Geophysics and Seismology Commons^™

Unblocking Temperatures Of Viscous Remanent Magnetism In Displaced Granitic Boulders, Icicle Creek Glacial Moraines (Washington, Usa), Juliet G. Crider, Danika M. Globokar, Russ F. Burmester, Bernard A. Housen

Geology Faculty Publications

Viscous remanent magnetization (VRM) may partially overprint original magnetization in rocks displaced by geomorphic events. An established theoretical relationship between the time and temperature of acquisition of VRM and the time and temperature of demagnetization suggests that laboratory demagnetization (unblocking) of VRM can be used to estimate the displacement age of rocks. We test this hypothesis at four nested glacial moraines in the Icicle Creek drainage of central Washington, the ages of which were previously determined by cosmogenic surface exposure dating. The moraines are composed primarily of granodiorite boulders, and magnetic remanence is carried dominantly by magnetite. Both the maximum …

Submarine Channel Evolution Linked To Rising Salt Dome, Mississippi Canyon, Gulf Of Mexico, Rachel C. Carter

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

By examining halokinetics and channel evolution in a deep-water system, we investigate how submarine channel morphology is affected by changing seascape linked to diapirism. The study area is located in Mississippi Canyon, Gulf of Mexico (GOM), situated directly off the continental slope in a prominent salt dome region. Interactions of salt domes with submarine channels in the GOM are poorly documented. Utilizing 3D seismic data and seismic geomorphology techniques, a long-lived Plio-Pleistocene submarine channel system has been investigated to develop a relationship between variable phases of salt movement and plan-form morphology of preserved channels.

We suggest that halokinetics acts as …

Petroleum Play Study Of The Keathley Canyon, Gulf Of Mexico, Jean Pierre Malbrough

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Beneath Keathley Canyon (KC) off the Southern Coast of Louisiana and Texas, allochthonous salt bodies have attained thicknesses of over 7620 m (25000 feet), providing excellent seals and migration pathways for hydrocarbons produced by post-rift sedimentary deposition. This study analyzes a small portion of the KC area, utilizing Petrel Seismic software and well information from the KC102 (Tiber) well.

An intra-Miocene wedge, expressed beneath salt, may provide information about movement of allochthonous salt over Wilcox sands, sediment compaction, and hydrocarbon pathways. Progradational sedimentation is the driving force which leads to faulting in the early Miocene, allowing Jurassic salt to rise, …

A Seismic Transect Across West Antarctica: Evidence For Mantle Thermal Anomalies Beneath The Bentley Subglacial Trench And The Marie Byrd Land Dome, Andrew J. Lloyd, Douglas A. Wiens, Andrew A. Nyblade, Sridhar Anandakrishnan, Richard C. Aster, Audrey D. Huerta, Terry J. Wilson, Ian W. D. Dalziel, Patrick J. Shore, Dapeng Zhao

All Faculty Scholarship for the College of the Sciences

West Antarctica consists of several tectonically diverse terranes, including the West Antarctic Rift System, a topographic low region of extended continental crust. In contrast, the adjacent Marie Byrd Land and Ellsworth-Whitmore mountains crustal blocks are on average over 1km higher, with the former dominated by polygenetic shield and stratovolcanoes protruding through the West Antarctic ice sheet and the latter having a Precambrian basement. The upper mantle structure of these regions is important for inferring the geologic history and tectonic processes, as well as the influence of the solid earth on ice sheet dynamics. Yet this structure is poorly constrained due …

Using Foraminifera Shell Geochemistry To Test Proxies For Paleoenvironmental Reconstruction, Catherine Hudson

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.

Geophysical Evidence For Mid-Crustal Magma Reservoirs In The Lassen Volcanic Region, California, Samantha Catherine Tavarez

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Regional-scale complete Bouguer gravity anomalies underlying the Lassen and Shasta -Medicine Lake regions in northern California and southern Oregon are associated with subduction of the Gorda plate beneath North America. These generally negative anomalies reflect where underplating has deepened to form the mantle wedge, and where subduction has given rise to a series of Quaternary volcanoes comprising the southernmost end of the Cascade range. Multiple conductive bodies were identified by Park and Ostos (2013) in their magnetotelluric (MT) study of the broader Lassen volcanic region. Their broadband and long period measurements were conducted along a 250 km profile spanning from …

Numerical Simulation Of Spring Hydrograph Recession Curves For East Yorkshire Chalk Aquifer, Uk, Nozad Hasan Azeez, Landis Jared West, Simon H. Bottrell

Sinkhole Conference 2015

The Cretaceous Chalk aquifer is the most important in the UK for the provision of water to public supply and agriculture. The Chalk has both matrix and fracture porosity and is thus best considered as a dual porosity aquifer system. Although the matrix porosity is large, typically around 0.35 in the study area of East Yorkshire, UK (ESI, 2010), pore diameters are typically very small, and the water contained in them is virtually immobile. The high permeability fracture network is responsible for the ability of water to drain; spatial variations in fracture network properties mean conventional approaches to aquifer characterization …

Using Electrical Resistivity Imaging To Characterize Karst Hazards In Southeastern Minnesota Agricultural Settings, Toby Dogwiler, Blake Lea

Sinkhole Conference 2015

Much of the Driftless Area of southeastern Minnesota is underlain by karstified carbonate bedrock. Land use in this karst terrain is dominated by agriculture, including row crop and dairy operations. The karst in this region is often mantled with up to 15 m of soil and unconsolidated sediments. As a result, underlying karst hazards such as incipient sinkholes are often hidden until they are suddenly revealed by the collapse of subsurface voids. Regionally, the economics of the dairy industry is causing a trend toward the consolidation and expansion of existing operations. As concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFO) or feedlots expand, …

Pre-Construction Rock Treatment And Soil Modification Program Using Low Mobility Grout To Mitigate Future Sinkhole Development In A 2,787.1 Square Meter (30,000 Sf) Maintenance Facility, Steven W. Shifflett

Sinkhole Conference 2015

The US Army required construction of a 2,787.1 square meters (30,000 sf) maintenance facility supported on shallow foundations at the Fort Campbell Military Installation. During the subsurface investigation a seven foot air-filled void was encountered in the bedrock within the building footprint. Electrical Resistivity Imaging (ERI) was conducted in an attempt to determine the lateral extent of the encountered void and to establish the general prevalence of karst features at the site. Due to uncertainty in the subsurface conditions, a rock treatment and soil modification program was developed which consisted of a series of targeted exploratory grout holes advanced in …

Effects Of Changes In Moisture Source And The Upstream Rainout On Stable Isotopes In Precipitation – A Case Study In Nanjing, Eastern China, Y. Tang, H. Pang, W. Zhang, Y. Li, Shuang-Ye Wu, S. Hou

Geology Faculty Publications

In the Asian monsoon region, variations in the stable isotopic composition of speleothems have often been attributed to the "amount effect". However, an increasing number of studies suggest that the "amount effect" in local precipitation is insignificant or even non-existent. To explore this issue further, we examined the variability of daily stable isotopic composition (δ18O) in precipitation from September 2011 to November 2014 in Nanjing, eastern China. We found that intra-seasonal variations of δ18O during summer were not significantly correlated with local rainfall amount but could be linked to changes in the moisture source location and rainout processes in the …

Slip Pulse And Resonance Of The Kathmandu Basin During The 2015 Gorkha Earthquake, Nepal, John Galetzka, Walter Szeliga

All Faculty Scholarship for the College of the Sciences

Detailed geodetic imaging of earthquake ruptures enhances our understanding of earthquake physics and associated ground shaking. The 25 April 2015 moment magnitude 7.8 earthquake in Gorkha, Nepal was the first large continental megathrust rupture to have occurred beneath a high-rate (5-hertz) Global Positioning System (GPS) network. We used GPS and interferometric synthetic aperture radar data to model the earthquake rupture as a slip pulse ~20 kilometers in width, ~6 seconds in duration, and with a peak sliding velocity of 1.1 meters per second, which propagated toward the Kathmandu basin at ~3.3 kilometers per second over ~140 kilometers. The smooth slip …

Topographic Signatures Of Geodynamics, Samuel G. Roy

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The surface of the Earth retains an imperfect memory of the diverse geodynamic, climatic, and surface transport processes that cooperatively drive the evolution of Earth. In this thesis I explore the potential of using topographic analysis and landscape evolution models to unlock past and/or present evidence for geodynamic activity. I explore the potential isolated effects of geodynamics on landscape evolution, particularly focusing on two byproducts of tectonic strain: rock displacement and damage. Field evidence supports a strong correlation between rock damage and erodibility, and a numerical sensitivity analysis supports the hypothesis that an order of magnitude weakening in rock, well …

Stable Isotopes Of Hydrothermal Carbonate Minerals In The Butte Porphyry-Lode Deposits, Montana, Ryan Stevenson

Graduate Theses & Non-Theses

The stable isotopic compositions of over 90 hydrothermal carbonate minerals in the Butte porphyry-lode system were analyzed. These samples came from the underground workings as well as the active Continental Pit area. Most material came from polymetallic “Main Stage” veins which post-date the porphyry Cu-Mo mineralization of Butte. Some samples from late calcite-stellerite veins were also included in the study. Rhodochrosite d¹³C and d¹⁸O values range from -8.3 to -2.9‰ (average of -6.7±1.0‰) and -1.8 to 12.8‰ (average of 3.6 ±3.4‰) respectively, while calcite d¹³C and d¹⁸O values range from -9.0 to …

Strength Study Of Zircon Under High Pressure, Ievgeniia Morozova

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Zircon (ZrSiO₄) is a strong accessory mineral that can retain U, Th and Hf within its structure. This makes zircon an important material in geochemical and geochronological studies. In addition, the strong thermal shock resistance of zircon allows for dating the formations of melt and impact events and to separate shocked and potentially shocked country rocks. However, the deformation mechanism and microstructure behavior of zircon at high pressure is poorly understood. Therefore, this work aims to study the deformation and texture of zircon in situ at high pressure and room temperature, and also to examine the microstructure of …

Preliminary Geophysical Characterization Of The Karst Within A Transverse Glade In The Atlantic Coastal Ridge, Miami-Dade County Florida, Usa, Lee J. Florea, Jeff Ransom, Dallas Hazelton

Lee J Florea, PhD, P.G.

In this paper we present results of two DC Electrical Resistivity Tomography surveys at Deering Estate at Cutler in the Atlantic Coastal Ridge of Miami-Dade County, Florida. This County Natural Area encompasses Deering Glade and hosts one of the largest remaining tropical hardwood-hammock ecosystems in the USA. A canal extension, wetland restoration, and pump station recently constructed at Deering Estate by the South Florida Water Management District is designed to re-hydrate Deering Glade to pre-development conditions thus helping to sustain the hammock ecosystem and reverse trends in salt-water intrusion in this portion of the Biscayne aquifer. For these transects, we …

Thermal History Of The Michigan Basin: Results From Thermal Maturation Data And Geodynamic Modelling, Kirk A. Wagenvelt

Masters Theses

Thermal cooling, crustal convection, high temperature fluid advection, and 1.0 Km of eroded overburden are required to explain thermal maturation observations in the Michigan Basin. Observed tectonic subsidence in central Michigan follows an exponential decay indicative of thermal cooling following an anomalous heating event. Crustal convection is responsible for episodes of rapid subsidence coincident with the late Paleozoic Appalachian orogeny. Fluid advection through dilated faults reactivated by the Alleghanian orogeny brought hot fluids (as much as 255⁰ C) to the surface and impacted thermal maturation of organic matter in sediments. Models require 1.0 Km of eroded overburden to model thermal …

Lithologic Properties Of The Upper Ordovician Utica Formation, Michigan Basin, Usa: A Geological Characterization And Assessment Of Carbon Dioxide Confinement Potential, Frank Richard Sattler

Masters Theses

The Utica/Maquoketa Shale is considered to be the primary confining layer for Cambro-Ordovician CO₂ sequestration targets in the Midwest in the Michigan and Illinois basins, respectively. Prospective regional geologic seals in mudrock formations possess a combination of lithologic properties including nanometer scale pore space, elevated breakthrough pressures for non-wetting fluid phases and ductile mechanical deformation. Mineralogical composition is related to and typically controls these properties.

The objective of this study is to investigate the geological controls on stratigraphic and lithologic variability in the Utica/Collingwood in the Michigan basin. Twelve conventional cores and hundreds of modern well logs from the …

Structural Controls On The Distribution Of Groundwater In Southern Sinai, Egypt: Constraints From Geophysical And Remote Sensing Observations, Lamees Mohamed

Dissertations

An integrated (Very Low Frequency [VLF] electromagnetic, magnetic, remote sensing, field, and Geographic Information System [GIS]) study was conducted over the basement complex in Southern Sinai (Feiran watershed) for a better understanding of the structural controls on the groundwater flow. The increase in satellite-based radar backscattering values following a large precipitation event (date: 17, 18 Jan 2010; amount: 34 mm) was used to identify water-bearing features, here interpreted as preferred pathways for surface water infiltration. Findings include: (1) The distribution of the water bearing features (conductive features) correspond to that of fractures, faults, shear zones, dike swarms, and wadi networks; …

Structure From Motion Elevation Model For Adding Topographic Correction To Ground Penetrating Radar, Leslie A. Mowbray

Student Research Symposium

High resolution elevation models have become a standard tool in environmental, geological and archaeological investigations, however; the cost of acquiring Lidar in remote areas, on small project sites or over repeated time intervals remains prohibitively expensive. Here, open-source software and GIS are used to create a digital elevation model (DEM) from aerial photos in a process known as Structure from Motion (SfM). This process is a fraction of the cost of Lidar acquisition, and is shown to produce a model with comparable resolution. The photos used here were taken from a camera hung from a balloon flown at Mickey Springs …

Inferring The Oriented Elastic Tensor From Surface Wave Observations: Preliminary Application Across The Western United States, Jiayi Xie, Michael H. Ritzwoller, S. J. Brownlee, B. R. Hacker

Environmental Science and Geology Faculty Research Publications

Radial and azimuthal anisotropy in seismic wave speeds have long been observed using surface waves and are believed to be controlled by deformation within the Earth’s crust and uppermost mantle. Although radial and azimuthal anisotropy reflect important aspects of anisotropic media, few studies have tried to interpret them jointly. We describe a method of inversion that interprets simultaneous observations of radial and azimuthal anisotropy under the assumption of a hexagonally symmetric elastic tensor with a tilted symmetry axis defined by dip and strike angles. We show that observations of radial anisotropy and the 2ψ component of azimuthal anisotropy for Rayleigh …

Pennsylvanian Subsurface Sequence Stratigraphy Based On 3d Seismic And Wireline Data In Western Osage County, Oklahoma, Alexander West

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Pennsylvanian System in the Mid-Continent United States has been studied for nearly a century. In north central Oklahoma, the Pennsylvanian is primarily composed of cyclothems. These cyclothems are sequences of alternating carbonate, clastic, and shale members. Because of this, these zones can be difficult to differentiate. This project provides valuable insight into better understanding the Pennsylvanian System in western Osage County, Oklahoma. The scope of this project is to perform a subsurface study to produce a detailed interpretation of the depositional history and stratigraphy of Pennsylvanian sequences in western Osage County.

This study features 3D seismic and well log …

Analysis Of Paleokarst Sinkholes In The Arkoma Basin Using 3-D Seismic, Michael Kumbalek

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Paleokarst features are important to understand, both with regards to research geologists and to the petroleum industry. In terms of geology, understanding paleokarst features can yield more information about the depositional and surface environments of past times, and how diagenetic alteration affected the environment during the formation of karst features. In the petroleum industry, paleokarst features can have positive or negative consequence resulting in a potential reservoir with enhanced porosity due to the paleokarst features, or as a geo-hazard to prepare for or avoid when drilling.

Inspired by issues faced when drilling in the Ft. Worth basin, this study utilizes …

Interpretation Of Late Cretaceous Volcanic Mounds And Surrounding Gulfian Series Formations Using 3d Seismic Data In Zavala County, Texas, Laura Claire Bennett

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Late Cretaceous Gulfian series is a prominent and important series across the State of Texas that has been extensively studied since the nineteenth century. It is composed of series of southeast-dipping shelf carbonates and clastics deposited on the northwest margin of the Gulf of Mexico Basin. In south Texas, the Gulfian series was deposited in the Rio Grande Embayment and Maverick Basin and is comprised of the Eagle Ford Group, Austin Group, Anacacho Limestone, San Miguel Formation, Olmos Formation, and Escondido Formation that crop out and continue basinward in the subsurface. Late Cretaceous volcanism formed volcanic mounds composed of …

An Investigation Of 3d Seismic Deep Basement Events In Osage County, Oklahoma, Kevin Matthew Liner

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Deep basement events seen in 3D seismic surveys located in Osage County, Oklahoma can be observed and may have affect overlying sedimentary formations. The 3D surveys used in this study are on the Chautauqua platform about fifty miles northwest of Tulsa, Oklahoma. Stratigraphy of the work area spans base of the Permian to Precambrian formations, with basement depth averaging around 5000 ft in the area of the 3D seismic surveys. Cores spanning Precambrian to Pennsylvanian were examined in the area of the 3D seismic surveys. Hydrothermal minerals were observed in Mississippian age cores. The basement events where tracked using OpendTect …

On The Temporal Evolution Of Long-Wavelength Mantle Structure Of The Earth Since The Early Paleozoic, Shijie Zhong, Maxwell L. Rudolph

Geology Faculty Publications and Presentations

The seismic structure of the Earth’s lower mantle is characterized by a dominantly degree-2 pattern with the African and Pacific large low shear velocity provinces (i.e., LLSVP) that are separated by circum-Pacific seismically fast anomalies. It is important to understand the origin of such a degree-2 mantle structure and its temporal evolution. In this study, we investigated the effects of plate motion history and mantle viscosity on the temporal evolution of the lower mantle structure since the early Paleozoic by formulating 3-D spherical shell models of thermochemical convection. For convection models with realistic mantle viscosity and no initial structure, it …

Fault Zone Hydrogeology In Crystalline And Sedimentary Aquifers In Arid Regions: Remote Sensing, Hydrological And Geoloectrical Methods, Lamees M. Mohamed

Research and Creative Activities Poster Day

An integrated study was conducted using remote sensing, hydrological and geophysical methods to investigate the role of structural elements in controlling the groundwater accumulation and flow in fractured basement complex. This research shows that the structural elements as fault and shear zones could act as a conduit or a barrier for the groundwater depending on the direction of these elements with the groundwater flow. Similar findings are observed in Central Sinai as it was found in Southern Sinai. These findings will help in more understanding of the fractured basement aquifers.

Beyond The Angle Of Repose: A Review And Synthesis Of Landslide Processes In Response To Rapid Uplift, Eel River, Northern Eel River, Northern California, Joshua J. Roering, Benjamin H. Mackey, Alexander L. Handwerger, Adam M. Booth, David A. Schmidt, Georgina L. Bennett, Corina Cerovski-Darriau

Geology Faculty Publications and Presentations

In mountainous settings, increases in rock uplift are often followed by a commensurate uptick in denudation as rivers incise and steepen hillslopes, making them increasingly prone to landsliding as slope angles approach a limiting value. For decades, the threshold slope model has been invoked to account for landslide-driven increases in sediment flux that limit topographic relief, but the manner by which slope failures organize themselves spatially and temporally in order for erosion to keep pace with rock uplift has not been well documented. Here, we review past work and present new findings from remote sensing, cosmogenic adionuclides, suspended sediment records, …

The Mantle Transition Zone Beneath West Antarctica: Seismic Evidence For Hydration And Thermal Upwellings, E. L. Emry, A. A. Nyblade, J. Juliá, S. Anandakrishnan, R. C. Aster, D. A. Wiens, Audrey D. Huerta, T. J. Wilson

All Faculty Scholarship for the College of the Sciences

Although prior work suggests that a mantle plume is associated with Cenozoic rifting and volcanism in West Antarctica, the existence of a plume remains conjectural. Here we use P wave receiver functions (PRFs) from the Antarctic POLENET array to estimate mantle transition zone thickness, which is sensitive to temperature perturbations, throughout previously unstudied parts of West Antarctica. We obtain over 8000 high‐quality PRFs using an iterative, time domain deconvolution method filtered with a Gaussian width of 0.5 and 1.0, corresponding to frequencies less than ∼0.24 and ∼0.48 Hz, respectively. Single‐station and common conversion point stacks, migrated to depth using the …

Assessing The Relative Mobility Of Submarine Landslides From Deposit Morphology And Physical Properties: An Example From Kumano Basin, Nankai Trough, Offshore Japan, Zachary T. Moore

Theses and Dissertations--Earth and Environmental Sciences

A prominent landslide deposit in the Slope Basin seaward of the Megasplay Fault in the Nankai Trough was emplaced by a high-mobility landslide based on analysis of physical properties and seismic geomorphology. Slide acceleration is a critical variable that determines amplitude of slide-generated tsunami but is many times a variable with large uncertainty. In recent controlled laboratory experiments, the ratio of the shear stress to yield strength (defined as the Flow Factor) controls a wide spectrum of mass movement styles from slow, retrogressive failure to rapid, liquefied flows. Here, we apply this laboratory Flow Factor approach to a natural landslide …

Identification And Quantification Of Diffuse Fresh Submarine Groundwater Discharge Via Airborne Thermal Infrared Remote Sensing, Joseph T. Tamborski, A Deanne Rogers, Henry J. Bokuniewicz, J Kirk Cochran, Caitlin R. Young

Department of Geosciences Faculty Publications

Airborne thermal infrared (TIR) overflights were combined with shoreline radionuclide surveys to investigate submarine groundwater discharge (SGD) along the north shore of Long Island, NY between June 2013 and September 2014. Regression equations developed for three distinct geomorphological environments suggest a positive linear relationship between the rate of diffuse SGD and the spatial extent of the observed coastal TIR anomalies; such a relationship provides quantitative evidence of the ability to use TIR remote sensing as a tool to remotely identify and measure SGD. Landsat TIR scenes were unable to resolve any of the 18 TIR anomalies identified during the various …