Geology Commons^™

Continental Saline Environments Interpreted From Bedded Gypsum Of The Triassic Red Peak Formation (Chugwater Group), Northcentral Wyoming, Maya Yamei Bradford

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Bedded evaporites and associated red bed siliciclastics record saline lake and groundwater systems from Permo-Triassic Pangea. A major component of these red bed and evaporite systems is bedded gypsum. However, little attention has been paid to the textures of ancient gypsum. Observations of gypsum textures can refine interpretations of depositional environment and diagenetic history. This project describes textures of bedded gypsum from an outcrop of the Triassic Red Peak Formation (Chugwater Group) near Greybull, Wyoming.

This thesis uses fieldwork, petrography, and x-ray diffraction to describe an outcrop of the upper Red Peak Formation, with a focus on textures of bedded …

How To Search For Life In Martian Chemical Sediments And Their Fluid And Solid Inclusions Using Petrographic And Spectroscopic Methods, Kathleen C. Benison

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Abundant resources and efforts have been employed in the search for life on Mars. Satellites, landers, and rovers have tested atmospheric gases, general sediment and rock compositions, and images of Mars surface in an effort to detect biosignatures left by any possible modern or ancient life. Chloride and sulfate minerals suggestive of past acid saline lakes have been found on Mars. In terrestrial acid brine environments, these minerals trap microorganisms and organic compounds and preserve them within fluid inclusions and as solid inclusions for long geologic time periods. Some cells remain viable, especially in the isolated, microscopic aqueous environments of …

Beneath The Gypsum Dunes: Cenozoic History Of Wind And Water From A Core Drilled At White Sands, New Mexico, Jackson Bentley Jakeway

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

White Sands, New Mexico is the largest gypsum dune field on planet Earth, the result of reworking of gypsum deposits. The dunes have been well studied, but the Cenozoic history preceding the formation of the dune field has been poorly studied. A core drilled to a depth of 192 ft (58.5 m) beneath the modern dune field contains deposits from saline lakes, sandflats, perennial freshwater lakes, perennial brackish to saline lakes, and saline mudflats.

The core is composed of bottom-growth bedded gypsum, gypsum sandstone and siltstone, mixed siliciclastic-gypsum sandstones and siltstones, laminated siliciclastic mudstones, gypsum mudstones, and carbonate mudstones. Bottom-growth …