Geology Commons^™

Observations Of Sand Waves, Megaripples, And Hummocks In The Dutch Coastal Area And Their Relation To Currents And Combined Flow Conditions, Sandra Passchier, Maarten Kleinhans

Department of Earth and Environmental Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

[1] This paper aims to investigate the distribution and stability of large‐scale bed forms in response to storm and fair‐weather conditions in a shallow marine environment. Multibeam and side‐scan sonar data off the Dutch coast (median grain size 0.25–0.35 mm) were collected to monitor sand waves (λ = 100–800 m) and superimposed megaripples (λ = 1–40 m) through multiple storm and fair‐weather events. Box cores were used to observe the vertical bed structure and grain size. In the Dutch coastal area, two‐dimensional (2‐D) megaripples (λ = 1–15 m) are the dominant bed forms in current‐dominated (>0.4 m/s) tidal flow …

Tree Ring Dating Of Beams And Trusses In The Beall House, Wayne County Historical Society Wooster, Ohio

Historic Structures

Dating historical structures in Wayne County. The Historical Structures collection consists of reports that are the resoult of dendochronological analysis of timbers from structures in Pennsylvania and Ohio. Contributors: Lehman, Sophie; Wiles, Greg

Tree Ring Dating Of Beams And Trusses In The Geiser House Forrer Road, Orrville, Ohio

Historic Structures

Dating historical structures in Orrville, Ohio using dendrochronology.The Historical Structures collection consists of reports that are the result of dendochronological analysis of timbers from structures in Pennsylvania and Ohio. Contributors: Lehman, Sophie; Wiles, Greg

Spectral Analysis Of Ground Penetrating Radar Response To Thin Sedimentary Layers, Swagata Guha, Sarah E. Kruse, E. E. Wright, U. E. Kruse

Geology Faculty Publications

Ground penetrating radar (GPR) systems utilized in studies of sedimentary deposits generate wavelengths (tens of centimeters) that are commonly much longer than the thickness of bedding (often millimeters to centimeters) within the target strata. Where this is the case, radar profiles represent interference patterns. Simple models of radar response to sequences of thin beds such as those found in coastal deposits show potentially detectable spectral shifts toward higher frequencies in radar returns. Spectral analysis of radar data over barrier beach deposits at Waites Island, South Carolina, shows that returns from packages with heavy mineral laminations are shifted toward higher frequencies …

Geology, Petrography And Geochemistry Of Andesites At The Eastern End Of Küçük Menderes Graben (Başova-Ki̇raz/İzmi̇r), Tahir Emre, Hasan Sözbi̇li̇r

Bulletin of the Mineral Research and Exploration

No abstract provided.

Unsaturated Flow And Transport Of 90Sr, Co(Ii)Edta, And U(Vi) In Undisturbed Cores From The Hanford Formation, Hanford, Wa, Mary Fairfax Nichols-Pace

Doctoral Dissertations

At the U.S. Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Richland, WA nuclear processing wastes, such as Sr-90, organic chelating agents such as EDTA, Co-60, and U(VI) have been detected in the vadose zone beneath the underground storage tanks. There is concern that waste released to the vadose zone could reach the groundwater and eventually flow into the Columbia River. The goal of this paper is to provide an improved understanding of coupled hydrologic and geochemical mechanisms that influence contaminant transport in the Handford vadose zone. Disturbed sediment and undisturbed sediment cores were collected from the Environmental Restoration Disposal Facility (ERDF) …

Development Of A Dilatant Damage Zone Along A Thrust Relay In A Low-Porosity Quartz Arenite, Jennie E. Cook

Masters Theses

A damage zone developed along a backthrust fault system in well-cemented quartz arenite of the Tuscarora Sandstone in the Alleghanian foreland thrust system consists of a network of NW-dipping thrusts that are linked by multiple higher-order faults and bound a zone of intense extensional fractures and breccias. The damage zone is unusual in that it preserves porous brittle fabrics despite formation at >5km depth. The damage zone developed at an extensional step-over between two independent, laterally propagating backthrusts. Continued displacement resulted in breaching of the relay and formation of faultbounded horses, and favored the formation of extensional fractures. The presence …

Detection Of Enteric Viruses In East Tennessee Public Ground Water Systems, Trisha Baldwin Johnson

Masters Theses

A two-part study was conducted by University of Tennessee-Knoxville, the U.S. Geological Survey, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency-National Exposure Research Laboratory to (1) develop, validate, and test a real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (real-time RT-PCR) assay for enteroviruses in ground water samples and to (2) perform the first survey of enteric viral occurrence in the karst aquifers of East Tennessee. Karst aquifers are expected to have a high susceptibility to viral contamination because of the rapid flow (100’s of m/day) and frequent occurrence of fecal indicator bacteria typically observed in these systems.

Real-time RT-PCR primers and probes specific for …

Development Of A Dilatant Damage Zone Along A Thrust Relay In A Low-Porosity Quartz Arenite, Jennie E. Cook

Masters Theses

A damage zone developed along a backthrust fault system in well-cemented quartz arenite of theTuscarora Sandstone in the Alleghanian foreland thrust system consists of a network of NW-dipping thrusts that are linked by multiple higher-order faults and bound a zone of intense extensional fractures and breccias. The damage zone is unusual in that it preserves porous brittle fabrics despite formation at >5km depth. The damage zone developed at an extensional step-over between two independent, laterally propagating backthrusts. Continued displacement resulted in breaching of the relay and formation of faultbounded horses, and favored the formation of extensional fractures. The presence of …

Deciphering Eustatic And Tectonic Influences During Parasequence Development In The Mesoprotozoic Helena/Wallace Formation, Belt Supergroup, Montana And Idaho, Stephen Alan Welch

Masters Theses

The stratigraphic architecture of sedimentary basins results from a combination of changes in relative sea-level and tectonism, and resulting changes in sediment supply. The Helena/Wallace formations, Mesoproterozoic Belt Supergroup, Montana and Idaho, consists of >500 meters of stacked meter-scale cycles (parasequences) that record in situ carbonate deposition as well as siliciclastic deposition from both the Laurentian craton and an unknown (tectonically active?) western source. In this study, statistical methods and 2-D forward modeling are combined with geochemical provenance analysis to examine parasequence stacking patterns and decipher the relative eustatic and tectonic controls on sequence development.

Helena/Wallace parasequences are typically composed …

Stratigraphic And Structural Relationships Of The Ocoee Supergroup, Southern Appalachians: Implications For Neoproterzoic Rift Basin Architecture And Paleozoic Collisional Orogenesis, James Ryan Thigpen

Masters Theses

The late Proterozoic-Early Cambrian Ocoee Supergroup (OSG)is the dominant lithostratigraphic sequence of the western Blue Ridge (WBR) province in southeast Tennessee, southwest North Carolina, and northern Georgia. The OSG is divided into the basal Snowbird Group (SG) that nonconformably overlies Grenvillian basement, the thick Great Smoky Group (GSG) that is usually in fault contact with the Snowbird Group, and the Walden Creek Group (WCG) that directly underlies the Cambrian Chilhowee Group and conformably overlies both the Snowbird and Great Smoky Groups. Traditional interpretations suggest that the OSG was deposited during late Neoproterozoic-Early Cambrian rifting along the southeast Laurentian margin, initially …

Identification Of Terrestrial Alkalic Rocks Using Thermal Emission Spectroscopy: Applications To Martian Remote Sensing, Tasha Laurrelle Dunn

Masters Theses

We present a detailed study examining the use of laboratory thermal emission spectra (5-25 μm at 2 cm^-1 spectral sampling) for identification and classification of alkalic volcanic rocks. Modal mineralogies and derived bulk rock chemistries of a suite of terrestrial alkali basalts, trachyandesites, trachytes, and rhyolites were determined using linear spectral deconvolution. Model-derived mineral modes were compared to modes measured using an electron microprobe mapping technique to access the accuracy of linear deconvolution in determining mineral abundances. Standard deviations of 1σ of absolute differences between measured and modeled mineral abundances range from 0.68 to 15.02 vol %, with …

Development Of A Web-Based Gis For Groundwater Exploration In Arid Lands, Nakul Manocha

Masters Theses

A three-fold exercise was conducted to assess the groundwater potentiality in the Eastern Desert (ED) of Egypt. First, a database was generated to host all relevant data sets in a GIS environment for a better understanding of the spatial relationships between these data sets. Co-registered digital mosaics were generated from relevant data sets including remote sensing (e.g., Landsat TM, SIR-C, SRTM, TRMM), geochemical (solute concentrations, O and H stable isotope composition), geological (geologic maps), and hydrological (lithology, depth to water table) data sets. Second, a web-based GIS interface (ArcIMS) was developed to provide a vehicle for data analysis, visualization, and …

Pervasive Cracking Of The Northern Chilean Coastal Cordillera: New Evidence For Forearc Extension, John P. Loveless, Gregory D. Hoke, Richard W. Allmendinger, Gabriel González, Bryan L. Isacks, Daniel A. Carrizo

Geosciences: Faculty Publications

Despite convergence across the strongly coupled seismogenic interface between the South American and Nazca plates, the dominant neotectonic signature in the forearc of northern Chile is arc-normal extension. We have used 1 m resolution IKONOS satellite imagery to map nearly 37,000 cracks over an area of 500 km2 near the Salar Grande (21°S). These features, which are best preserved in a ubiquitous gypcrete surface layer, have both nontectonic and tectonic origins. However, their strong preferred orientation perpendicular to the plate convergence vector suggests that the majority owe their formation to approximate east-west extension associated with plate boundary processes such as …

Virus Transport During Transient Unsaturated And Steady-State Saturated Flow Conditions In Memphis Aquifer Sand, Andrew Boruff Kenst

Masters Theses

The overall goal of this research was to determine the effect of transient unsaturated flow conditions on the transport of a virus in aquifer material. It was hypothesized that viruses would be transported at the same rate and over the same distance as the migration of the wetting front and that virus retention during transient unsaturated flow would be similar to that during steady-state saturated flow. Virus transport during transient unsaturated horizontal flow was experimentally compared with its behavior under steady-state saturated vertical flow. In the transient flow experiment, virus (ΦX174) suspension was introduced into an initially air-dry repacked Memphis …

Structural And Stratigraphic Investigations Of The Bays Mountain Synclinorium, Parrottsville And A Portion Of Cedar Creek 7.5-Minute Quadrangles, East Tennessee, Neil E. Whitmer

Masters Theses

The southern Valley and Ridge foreland fold-thrust belt is comprised of a wedge of Lower Cambrian through Pennsylvanian sedimentary rocks that were folded and faulted during the late stages of the Alleghanian orogeny. Within one of the eastern thrust sheets lies the Bays Mountain synclinorium. Rocks as young as Middle Ordovician are preserved in the core of the synclinorium and record the evolution of a Taconian (Blountian) Sevier tectonic basin.

The Parrottsville and Cedar Creek 7.5-minute quadrangles are located on the southeastern flank of the Bays Mountain synclinorium of East Tennessee and contain rocks belonging to the Conasauga, Knox, and …

Paleoseismology Of The Black Hills Fault, Southern Nevada, And Implications For Regional Tectonics, Eric Fossett

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The Black Hills fault (BHF) is a Holocene fault located in Eldorado Valley, approximately 7 km from Boulder City, southern Nevada. The importance of this study is to determine the seismic hazards the BHF poses to Boulder City and the greater Las Vegas metropolitan area and to determine the mechanisms driving the young deformation in the Lake Mead region. The BHF is a multistranded fault that had five surface rupturing paleoearthquake events in the past approximately 25 ka. Paleoseismic fault offsets indicate that the BHF is capable of generating a Mw = 6.4-6.9 earthquake. Slip rates calculated for the BHF …

Pee Wee Hilton Progress Report

Historic Structures

Dating historical structures in Wayne County, Ohio using dendrochronology. The Historical Structures collection consists of reports that are the result of dendochronological analysis of timbers from structures in Pennsylvania and Ohio. Contributors: Wiles, Greg; 2005 Climate Change Class

Results Of Vadose Zone Sampling Within The Tri-Basin Natural Resources District, Mark E. Burbach

Conservation and Survey Division

No abstract provided.

Relationship Between Fault Zone Architecture And Groundwater Compartmentalization In The East Tintic Mining District, Utah, Sandra Myrtle Conrad Hamaker

Theses and Dissertations

The Eureka Lilly fault zone provides an impermeable barrier for groundwater flow in the East Tintic mining district. The fault zone separates two distinct groundwaters that have different temperatures, compositions, and potentiometric surfaces. The damage zone of the fault is an extensive network of interconnected open fractures and fault intersections that provide conduits for groundwater flow in otherwise impermeable units. The fault core breccia has been re-cemented and mineralized, which eliminates porosity in the rock by creating a thick impermeable zone, which has compartmentalized groundwaters across the fault zone. The compartmentalization of groundwater shows that fault zone variability (from strain …

The Geology And Petrography Of The Late Neoproterozoic – Early Paleozoic Units Of Western Taurides (Sw Of Sandikli, Afyon), Semih Gürsu, M. Cemal Göncüoğlu

Bulletin of the Mineral Research and Exploration

No abstract provided.

The Quartzite Problem Revisited, Jeffrey L. Howard

Environmental Science and Geology Faculty Research Publications

A review of past terminology and previous petrological studies suggests that quartzite should be classified descriptively as both a sedimentary and a metamorphic rock. Quartzite is identified in the field as a quartz‐rich rock (exclusive of chert and vein quartz) that is exceptionally hard and, when broken by a rock hammer, fractures irregularly through both grains and cement (where present) to form an irregular or conchoidal fracture surface. Quartzite is differentiated from quartzose sandstone (arenite), which is softer and fractures around individual grains, and from chert and vein quartz by a bright vitreous luster. Quartzite is classified further on the …

A Geologic Record Of Methane Consumption Associated With Methane Gas Hydrates At Blake Ridge Region (Continental Rise, Offshore Southeastern United States), Walter S. Borowski, Kathryn G. Takacs, Matthew K. Thompson

EKU Faculty and Staff Scholarship

Geochemical signals locked within sedimentary rocks are a record of earth processes. Sulfide minerals (elemental sulfur, iron monosulfides, and pyrite) are formed within marine sediments by several different geochemical processes mediated by microbes. Investigating the concentration and sulfur isotopic composition (d³⁴S) of sulfide minerals gives clues about the relative importance of these competing geochemical processes.

Marine sediments of the Blake Ridge(offshore South Carolina and Georgia) contain sulfide minerals that point to anaerobic methane oxidation (AMO) as an important diagenetic process both today and in the recent geological past (Miocene). At the present-day methane-sulfate interface, upward-diffusing methane is consumed …

Tunnel Geology As Seen By Geologists: Manhattan, New York City, Nazrul I. Khandaker, Stanley Schleifer, Masud Ahmed, Alan R. Slaughter, Belal A. Sayeed, Dorean J. Flores, Mario Jo-Ramirez

Publications and Research

Current exploratory boring operations in and around Manhattan, New York City are providing geologists and geotechnical engineers with a plethora of new and interesting geological information, which has not been previously reported. The rocks encountered, mostly medium to high-grade metamorphic rocks, with both mafic and felsic intrusives, are highly variable in competency and mechanical durability. One of the most frequently encountered rock types is a garnetiferous-muscovite-biotite schist which grades into schistose gneiss and displays a wide variety of structural, compositional, and textural attributes. Metamorphic minerals showing the variable degree of metamorphism include graphite, talc, garnet, kyanite, tourmaline, emory, and occasionally …

The Moxee City (Washington) Mammoth: Morphostratigraphic, Taphonomic, And Taxonomic Considerations, Karl Lillquist, Steve Lundblad, Bax R. Barton

All Faculty Scholarship for the College of the Sciences

A nearly complete, but highly fractured, proboscidean tusk was unearthed during parking lot construction near Moxee City in central Washington in May 2001. Schreger angle analysis revealed that the tusk was from a mammoth. AMS radiocarbon dating of the tusk established that the mammoth died 14,570 ¹⁴C yr BP. The age, combined with the biogeography of proboscidean finds in the Pacific Northwest, suggests the tusk is from a Columbian mammoth (Mammuthus columbi). The condition of the tusk and its association with basalt and crystalline erratics suggest that a locally derived tusk was swept up in the advancing …

Geogram 2005, David J. Keeling Editor, Wku Department Of Geography And Geology

Earth, Environmental, and Atmospheric Sciences Publications

No abstract provided.

Prediction Of Sediment-Bound Nutrient Delivery From Semi-Arid California Watersheds, Emmanuel Gabet, Noah Fierer, Oliver Chadwick

Faculty Publications

Soil carbon (C), nitrogen (N), and phosphorus (P) are lost from hillslopes in particulate forms through soil erosion. The fate of the eroded C (e.g., sequestration or oxidation) may affect the global C budget, and delivery of N and P to waterbodies can lead to eutrophication. Whereas the magnitude of particulate nutrient losses may be similar to or greater than dissolved losses, it is rarely estimated. We couple a sediment delivery model with measurements of C, N, and P in soil to account explicitly for hillslope sediment transport processes that yield sediment-bound nutrients to fluvial networks. The model is applied …

Review Of Lewis And Clark And The Geology Of The Great Plains And Lewis And Clark And The Geology Of Nebraska And Parts Of Adjacent States, Harmon D. Maher Jr.

Geography and Geology Faculty Publications

When it comes to science in general, and the geology of the Great Plains in particular, there is arguably an imbalance between the wealth of material written for experts and the relative paucity written for the general public. These publications help correct that imbalance at a time when the various Lewis and Clark celebrations create an especially receptive and engaged audience.

Coral Reef Ed-Ventures: An Environmental Education Program For School Children In San Pedro, Belize, H. Allen Curran, Susan Etheredge, Elizabeth Callaghan, Paulette M. Peckol

Geosciences: Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Nonlinear Dynamics In Ecosystem Response To Climatic Change: Case Studies And Policy Implications, Virginia R. Burkett, Douglas A. Wilcox, Wilcox Stottlemyer, Wylie Barrow, Dan Fagre, Jill Baron, Jeff Price, Jennifer L. Nielsen, Craig D. Allen, David L. Peterson, Greg Ruggerone, Thomas Doyle

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Many biological, hydrological, and geological processes are interactively linked in ecosystems. These ecological phenomena normally vary within bounded ranges, but rapid, nonlinear changes to markedly different conditions can be triggered by even small differences if threshold values are exceeded. Intrinsic and extrinsic ecological thresholds can lead to effects that cascade among systems, precluding accurate modeling and prediction of system response to climate change. Ten case studies from North America illustrate how changes in climate can lead to rapid, threshold-type responses within ecological communities; the case studies also highlight the role of human activities that alter the rate or direction of …