Geology Commons^™

Speleothems As Proxy For The Carbon Isotope Composition Of Atmospheric Co2, M. Baskaran, R. V. Krishnamurthy

Environmental Science and Geology Faculty Research Publications

We have measured the stable isotope ratios of carbon in a suite of recent cave deposits (<200 >years) from the San Saba County, Texas, USA. The methodology for dating these deposits using excess ²¹⁰Pb was recently established [Baskaran and Iliffe, 1993]. The carbon isotope ratios of these samples, spanning the time period ∼1800–1990 AD, reflect the carbon isotope ratio of atmospheric CO₂ for the same period. The pathways by which the δ¹³C of atmospheric CO₂ is imprinted on these speleothems can be explained using a model developed by Cerling (1984). The results suggest that the …

Geology Newsletter- 1993, Department Of Geology

Geological and Environmental Sciences News

Vol.1, No. 18

• Faculty News
• Awards and Scholarships
• Service Staff News
• Hydrogeologic Atlas Available
• Alumni/ Friends/ Former Faculty Notes
• Geology Development and Scholarship Donations

The Geology Of The Tuff Of Bridge Spring: Southern Nevada And Northwestern Arizona, Shirley Ann Morikawa

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The Tuff of Bridge Spring (TBS) is a regionally-widespread, andesite to rhyolite (59.50 to 74.91 wt. %) ash-flow tuff of mid-Miocene age (ca. 15.2 Ma) that is exposed in the northern Colorado River extensional corridor of southern Nevada and northwestern Arizona. Determination of the areal distribution, geochronology, lithology, geochemistry, and internal stratigraphy of the TBS is important for its establishment as a reliable stratigraphic reference horizon for tectonic reconstructions of the extensional corridor during the middle Miocene. Based on reoccurring patterns of major and trace element variation, the TBS is divided into constant Cr/variable SiO₂ and variable Cr/variable SiO …

A Study Of Aquifer Sensitivity And Vulnerability In Kalamazoo County, Michigan Based On Hydrogeologic And Agricultural Factors, Steven Douglas Chidester

Masters Theses

Groundwater in Kalamazoo County, Michigan has been impacted by human activities. This study presents a statistical method for predicting aquifer sensitivity/vulnerability within a glacio-hydrogeologic system.

Computerized data including 3620 water well records with partial chemical analyses, soil surveys, land use maps, and hydrogeologic reports were used to quantify aquifer parameters, nitrate-N contaminant concentrations, soil factors, and agricultural practices. Statistical analyses included simple t-tests , correlation, ANOV A, and multiple regression analyses.

The results indicate that there are statistically significant relationships between nitrate-N concentrations and depth of well submergence, well depth, clay thickness, partial clay thickness, land use, and soil slope. …

Field Test Of A Calcite Dissolution Rate Law: Fort’S Funnel Cave, Mammoth Cave National Park, J. Scott Slunder

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The laboratory-derived calcite dissolution rate law of Plummer et al. (1978) is the most widely used and mechanistically detailed expression currently available for predicting dissolution rates as a function of water chemistry. Such rate expressions are of great use in understanding timescales associated with limestone karst development. Little work has gone into the field testing of the rate law under natural conditions.

This work compared measured dissolution rates measured by a crystal weight loss experiment in Buffalo Creek within Fort’s Funnel Cave, which lies within a pristine, forested catchment of Mammoth Cave National Park. Continuous water chemistry sampling over the …

Senior Theses: Department Of Physical Sciences, Frank Baldridge, Billy B. Stapleton, James Bond, Mark A. Blair

Morehead State Theses and Dissertations

1993 Fall Semester Senior Theses for the class Physical Science 471:

Petrologic Classification of Igneous and Metamorphic Rocks by Frank Baldridge

X -Ray Analysis of Cave Sediments From Pigeon Water Cave of Northeastern Pine Mountain by Billy B. Stapleton

The Correlation of Stream-deposited Breccias In Bat Cave, Carter Caves, Kentucky by James Bond

Jointing and Faulting in Selected Areas of Eastern Kentucky by Mark A. Blair

Spectral Analysis Of The Flow Behavior Of Big Spring, Kings Canyon National Park, California, Linda Urzendowski

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Big Spring, the resurgence of a karst aquifer in the Lilburn Cave system (Kings Canyon National Park, California), displays the uncommon phenomena of ebb and flow discharge during periods of high runoff.

Hydrograph analyses indicate that the portion of Lilburn Cave between the Z-Room and Big Spring is primarily a conduit flow aquifer. The power spectra strongly indicate a nonlinear system, with evidence of quasi-linear behavior found on a smaller scale. The transfer and kernel function indicate that no additional significant inputs or outputs to the system exist. The bench-scale model built to simulate the ebb and flow cycles in …

Strategic Minerals In The New World Order, Kent H. Butts

Monographs, Collaborative Studies, & IRPs

The author discusses U.S. dependence on overseas sources of strategic minerals essential to sustain its economy and defense sector. U.S. vulnerability to a loss of access to important mineral supplies is more pronounced now than at any time since World War II. The uneven distribution of strategic mineral reserves and their concentration in a handful of politically unstable countries make it essential that U.S. policymakers ensure mineral availability in the new world order. The author considers the geographical imbalance of mineral trade patterns, evaluates the stability of the major strategic mineral producing countries, and assesses the potential for mineral supply …

Atmospheric Depositional Fluxes Of 7Be And 210Pb At Galveston And College Station, Texas, M. Baskaran, Charles H. Coleman, Peter H. Santschi

Environmental Science and Geology Faculty Research Publications

The bulk depositional fluxes of ²¹⁰Pb and ⁷Be were measured at a coastal (Galveston) and an inland (College Station) station for about 3 years, between 1989 and 1991. The annual depositional fluxes of ⁷Be and ²¹⁰Pb at Galveston during this period varied by a factor of about 2.5, between 8.9 and 23.2 disintegrations per minute (dpm) cm⁻² yr⁻¹, with a mean of 14.7 dpm cm⁻² yr⁻¹ for ⁷Be, and 0.67 and 1.71 dpm cm⁻² yr⁻¹, with a mean of 1.03 dpm cm⁻² yr⁻¹ for ^{210 …}

Petrology And Geochemistry Of Some High Pressure Rocks From Northern Part Of Rio San Juan Complex, Dominican Republic, Khandaker I. Anam

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Rio San Juan Complex is an important occurrence of high pressure/low temperature rocks in the circum-Caribbean region which contains both coherent blueschist units and two varieties of melange in the same area. The melanges contain a diverse assemblage of blocks of various sizes, different degrees of metamorphism, and mineral assemblages. Some high pressure blocks show two stages of metamorphism. The earliest stage is characterized by high pressure-low temperature conditions and the second stage is characterized by high pressure-lower temperature conditions. The geochemistry of thirteen samples from the Rio San Juan Complex has been studied and data have been compared …

An Integrated Surface And Borehole Seismic Case Study: Fort St. John Graben Area, Alberta, Canada, Ronald C. Hinds, Richard Kuzmiski, Neil Lennart Anderson, Barry R. Richards

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The deltaic sandstones of the basal Kiskatinaw Formation (Stoddard Group, upper Mississippian) were preferentially deposited within structural lows in a regime characterized by faulting and structural subsidence. In the Fort St. John Graben area, northwest Alberta, Canada, these sandstone facies can form reservoirs where they are laterally sealed against the flanks of upthrown fault blocks. Exploration for basal Kiskatinaw reservoirs generally entails the acquisition and interpretation of surface seismic data prior to drilling. These data are used to map the grabens in which these sandstones were deposited, and the horst blocks which act as lateral seals. Subsequent to drilling, vertical …

An Integrated Surface Seismic/Seismic Profile Case Study: Simonette Area, Alberta, Ronald C. Hinds, Neil Lennart Anderson, Richard Kuzmiski

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

On the basis of conventional surface seismic data, the 13-15-63-25W5M exploratory well was drilled into a low-relief Leduc Formation reef (Devonian Wood-bend Group) in the Simonette area, west-central Alberta, Canada. The well was expected to intersect the crest of the reef and encounter about 50-60 m of pay; unfortunately it was drilled into a flank position and abandoned. The decision to abandon the well, as opposed to whipstocking in the direction of the reef crest, was made after the acquisition and interpretive processing of both near-and far-offset (252 and 524 m, respectively) vertical seismic profile (VSP) data, and after the …

Probable Glacial Climatic Conditions In Source Areas During Deposition Of Parts Of The Ash Hollow Formation, Ogallala Group (Late Tertiary), Of Western Nebraska, Patricia E. Helland, Robert F. Diffendal Jr.

Robert F. Diffendal, Jr., Publications

Evidence of the climatic conditions in the mountain sediment source areas for the late Tertiary Ash Hollow Formation of the Ogallala Group in western Nebraska has been sought in an SEM (scanning electron microscope) study of surface features on detrital quartz grains from these deposits. The following lines of indirect evidence raised the possibility of glacial conditions: uplift of up to 3500 m in the source areas, paleohydrologic parameters indicative of a transport system analogous to the modern North Saskatchewan River, and possible cold climate surface features on cobbles from the deposits. SEM analysis shows that five of the nine …

Mapping The Distribution Of Vesicular Textures On Silicic Lavas Using The Thermal Infrared Multispectral Scanner, Jaime Ondrusek, Philip R. Christensen, Jonathan Fink

Geology Faculty Publications and Presentations

The Thermal Infrared Multispectral Scanner (TlMS) is a potentially powerful tool for mapping detailed chemical variations in silicic lava flows which in turn could expand knowledge of pre-eruption compositional gradients and mixing processes in silicic magma bodies. However, thermal infrared image data may be greatly influenced by the range of vesicular textures which occur on silicic flows . To investigate the effect of vesicularity on TIMS imagery independent of chemical variations, we studied Little Glass Mountain at the Medicine Lake Volcano of northern California, a large rhyolitic flow of uniform composition but textural heterogeneity. The imagery was recalibrated so that …

Chloroform Contamination In The Louisville Aquifer: An Investigation Of Its Occurrence And Propagation, Sergio E. Serrano

KWRRI Research Reports

This report presents the main results of an investigation on the nature and propagation of an accidental spill of chloroform in the Louisville aquifer, Kentucky. Much of the effort is concentrated on the development of mathematical models to either reconstruct the history of evolution of the plume, or forecast its propagation in the future. Chloroform is a dense halogenated solvent which exhibits a special migration pattern in porous media: Because of this and the relative absence of a conceptual theory on its hydrodynamics in porous media, meaningful predictive models will have to deal with many unresolved theoretical aspects of contaminant …

An Overview Of Some Of The Large Scale Mechanisms Of Salt Dissolution In Western Canada, Neil Lennart Anderson, Ralph W. Knapp

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Well log and seismic data indicate that the bedded rock salts of the Devonian Prairie Formation were widely distributed and uniformly deposited in the Lloydminster area, Western Canada; however, as a result of extensive leaching, the distribution of these salts is not now what it once was. The Lloydminster area is now bisected by the north-south trending main dissolutional edge of the Prairie salt. Thick salt (up to 150 m) is preserved to the west of this edge; to the east the salt is mostly absent. The paper presents an overview of the envisioned principal mechanisms of salt dissolution. The …

Depositional History, Sequence Stratigraphy And Diagenesis Of The Maryville Limestone (Middle Cambrian) Southern Appalachians, Krishnan Srinivasan

Doctoral Dissertations

The Conasauga Group constitutes part of a thick pericratonic Cambro-Ordovician passive-margin sequence along the eastern North American continent. The Cambrian carbonate platform was flanked by a high-relief shelf margin towards the east, facing the open ocean, while to the west the carbonate platform sloped into an intrashelf basin. It is this western shelf margin that is the topic of the present study. Detailed lithofacies analysis of the Middle Cambrian Maryville Limestone along a shelf-to-basin depositional transect reveals that the shelf evolved from a gently basinward sloping ramp to a rimmed platform fringed with steeper slopes. Cyanobacterial buildups (Renalcis-Girvanella) …

The Metamorphism And The Relationship Between Infra And Suprastructures Of The Bi̇tli̇s Massif – Turkey, Metin Şengün

Bulletin of the Mineral Research and Exploration

The infrastructure of the massive consists essentially of amphibolites, gneisses and micaschists intruded by a biotite granite and the successive hololeucocratic phase. The mantling rocks of the suprastructure comprise metapelitic rocks unconformably underlying metacarbonates dated as Middle Devonian- Mesozoic. The infra-suprastructure boundary is interpreted as a surface of transgressive overlap. The rocks of infra and suprastructure are involved in isoclinal folds with ductile deformation along most of the boundary conclusively suggesting in situ position of the suprastructure during the Alpine deformation. The shear planes are discontinous, en echelon and run independently of the infra-suprastructure boundary. A uniform sequence of Palaeozoic …

Geology, Geologic Time And Nebraska, Marvin P. Carlson

Conservation and Survey Division

No abstract provided.

Carbonate Platform Response To Tectonism And Eustasy: The Middle Cambrian Carbonates Of The Lower And Middle Conasauga Group, East Tennessee, Eugene Carlton Rankey

Masters Theses

The Middle Cambrian Craig Limestone Member (Rogersville Shale) and Maryville Limestone are part of the thick Cambro-Ordovician pericratonic sedimentary package exposed in the Valley and Ridge province in East Tennessee. Exposures in the Dumplin Valley fault zone provide further details concerning the origin and development of these limestone formations.

Description of five sections, analysis of 125 thin sections and 98 slabs, and regional reconnaisance in the Dumplin Valley area reveal that the Craig Limestone Member represents "premature" demise of a carbonate shelf in that it did not develop as fully as the Maryville shelf and had no rimmed edge or …

Evolution Of The Naticid Gastropod Predator-Prey System: An Evaluation Of The Hypothesis Of Escalation, Patricia H. Kelley, Thor A. Hansen

Geology Faculty Publications

Previous work has suggested that escalation may have characterized the history of the naticid gastropod predator-prey system, based on apparent increases in drilling frequencies and the occurrence of antipredatory aptations among prey. We evaluate this hypothesis based on a comprehensive survey (over 40,000 specimens) of predation on molluscs from the Upper Cretaceous through lower Oligocene formations within the U.S. Gulf and Atlantic Coastal Plain. Patterns in drilling of both bivalve and gastropod prey are complex. Drilling frequencies were relatively low in the Cretaceous but increased sharply above the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary, remaining high until the late Eocene. Following a significant decline …

Odp Leg 146 Examines Fluid Flow In Cascadia Margin, Bernard A. Housen

Geology Faculty Publications

For the better part of 2 decades, it has been known that dewatering of sediments accreted to or subducted beneath accretionary wedges is a fundamental aspect of the subduction-accretion process. Yet, evidence for fluid flow in modern accretionary wedges is largely secondary and based on the presence of geochemical and/or thermal anomalies [e.g., Vrolijk et al., 1991]; the analysis of seismic velocity as an indicator of porosity, which suggests a progressive loss of pore volume in a landward direction [e.g., Bray and Karig, 1985]; and the occurrence of secondary sediment microstructures characteristic of fluid movement [e.g., Maltman et …

A Model Of The Hydrothermal System At Casa Diablo In Long Valley, California, Based On Resistivity Profiles And Soil Mercury Analyses, John David Arfstrom

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A description and model of the near-surface hydrothermal system at Casa Diablo, with its implications for the larger-scale hydrothermal system of Long Valley, California, is presented. The data include resistivity profiles with penetrations to three different depth ranges, and analyses of inorganic mercury concentrations in 144 soil samples taken over a 1.3 by 1.7 km area. Analyses of the data together with the mapping of active surface hydrothermal features (fumaroles, mudpots, etc.), has revealed that the relationship between the hydrothermal system, surface hydrothermal activity, and mercury anomalies is strongly controlled by faults and topography. There are, however, more subtle factors …

Paleomagnetism And Tectonics Of The Crescent Formation, North Olympic Mountains, Washington, Andrew C. Warnock, Russ R. Burmester, David C. Engebretson

Geology Faculty Publications

A stable prefolding magnetization has been discovered in pillow basalts of the Eocene lower Crescent For­mation of the northem Olympic Mountains. The curved outcrop pattern of the Crescent Formation has been the target of several unsuccessful studies to test for oroclinal bending. The success of this study is due, in part, to the development of a small-diameter electric core drill for sampling the fractured rims of basalt pillows. Thermal demagnetization produced stable endpoints by 580°C in 12 of the 34 sites sampled (large within-site scatter was common in the remaining sites). Among the accepted sites, within-site scatter was small and …

Hydrogeochemical Characterization Of The Alvord Valley Known Geothermal Resources Area, Harney County, Oregon, Anna Maria St. John

Dissertations and Theses

The Alvord Valley Known Geothermal Resources Area (KGRA) , located east of the Steens Mountain-Pueblo Mountains fault block in southeastern Oregon, is within the northern Basin and Range province. This investigation focuses on three thermal areas in the Alvord Basin: Borax Lake and the hot springs north of Borax Lake, Alvord Hot Springs and Mickey Springs.

Mickey Springs and the springs north of Borax Lake are boiling at the surface (94 and 95° C, respectively). Inflow temperatures to Borax Lake, measured at a depth of 30 m, are greater than 100° C. Surface temperatures for Alvord Hot Springs and a …

Laboratory Studies Of Filter Pack Grain-Size Distributions And Hydrophobic Treatments To Enhance The Recovery Of Free-Phase Floating Hydrocarbons, Hugh Garret Heuvelhorst

Masters Theses

Experiments were conducted in laboratory sand tanks to evaluate filter pack design criteria in an effort to improve free-product hydrocarbon recovery from sand aquifers. Filter sands were prepared and installed in the test tanks to examine the relative efficiency of two different grain sizes and two different grain-size distributions to imbibe kerosene from the formation sand and release it to their respective wells. Treatments of different chemical products were applied to other filter sands to create a hydrophobic coating on the grains. The hydrophobic coatings were tested on filter sands of different grain sizes and grain-size distributions and compared to …

Acoustic Properties Of Fine‐Grained Sediments From Emerald Basin: Toward An Inversion For Physical Properties Using The Biot–Stoll Model, Robert C. Courtney, Larry A. Mayer

Affiliate Scholarship

Acoustic data from two long cores, comprising marine clays and silts taken from Emerald Basin off Nova Scotia, are presented. High‐resolution measurements of compressional wavevelocity,attenuation, and power law exponent are made using ultrasonic frequencies between 100 to 1000 kHz. The observed values of the frequency dependence of attenuation suggest that a nonconstant Q mechanism is needed to explain these data, and Biot–Stoll theory is used to model the experimental results. An inversion scheme is used to constrain physical parameters in the Biot–Stoll dispersion relation. The inversion shows that there is a restricted range of permeability and grain size. By assigning …

Information And Regulations Pertaining To Industrial Minerals In Nebraska, Raymond R. Burchett

Conservation and Survey Division

No abstract provided.

A Fracture Analysis Of Glacial Tills In Southwest Michigan, Ralph L. Freed

Masters Theses

Fractures were recorded and measured at seven southwest Michigan glacial till locations to identify geometry and spacing. Strong preferred orientations were shown at azimuths of 110° and 140° for two sites, and at azimuths of 85°, 110°, and 135°, and at 44° and 167° for two sites. Several sites had numerous oblique fractures.

Thirty-eight azimuthal Wenner arrays and four Schlumberger surveys show apparent resistivities vary widely with depth of penetration and material composition. Eleven percent of azimuthal surveys show an elliptical data array coinciding with preferred orientation of an adjacent fracture set. The relationship between azimuthal survey and fractures is …

Groundwater Chemistry Analysis Of The Saginaw Formation In Delhi Township, Michigan, Sam L. Kitchin

Masters Theses

Groundwater chemistry and well data provided by the Ingham County (Michigan) Health Department were used to evaluate the distribution of inorganic chemical constituents in the groundwater flow system of the Saginaw Formation, in Delhi Township, Michigan. The data also were used to study the distribution of chemical constituents with respect to different rock types of the Saginaw Formation. The data were analyzed to examine if variations in the concentrations of the chemical constituents and the values of other chemical parameters relate to rock-water interactions, groundwater flow systems, or groundwater contamination.

The results indicate that patterns of increasing or decreasing concentrations …