Geology Commons^™

Energy‐Constrained Open‐System Magmatic Processes 3. Energy‐Constrained Recharge, Assimilation, And Fractional Crystallization (Ec‐Rafc), Frank J. Spera, Wendy A. Bohrson

All Faculty Scholarship for the College of the Sciences

Geochemical data for igneous rock suites provide conclusive evidence for the occurrence of open‐system processes within thermally and compositionally evolving magma bodies. The most significant processes include magma Recharge (with possible enclave formation and magma mixing), Assimilation of anatectic melt derived from wallrock partial melting and formation of cumulates by Fractional Crystallization (RAFC). In this study, we extend the Energetically Constrained Assimilation and Fractional Crystallization (EC‐AFC) model [Spera and Bohrson, 2001; Bohrson and Spera, 2001] to include the addition of compositionally and thermally distinct recharge melt during simultaneous assimilation and fractional crystallization. Energy‐Constrained Recharge, Assimilation, and Fractional …

Seasonal Biogeochemistry And Mineral Cycling Of The Middle Rio Grande Alluvial Aquifer, New Mexico, David Stewart Vinson

Earth and Planetary Sciences ETDs

The Rio Grande in central New Mexico flows through a semi-arid, historically aggrading Quaternary rift basin. Flow regulation measures include dams, irrigation diversions, levees, and bank stabilization. These have caused severe impairment including incision, lowered water tables, and less overbank flooding; disrupted groundwater - surface water interactions; altered seasonal organic carbon dynamics; and declining native biota. Previously dynamic flowpaths in the shallow alluvial aquifer (hyporheic corridor) have become are less reversible due to parallel drain ditches with lower beds than the river. These ditches impose relatively static hydraulic gradients on the alluvial aquifer that force water to flow from the …

Interactive Learning Tools: Animating Statics, Nancy Hubing, David B. Oglesby, Timothy A. Philpot, Vikas Yellamraju, Richard H. Hall, Ralph E. Flori

Business and Information Technology Faculty Research & Creative Works

Computer-Based Modules for Engineering Instruction Must Be Concise, Flexible, Educational and Engaging in Order to Effectively Supplement Traditional Classroom Teaching Tools. a Computer Example that Takes More Time Than a Chalkboard Presentation is Not Likely to Be Useful in Today's Engineering Classroom. Flexible Navigation is Necessary So that the Instructor Can Quickly and Easily Respond to Student Questions. Useful Modules Must Also Improve Problem-Solving Skills or Clarify Troublesome Concepts in Order to Be Considered Worthy of Inclusion in the Limited Class Time Available. Finally, and Perhaps Most Importantly, Effective Computer-Based Modules Must Meet the Challenge of Holding the Student's Attention. …

News From Cart, Michael A. Krol, Julia Stakhnevich

Bridgewater Review

No abstract provided.

Integrated Geophysical Examination Of A Former Refinery Site, Carson City, Michigan, Kennedy Opiyo Mwanda

Masters Theses

Integrated geophysical surveys, including electromagnetic (EM-31), magnetic, dc resistivity, and ground penetrating radar (GPR) methods and soil borings were used to investigate part of a former refinery site in Carson City, Michigan, which has more than a 50-year history of hydrocarbon contamination.

Although not readily evident on the magnetic anomaly maps, the EM-31 conductivity map clearly revealed many sections of buried pipes of various lengths and orientations. Also evident on the EM maps are extensive near surface conductivity anomalies. Soil borings in zones of anomalous conductivities to the west suggest the presence of shallow clays with pooled hydrocarbons at depths …

Inorganic And Organic Chemistry Of The Former Lakeside Refinery In Kalamazoo, Michigan, Kurt W. Carlson

Masters Theses

The focus of this investigation of the Lakeside Refinery site is the inorganic geochemistry because previous investigations concerned organics and heavy metals. Because little nitrate is in native groundwater, high dissolved ammonia immediately downgradient from a petroleum body suggests the source is the petroleum and/or associated byproducts. Iron reduction is most prominent immediately upgradient from the known and measurable petroleum while manganese reduction occurs mostly downgradient. Sulfate reduction occurs mostly towards the southern portion of the light petroleum LNAPL. Based on concentrations of nitrate, manganese, iron and sulfate along a groundwater flow path, there appears to be a sequential use …

Martian Xenon Components In Basaltic Shergottite Meteorites, Katherine Delene Ocker Stone

Doctoral Dissertations

Analyses of Chassigny, Nakhla, and ALH84001 reveal, in addition to a Xe component from the martian atmosphere, a second component loosely attributed to the martian "interior." This appears to be a mixture of solar- and fission- (²⁴⁴Pu) derived xenon components. The proportions are consistent in each meteorite but vary from meteorite to meteorite. The working hypothesis is that this variation reflects different contributions of solar (mantle-derived) and fission (crustal-derived) xenon to each parent melt.

This study focused on mineral separates from two basaltic shergottites, Shergotty and EETA79001 Lithology-B (EETA), chosen to reflect, as far as possible, the extremes …

Geochemical And Isotopic Characteristics Associated With High Conductivities In A Shallow Hydrocarbon-Contaminated Aquifier, Franklyn D. Legall

Dissertations

In-situ vertical resistivity probes (VRPs) deployed at a hydrocarboncontaminated site in SW Michigan showed high soil conductivities within the contaminated zone. Within this zone, different phases of hydrocarbon impact were recognized, namely, zones with residual and dissolved phase hydrocarbons (RDH) and zones where these phases coexist with free product (RDFH). Bulk soil conductivities were highest ( 12 to 30 mS/m) in the zone with RDFH compared to the RDH zone (10 to 25 mS/m). Groundwater chemistry and stable carbon isotope data from closely spaced vertical samples within the anomalous conductive zones were used to provide evidence for biodegradation and to …

Microbial Community Structure In Hydrocarbon Impacted Sediment Associated With Anomalous Geophysical Signatures, Joseph W. Duris

Masters Theses

The Crystal Refinery is a former refinery site in Carson City Michigan that has had historic releases of refined and unrefined crude oil dating back to the late 1940's. The contamination of soil with light non-aqueous phase liquids (LNAPL) has had a dynamic impact on the subsurface environment in adjacent Carson City Park. Very little is known about the complex interactions between microbial communities, geochemistry and geophysics. In order to investigate possible connections between these parameters a multidisciplinary study was undertaken to investigate the hypothesis that the degradation of LNAPL by resident microbial communities causes a local increase in organic …

Seismic Cycle And Rheological Effects On Estimation Of Present-Day Slip Rates For The Agua Blanca And San Miguel-Vallecitos Faults, Northern Baja California, Mexico, Timothy H. Dixon, Julien Decaix, Fred Farina, Kevin Furlong, Rocco Malservisi, Richard Bennett, Francisco Suarez-Vidal, John Fletcher, Jeffrey Lee

All Faculty Scholarship for the College of the Sciences

Geodesy can be used to infer long-term fault slip rates, assuming a model for crust and upper mantle rheology. We examine the sensitivity of fault slip rate estimates to assumed rheology for the Agua Blanca and San Miguel-Vallecitos faults in northern Baja California, Mexico, part of the Pacific–North America plate boundary zone. The Agua Blanca fault is seismically quiet, but offset alluvial fans indicate young activity. Current seismicity is confined to the nearby San Miguel-Vallecitos fault, a small offset fault better aligned with plate motion. GPS measurements between 1993 and 1998 suggest that both faults are active, with a combined …

Ua66/8/3 Geogram, Wku Geography & Geology

WKU Archives Records

Newsletter created by and about the WKU Geography & Geology highlighting activities of faculty, students and alumni.

Late Quaternary Slip Rates Across The Central Tien Shan, Kyrgyzstan, Central Asia, Stephen C. Thompson, Ray J. Weldon, Charles M. Rubin, Kanatbek Abdrakhmatov, Peter Molnar, Glenn W. Berger

All Faculty Scholarship for the College of the Sciences

Slip rates across active faults and folds show that late Quaternary faulting is distributed across the central Tien Shan, not concentrated at its margins. Nearly every intermontane basin contains Neogene and Quaternary syntectonic strata deformed by Holocene north‐south shortening on thrust or reverse faults. In a region that spans two thirds of the north‐south width of the central Tien Shan, slip rates on eight faults in five basins range from ∼0.1 to ∼3 mm/yr. Fault slip rates are derived from faulted and folded river terraces and from trenches. Radiocarbon, optically stimulated luminescence, and thermoluminescence ages limit ages of terraces and …

Whole Mantle Shear Structure Beneath The East Pacific Rise, Timothy I. Melbourne, Donald V. Helmberger

All Faculty Scholarship for the College of the Sciences

We model broadband seismograms containing triplicated S, S², and S³ along with ScS to produce a pure path one‐dimensional model extending from the crust to the core‐mantle boundary beneath the East Pacific Rise. We simultaneously model all body wave shapes and amplitudes, thereby eliminating depth‐velocity ambiguities. The data consist of western North American broadband recordings of East Pacific Rise (EPR) affiliate transform events that form a continuous record section out to 82° and sample nearly the entire East Pacific Rise. The best fitting synthetics contain attenuation and small changes in lithospheric thickness needed to correct for …

Field Trip Guide (For The Nebraska Well Drillers Association) Central Nebraska Geology, James W. Goeke, Robert F. Diffendal Jr., Duane A. Eversoll

Conservation and Survey Division

Field trip guide, for the Nebraska Well Drillers Association, covering Central Nebraska Geology from September 2002.

Effects Of Grand-Cycle Cessation On The Diagenesis Of Upper Cambrian Carbonate Deposits In The Southern Appalachians, U.S.A, Bosiljka Glumac, Kenneth R. Walker

Geosciences: Faculty Publications

The vertical transition from the mainly subtidal alternating shale and carbonate units (or grand cycles) of the Conasauga Group (Middle to Upper Cambrian) to the peritidal dolostone of the Knox Group (Upper Cambrian to Lower Ordovician) marks a major change in the early Paleozoic passive-margin sedimentation of the southern Appalachians. The grand cycles represent an interplay between intrashelf shale basin and carbonate-platform deposition. The end of grand-cycle deposition occurred in response to carbonate platform progradation over the infilled intrashelf basin and is associated with a prominent change in diagenetic patterns observed in the uppermost Conasauga Group strata-the Maynardville Formation. The …

Karst Aquifers As Atmospheric Carbon Sinks: An Evolving Global Network Of Research Sites, Chris Groves, Joe Meiman, Joel Despain, Liu Zaihua, Daoxin Yuan

Earth, Environmental, and Atmospheric Sciences Faculty Publications

Karst flow systems formed in carbonate rocks have been recognized as a sink for atmospheric carbon that originates as gaseous carbon dioxide and ends up as dissolved aqueous carbon, primarily as bicarbonate. While measurements of the magnitude of the sink associated with carbonate rock dissolution have assumed that half of the dissolved inorganic carbon leaving a given catchment comes from the mineral and half from the atmosphere, consideration of the kinetics of carbonate mineral dissolution in acid solutions suggests that the ratio is enriched in mineral-source carbon to an extent that depends on the geochemical environment of mineral/fluid contact. After …

Karst Aquifers As Atmospheric Carbon Sinks: An Evolving Global Network Of Research Sites, Chris Groves, Joe Meiman, Joel Despain, Liu Zaihua, Daoxin Yuan

Chris Groves

Karst flow systems formed in carbonate rocks have been recognized as a sink for atmospheric carbon that originates as gaseous carbon dioxide and ends up as dissolved aqueous carbon, primarily as bicarbonate. While measurements of the magnitude of the sink associated with carbonate rock dissolution have assumed that half of the dissolved inorganic carbon leaving a given catchment comes from the mineral and half from the atmosphere, consideration of the kinetics of carbonate mineral dissolution in acid solutions suggests that the ratio is enriched in mineral-source carbon to an extent that depends on the geochemical environment of mineral/fluid contact. After …

Late Holocene Sea-Level Change Around Newfoundland, Julia Daly

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Analysis of basal salt-marsh peats and tide-gauge data from several locations around Newfoundland yield high-resolution late Holocene sea-level reconstructions and constrain differential sea-level change. The transition between rising and falling local sea levels and the influence of glacioisostasy on relative sea-level change around Newfoundland through the late Holocene are not well known fiom previous research. The patterns of local relative sea-level change during this time have important implications for constraining numerical models of sea-level change, and therefore inferences about ice sheet thickness and the response of the lithosphere to deglaciation. I investigated the stratigraphy of salt marshes at four locations …

Genesis And Morphology Of Soil Pendants In Quaternary Landforms Of Pahranagat Valley, Nevada, Amy Lynn Brock

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Five geomorphic surfaces present in the northern Pahranagat Valley, Lincoln County, Nevada range in age from Early Pleistocene to Recent (Q1-Q5) and vary in clast lithology from dolomite to volcanic tephras. Two chronosequences and 5 lithosequences were compared to evaluate micro and macromorphic characteristics and development of soil pendants. This study presents a new interpretation for soil pendant development. Key features observed in the Pahranagat Valley pendants provide evidence for precipitation at the clast-pendant contact suggesting that newer deposits are not always found at the pendant terminus as other studies have assumed. These features include a void at the clast-pendant …

Field Trip Guide (For The Nebraska Well Drillers Association) Southwestern Nebraska Geology, Duane Eversoll, Jim Goeke

Conservation and Survey Division

No abstract provided.

Microbial Composition Of Near-Boiling Silica-Depositing Thermal Springs Throughout Yellowstone National Park, Carrine E. Blank, Sherry L. Cady, Norman R. Pace

Geology Faculty Publications and Presentations

The extent of hyperthermophilic microbial diversity associated with siliceous sinter (geyserite) was characterized in seven near-boiling silica-depositing springs throughout Yellowstone National Park using environmental PCR amplification of small-subunit rRNA genes (SSU rDNA), large-subunit rDNA, and the internal transcribed spacer (ITS). We found that Thermocrinis ruber, a member of the order Aquificales, is ubiquitous, an indication that primary production in these springs is driven by hydrogen oxidation. Several other lineages with no known close relatives were identified that branch among the hyperthermophilic bacteria. Although they all branch deep in the bacterial tree, the precise phylogenetic placement of many of these lineages …

Biogeochemistry Of The Middle Rio Grande Bosque: Links Among Surface Water, Groundwater, And Sediments, Susan E. Block

Earth and Planetary Sciences ETDs

The potential for water contamination is great in areas where land use is both urban and agricultural. Such land uses can load the surface water and groundwater with nutrients and toxic trace metals. Water pollution can be further increased when natural watersheds have been altered by human activities. The surface and groundwaters of the Middle Rio Grande, NM, USA are part of one such ecosystem.

Because redox processes are important controls on nutrient cycling and contaminant transport, it is vital to understand the redox zonation of an aquifer. This research has been conducted to address such biogeochemical zonation in the …

Oolite And Pisolite Occurrence Within The Pliocene - Quaternary Age Travertune In Mut Region, Eşref Atabey

Bulletin of the Mineral Research and Exploration

No abstract provided.

Rock Glacier Surface Motion In Beacon Valley, Antarctica, From Synthetic-Aperture Radar Interferometry, Andrew G. Fountain, Eric Rignot, Bernard Hallet

Geology Faculty Publications and Presentations

We present radar interferograms of rock glaciers in the Beacon Valley sector of the McMurdo Dry Valleys, in East Antarctica, as part of a comprehensive study of surface processes in the area. Due to the relative absence of net precipitation (snow) in this region and the stability of the surface, the rock glaciers maintain excellent coherence of the radar returns over several years. As a result, we obtain a spatially continuous surface velocity field with a precision of fractions of a millimeter per year. On distinct rock glaciers entering Beacon Valley, we find coherent velocity patterns, with peak velocities approaching …

The Role Of Groundwater And Surface Water Interaction In The Development Of A 1,4-Dioxane Plume In Scio Township, Washtenaw County, Michigan, James W. Brode

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to examine the hypothesis that groundwater and surface water interaction resulted in the development a 1,4-dioxane plume in a glacial aquifer in Scio Township, Washtenaw County, Michigan.

An industrial solvent, 1,4-dioxane, was detected in the groundwater in the area of study in 1986. This area, referred to in this investigation as the Western Plume, is one of several 1,4-dioxane plumes associated with the Pall/Gelman Sciences Inc. (P/GSI) site, an extensively investigated site of groundwater contamination.

1,4-Dioxane in the Western Plume area was initially believed to be the result of contaminated groundwater transported from a …

Multiple Isotopic Investigation Of Lake Sediments From Northern India, Alice Mwanda

Masters Theses

Stable isotopes ratio of lake sediments can provide valuable environmental information. This possibility has been investigated using radiocarbon dated fossil lake sediments from the Himalayan region of Northern India. The chronology was established using Radiocarbon dating of both organic and inorganic fractions using (AMS). Inorganic ages are older than organic ages. Organic ages are expected to increase stratigraphically, however several anomalous old ages are found in the younger part of the sediments. Final chronology, determined using selected sensible ages identified two periods of sedimentation. The high sedimentation period is characterized by sedimentation rate of 0.8cm/yr and it fairly coincides with …

Gravity Evidence For A Larger Limpopo Belt In Southern Africa And Geodynamic Implications, Rubeni T. Ranganai, Ali Basira H. Kampunzu, Estella A. Atekwana, B. K. Paya, J. G. King, D. I. Koosimile, Edgar H. Stettler

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The Limpopo Belt of southern Africa is a Neoarchean orogenic belt located between two older Archean provinces, the Zimbabwe craton to the north and the Kaapvaal craton to the south. Previous studies considered the Limpopo Belt to be a linearly trending east-northeast belt with a width of ∼250 km and ∼600 km long. We provide evidence from gravity data constrained by seismic and geochronologic data suggesting that the Limpopo Belt is much larger than previously assumed and includes the Shashe Belt in Botswana, thus defining a southward convex orogenic arc sandwiched between the two cratons. The 2 Ga Magondi orogenic …

Mapping The Volumetric Soil Water Content Of A California Vineyard Using High-Frequency Gpr Ground Wave Data, Susan Sharpless Hubbard, Katherine R. Grote, Yoram N. Rubin

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

An attempt was made to establish the utility of ground-penetrating radar (GPR) as a quick and noninvasive field tool for shallow soil water content estimates as a function of space and time. Initially, detailed studies of collocated data, with electromagnetic velocity estimates from GPR data compared to gravimetric measurements of water content and to soil testure were carried out. Using the procedures developed during the detailed studies, full grids of GPR data were collected over the entire site several times. Data obtained indicate that incorporation of multiple frequency GPR grids can provide high-resolution estimates of soil water content variations as …

Thermochronological Evolution Of Calcite Formation At The Potential Yucca Mountain Repository Site, Nevada: Part 2 Fluid Inclusion Analyses And Upb Dating, Jean S. Cline, Amy J. Smiecinski, Robert Bodnar

Publications (YM)

The presence of two-phase fluid inclusions in thin secondary mineral crusts at the potential Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository has raised questions regarding the origin, timing, and temperature of past fluid flow through the repository horizon. The geologically recent passage of fluids with high temperatures would call into question the suitability of the site for the storage of high level nuclear waste. This study determined the thermal history of fluid flow through the site using fluid inclusion analyses and constrained the timing of thermal fluids by dating silica minerals spatially associated with the fluid inclusions using U-Pb techniques. Results provide …

Gpr Monitoring Of Volumetric Water Content In Soils Applied To Highway Construction And Maintenance, Katherine R. Grote, Susan Sharpless Hubbard, Yoram N. Rubin

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

An overview is given on two experiments, a controlled pit study and a transportation application in subasphalt soils. Both experiments show that common-offset ground-penetrating radar (GPR) reflection data can be used to estimate θ_v to a high degree of accuracy. The methodology developed in these two experiments provides a technique for obtaining quick, noninvasive, accurate, and high-resolution estimates of θ_v.