, optical petrographic, scanning electron microscopy, and geochemical analyses on rock core acquired across the San Andreas Fault at Elizabeth Lake, California, in order to understand the distribution and accommodation of fault-related slip and energy within the shallow damage zone of this continental scale strike-slip fault. We characterized the deformation structures, alteration textures, and elemental variabilities to constrain the properties of the uppermost ~2 km fault-related damage zone at this site. We identified evidence for coseismic slip in the form of pulverized rocks, injection veins, clay-clast aggregates, and pseudotachylyte, and aseismic slip through calcite twins, dilatant vein fills, …

Taphonomy Of Late Jurassic (Tithonian) Morrison Formation Apatosaurus Sp. Vertebrae Found Associated With Teeth From Allosaurus Sp. And Ceratosaurus Sp., And Body Size Extrapolation From The Associated Theropod Teeth., Greg C. Agyan

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

An Apatosaurus sp. locality from Dinosaur National Monument designated DNM-15 was excavated in 1985, and associated with two Allosaurus teeth and one Ceratosaurus tooth that were near one of the caudal vertebrae. The Ceratosaurus tooth was buried between an overlying rib and that same caudal vertebra. The caudal vertebrae of the DNM-15 Apatosaurus were intact and articulated, but the anterior skeleton was mostly absent, with a row of articulated sacral vertebrae in close association with a femur. Two other Allosaurus teeth were reported near the preserved ilium of the Apatosaurus, but they could not be located in the collections. …

The Biggest Snowball Fight In Earth History: Stratigraphy, Facies Analysis, And Geochronology Of The Pocatello Formation, Matthew W. Ellison

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The Snowball Earth Hypothesis details a time in Earth’s history (the Cryogenian period) where the entire planet was encapsulated by kilometer thick ice sheets for two, multi-million-year glaciations. The first, known as the Sturtian, lasted from 717 – 660 million years ago while the second, known as the Marinoan, lasted form approximately 650 – 635 million years ago. Snowball Earth was caused by a few processes that sort of built upon each other: Rodinia began splitting apart ~740 million years ago which allowed for increased rates of silicate weathering. High rates of silicate weathering resulted in CO₂ drawdown which …

Spatial And Temporal Patterns Of River Incision And Terrace Deposition In Response To Climate And Tectonics In Southern Taiwan, Dominique M. Shore

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Geologists often look at the Earth’s surface to understand the underlying processes that cause mountain formation. As tectonic forces drive uplift of Earth’s surface, processes of erosion transport sediment to lower elevations. Climate can play a large role in landscape formation as well as increased precipitation, accelerating rates of erosion. Rivers leave markers of landscape evolution through terrace landforms, former river floodplains that are left behind when rivers incise into a valley. To better understand landscape response to uplift, this research investigated the initial linkages between uplift, hillslope erosion (mass wasting) and river incision. At some point, it is thought …

Collaborative Research: Identifying Shallow Slow Slip Using Hematite Tectures And (U-Th)/He Thermochonometry Of Exhumed And Experimental Faults, Alexis Ault

Funded Research Records

No abstract provided.

The Age And Origin Of Precambrian Orthogneiss Of The Grouse Creek Block, Northern Utah And Southern Idaho, Skadi Kobe

Fall Student Research Symposium 2020

New geochronologic and isotopic analyses from the Grouse Creek block (GC) provide insight into the assembly of western Laurentia during the late Archean to Paleoproterozoic and establish the influence of the GC in the evolution of Yellowstone-Snake River Plain hotspot magmatism in the central Snake River Plain. The GC is primarily exposed in the Albion-Raft River-Grouse Creek metamorphic core complex of northern Utah and southern Idaho and includes a complex assemblage of orthogneiss, schist, amphibolite, and metasediments intruded by Oligocene plutons and overlain by Cenozoic sedimentary units. Many investigations of the GC have focused on the structural evolution of the …

Hazard Analysis Of A Segment Of Highway Sr-12 Through Bryce Canyon National Park, Southern Utah, Tomsen Reed

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

Over 2.6 million people travel along highway SR-12, a National Scenic Byway, through Bryce Canyon in southern Utah each year. This highway is a major thoroughfare for tourists traveling to Bryce Canyon National Park, Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, and other scenic attractions. SR-12 is susceptible to rockfall and landslide hazards where it descends from the Paunsaugunt Plateau into Tropic Canyon, and these hazards have potential consequences of economic loss due to travel delays for tourists and commodities, and possible loss of life. Rockfall could have devastating effects at this location because of the traffic volume, sharp turns, low visibility, and …

Pre-Eruptive Evolution Of Izu-Bonin Boninite Melts: Mixing, Cooling, And Crystallization, Jesse L. Scholpp

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Subduction is the geologic process in which one tectonic plate moves beneath another as it sinks into the Earth’s mantle. Subduction initiation in the Izu-Bonin Marianas system is the result of a gravitational failure during which one tectonic plate (the Pacific plate) spontaneously sinks beneath another (the Philippne Sea plate). Fluids released by the sinking plate that caused the overlying mantle to melt by reducing its meltimg temperature, forming the Izu-Bonin Mariana island arc system.

The resulting melts initially have the chemical compositions that are rich in silica and magnesia, and highly depleted in other elements, refered to a boninite …

Collaborative Research: Constraining The Tempo And Dynamics Of Cambrian Earth Systems In Western Laurentia, Carol M. Dehler

Funded Research Records

No abstract provided.

Geomorphic History Of The Grand Staircase Region Of The Colorado Plateau: Understanding Arroyo Cut-Fill Dynamics, Erosion Rates, And Wildfire, Kerry E. Riley

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Most streams in the southwestern United States do not flow all year, and given their delicate balance of sediment and water flow, they are sensitive to climate change. At the turn of the 20th century, many streams in the Southwest rapidly incised into their floodplains, forming arroyos with a channel entrenched into near-vertical channel banks mostly composed of sand and mud. This dissertation investigates past changes in watersheds draining the Grand Staircase region in southern Utah with the goal of understanding how changes in climate and sediment influence these types of streams. Results show sediment supply is highly variable across …

Connections Between Hydrothermal System Geochemistry And Microbiology: Traversing Tectonic Boundaries In The South-Central Peruvian Andes, Heather Upin

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Geochemistry and microbiology are inherently tied in the natural world. The study of geomicrobiology has historically taken place in extreme systems, like hot springs of Yellowstone National Park and deep-sea hydrothermal vents, because the organisms that exist there have deep lineages on the tree of life and provide insight into early life on Earth. These microbes use chemical energy from nutrients available in their environment rather than relying on photosynthesis, energy obtained from the sun, to support their metabolism. The goal of this study is to improve our understanding of geological controls (for example the tectonic setting) on hot spring …

Fire Suppression Impacts On Fuels And Fire Intensity In The Western U.S.: Insights From Archaeological Luminescence Dating In Northern New Mexico, Christopher I. Roos, Tammy M. Rittenour, Thomas W. Swetnam, Rachel A. Loehman, Kacy L. Hollenback, Matthew J. Liebmann, Dana Drake Rosenstein

Geosciences Faculty Publications

Here, we show that the last century of fire suppression in the western U.S. has resulted in fire intensities that are unique over more than 900 years of record in ponderosa pine forests (Pinus ponderosa). Specifically, we use the heat-sensitive luminescence signal of archaeological ceramics and tree-ring fire histories to show that a recent fire during mild weather conditions was more intense than anything experienced in centuries of frequent wildfires. We support this with a particularly robust set of optically stimulated luminescence measurements on pottery from an archaeological site in northern New Mexico. The heating effects of an October 2012 …