Unearthing Complexity: Tangible Histories Of Water And Earth, Alexis Violet

Masters Theses

Unearthing Complexity investigates conceptions of time and surface through geological stories of the water and earth. Building on theories of deep time, hydrofeminism, critical zones, and grounding, I hope to foster a deeper awareness of time scales other than our own and a more tangible understanding of the embodied experience of matter in the universe. Working toward a new literacy of the water and earth in which they are recognized as living, changing bodies to which we are inherently tied at a molecular level, the site of this multiscalar inquiry occurs in the coastal zones of the Narragansett Bay where …

Investigation Of Cryptotephra In Polar Ice Cores, Meredith Helmick

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Volcanic ash (tephra) present within polar ice cores greatly supplements our understanding of past volcanism and its impacts on society and the state of the climate system. This thesis investigates the utility and limitations of ice core tephrochronology in answering questions related to volcanic source identification of ice core glaciochemical signals, tephrostratigraphy of an Antarctic ice core, and the timing of major and climate forcing eruptions. This thesis explores the efficacy of SEM-EDS measurements on ultra-fine (µm) volcanic particles for the purpose of geochemically characterizing a non-visible ice-embedded tephra and the subsequent identification of the volcanic source. In combination with …

The Impacts Of Mid-Holocene Warming On Water Quality In A Southwestern Ontario Kettle Pond, Morgan E. Peicheff

Undergraduate Student Research Internships Conference

No abstract provided.

Biis: The Last British Ice Sheet, A Review Of The Most Recent Major Glaciation Of Great Britain And Ireland, Benediktas Gaskevicius

Honors College Theses

The British Irish Ice Sheet was a substantial ice mass covering the British Isles during the most recent glaciation that ended around 11,700 years ago. Oftentimes referred to as the BIIS, it is subdivided into two sections, a western and eastern side that covered Great Britain and Ireland, with the Irish basin in the middle. Some notable areas of study around Great Britain and Ireland include the ’Bizzle’ in Northern England, which was transformed by the effects of the eastern margin of the BIIS, the Carstair Kames in Scotland, a locality known internationally for its esker system, The Minch region …

Improving Aquifer Characterization Through Integration Of Airborne Electromagnetics (Aem) And Well Hydrographs, Jacqueline Polashek

School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The objective of this study is to evaluate methods of hydrostratigraphic modeling using geophysics and well hydrographs at the eastern edge of the High Plains aquifer (HPA) in Platte and Colfax counties within Nebraska, USA. The HPA is very heterogeneous in the study area, being hosted by architecturally complex glacial sediments and having many irregular hydraulic boundaries. Further, the HPA exhibits local variations between unconfined and confined conditions. Pumping in such bounded aquifers can be unsustainable because of cost increases and lost agricultural productivity. Moreover, the large drawdowns typical of confined aquifers can contribute to well interference during heavy pumping. …

Effectiveness Of Four Water-Bearing Zones Of The Glacierized Basin In Meltwater Runoff Modeling, Umesh K. Haritashya

Umesh K. Haritashya

Meltwater runoff modeling from glacierized basins needs several input data, including total meltwater contributing area. This study utilizes optical remote sensing data to assess glacierized basins in the central Himalayas where snow and glaciers contribute substantially to the water resources. Result shows that there are four main water-bearing zones in the basin: (a) dry snow, (b) wet snow, (c) exposed glacial ice, and (d) debris-covered glacial ice, and it is possible to differentiate and map these zones and their spatio-temporal variations from satellite sensor data. These zones can then be incorporated in meltwater runoff modeling as separate entities because they …

The Periglacial Landscape Of Mars: Insight Into The 'Decameter-Scale Rimmed Depressions' In Utopia Planitia, Arya Bina

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Currently, Mars appears to be in a ‘frozen’ and ‘dry’ state, with the clear majority of the planet’s surface maintaining year-round sub-zero temperatures. However, the discovery of features consistent with landforms found in periglacial environments on Earth, suggests a climate history for Mars that may have involved freeze and thaw cycles. Such landforms include hummocky, polygonised, scalloped, and pitted terrains, as well as ice-rich deposits and gullies, along the mid- to high-latitude bands, typically with no lower than 20o N/S. The detection of near-surface and surface ice via the Phoenix lander, excavation of ice via recent impact cratering activity as …

Early Miocene Antarctic Glacial History: New Insights From Heavy Mineral Analysis From Andrill And–2a Drill Core Sediments, Francesco Iacoviello, Giovanna Giorgetti, Isabella Turbanti Memmi, Sandra Passchier

Sandra Passchier

The present study deals with heavy mineral analysis of late Early Miocene marine sediments recovered in the McMurdo Sound region (Ross Sea, Antarctica) during the ANDRILL— SMS Project in 2007. The main objective is to investigate how heavy mineral assemblages reflect different source rocks and hence different provenance areas. These data contribute to a better understanding of East Antarctica ice dynamics in the Ross Sea sector during the Early Miocene (17.6–20.2 Ma), a time of long-term global warming and sea level rise. The AND-2A drill core recovered several stratigraphic intervals that span from Early Miocene to Pleistocene and it collected …

Arctic And North Atlantic Paleo-Environmental Reconstructions From Lake Sediments, Gregory A. De Wet

Doctoral Dissertations

ABSTRACT

Raritan Formation (Upper Cretaceous), Long Island, New York: Sedimentological And Geochemical Assessment, Nazrul I. Khandaker, Arif Sikder, Stanley Schleifer, Xin-Chen Liu, Carlos E. Castano Londano, Joseph B. Mcgee Turner

Publications and Research

The lithology of the Upper Cretaceous Raritan Formation (RF) consists of two members: an upper clay member (Raritan clay) and a lower unit, the Lloyd Sand Member. RF is unconformably overlain by upper Pleistocene glacial deposits. The RF consists of stratified white, light- to dark-gray, and red beds and lenses of clay, silt, and sand; lignite and pyrite are common. Variegated, thin to thickly-bedded Lloyd sandstone (LS) is considered to be one of the extensive regional aquifers in Long Island and interpreted to be nearshore, fluvio-deltaic deposit. Proximity to fluvial axes and active deltaic lobes plays an important role in …

Channel Form And Processes In A Formerly Glaciated Terrain, Nathaniel Bergman

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Despite that many places around the world in general, and North America in particular, were glaciated during the last ice age, relatively little is known about rivers that evolved over these landscapes once they deglaciated. These rivers are commonly categorized as alluvial with a glacial legacy, and often described as plain gravel-bed or sand-bed rivers. Alternatively, they are considered to be bedrock rivers when the glacial deposits were eroded and underlying rock was exposed. However, ignoring the glacial history of these rivers is scientifically wrong and they should be termed "semi-alluvial". This work shows that classification is important, not only …

Surficial Geology Of York College Campus (Queens) And Montauk Point (Long Island): An Open Access To Geoscience Education, Nazrul I. Khandaker, Stanley Schleifer, Krishna Mahabir, Erik Menjivar, Ality Aghedo, Dennis Baidoo, Tenzin Choeying, Vanessa Erwin, Jonathan Xavier, Laboni Molla, Akeed Alrubay

Publications and Research

To evaluate compositional and textural differences among the samples collected from York College (YC) campus (Queens), Montauk Point (MP) and Hither Hills (HH), Long Island, emphasis is given to the general geologic setting, overall grain size distribution, and relative abundances of light and heavy mineral assemblages. Geologic setting encompasses outwash plains (York College), fluvioglacial and glacial (Montauk Point) and beach and dune complex (Hither Hills). YC samples were collected from depth ranging 40 cm to 250 cm and are mostly an assortment of medium to coarse sand, granule to cobble sized, minor silt, and clay. Presence of low angle cross …

Montauk Point, An Essential Field Experience For Students In The New York City Area, Stanley Schleifer, Nazrul I. Khandaker, Keshaw Narine

Publications and Research

Except for a thin strip of Proterozoic and Paleozoic metamorphic and igneous rock along its very western edge and an outcropping of coastal plain deposits along its northwestern edge, the surface of Long Island is immediately underlain by unconsolidated deposits consisting of moraines of glacial till, outwash plains of stratified drift, and beach and dune complex formed by wave action. Two very prominent features of the island are the Harbor Hill Moraine, which marks the southernmost extent of the last major advance of continental glacier ice in the New York area during the Pleistocene and the Ronkonkoma Moraine, which marks …

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

Shuang-ye Wu

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 …

Reconstruction Of The Hirnantian (Late Ordovician) Palaeotopography In The Upper Yangtze Region, Linna Zhang, Junxuan Fan, Qing Chen, Shuang-Ye Wu

Shuang-ye Wu

Reconstruction of the Hirnantian (Late Ordovician) palaeotopography in South China is important for understanding the distribution pattern of the Hirnantian marine depositional environment. In this study, we reconstructed the Hirnantian palaeotopography in the Upper Yangtze region based on the rankings of the palaeo-water depths, which were inferred according to the lithofacies and biofacies characteristics of the sections. Data from 374 Hirnantian sections were collected and standardized through the online Geobiodiversity Database. The Ordinary Kriging interpolation method in the ArcGIS software was applied to create the continuous surface of the palaeo-water depths, i.e. the Hirnantian palaeotopography. Meanwhile, the line transect analysis …

Prevailing Weather Conditions During Summer Seasons Around Gangotri Glacier, Pratap Singh, Umesh K. Haritashya, K. S. Ramasastri, Naresh Kumar

Umesh K. Haritashya

Meteorological data collected near the snout of the Gangotri Glacier suggest that the study area receives less rainfall. The average seasonal rainfall is observed to be about 260 mm. The rainfall distribution does not show any monsoon impact. Amount of seasonal rainfall is highly variable (131.4-368.8 mm) from year to year, but, in general, August had the maximum rainfall. A verage daily maximum and minimum temperatures were 14.7 and 4.1°C respectively, whereas average mean temperature was 9.4°C. July was recorded as the warmest month. During daytime, wind speed was four times higher than that at night-time. The average daytime and …

Encyclopedia Of Snow, Ice And Glaciers, Vijay P. Singh, Pratap Singh, Umesh K. Haritashya

Umesh K. Haritashya

The objective of this encyclopedia is to present the current state of scientific understanding of various aspects of earth’s cryosphere – snow, glaciers, ice caps, ice sheets, ice shelves, sea ice, river and lake ice, and permafrost – and their related interdisciplinary connections under one umbrella. Therefore, every effort has been made to provide a comprehensive coverage of cryosphere by including a broad array of topics, such as the atmospheric processes responsible for snow formation; snowfall observations; snow cover and snow surveys; transformation of snow to ice and changes in their properties; classification of ice and glaciers and their worldwide …

A College Level Geology Field Trip In Western Connecticut And Vicinity, Stanley Schleifer, Nazrul I. Khandaker, Keshaw Narine, Ezazul Haque, Ratan Dhar

Publications and Research

There are a number of excellent locations for field exposure for college students in, and around Western Connecticut. These are accessible for a one day field trip within striking distance of New York City, Bridgeport and New Haven, CT and other nearby locations. They are also suitable for an expanded weekend field trip. The field locations include; Kent Falls State Park, Kent, CT, Dinosaur State Park, Rocky Hill, CT, the Hubbard Mining Museum, Kent, CT, Bash Bish Falls in Mt. Washington, Massachusetts, Macedonia Brook State Park in Kent, CT and various outcrops exposed along U. S. Route 7 north of …

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 …

Evidence Of Late Quaternary Fires From Charcoal And Siliceous Aggregates In Lake Sediments In The Eastern U.S.A., Joanne P. Ballard

Doctoral Dissertations

The late-glacial transition to the Holocene, 15,000–11,600 cal yr BP, is an enigmatic period of dynamic global changes and a major extinction event in North America. Fire is an agent of disturbance that transforms the environment physically and chemically, and affects plant community composition. To improve understanding of the linkages between fire, vegetation, and climate over the late glacial and Holocene in the eastern U.S., I analyzed lake-sediment cores for charcoal and indicators of wood ash, and compared results to existing pollen records. A new microscopic charcoal record from Anderson Pond, Tennessee revealed high fire activity from 23,000–15,000 cal yr …

Determining Provenance Of Glacial Material In Southwestern Ohio, Jorian Krob

The Research and Scholarship Symposium (2013-2019)

During the last glacial maximum, ice moved south from Canada to cover much of the northern United States. This included the northern and western portions of Ohio. As the ice migrated it picked up Canadian bedrock which it transported and then left in Ohio when the ice retreated. The goal of this project was to determine the provenance (the source of origin) of the glacial material that is located in Greene, Clark, Montgomery, Logan, and Champaign Counties in Ohio. To determine where in southern Canada the material in these counties came from, this project included literature review into the glacial …

Early Miocene Antarctic Glacial History: New Insights From Heavy Mineral Analysis From Andrill And–2a Drill Core Sediments, Francesco Iacoviello, Giovanna Giorgetti, Isabella Turbanti Memmi, Sandra Passchier

ANDRILL Research and Publications

The present study deals with heavy mineral analysis of late Early Miocene marine sediments recovered in the McMurdo Sound region (Ross Sea, Antarctica) during the ANDRILL— SMS Project in 2007. The main objective is to investigate how heavy mineral assemblages reflect different source rocks and hence different provenance areas. These data contribute to a better understanding of East Antarctica ice dynamics in the Ross Sea sector during the Early Miocene (17.6–20.2 Ma), a time of long-term global warming and sea level rise. The AND-2A drill core recovered several stratigraphic intervals that span from Early Miocene to Pleistocene and it collected …

Geologic Map Of The Welcome Quadrangle And An Adjacent Part Of The Wells Quadrangle, Elko County, Nevada, Allen J. Mcgrew, Arthur W. Snoke

Geology Faculty Publications

Located in central Elko County, the Welcome and adjacent part of the Wells quadrangles expose a remarkable array of critical relationships for understanding the geologic history of the State of Nevada and the interior of the southwestern U.S. Cordillera. Covering the northern end of the East Humboldt Range and adjacent Clover Valley and Clover Hill, this map includes the northern terminus of the Ruby Mountains-East Humboldt Range metamorphic core complex. The oldest rocks in the State of Nevada (the gneiss complex of Angel Lake), and Nevada’s only exposures of Archean rock, form the core of a multikilometer scale, southward-closing recumbent …

Using Strat Columns To Interpret Sequence Stragraphy Of Glacial Driven Stream Deposits Of The Acient San Joaquin River, Kyle R. Scharton

STAR Program Research Presentations

The sedimentary deposits of the ancient San Joaquin River tell the story of river flow through three glacial periods. A strat column shows vertical changes in deposition throughout an outcrop. It can be used to extrapolate the energy level of the flow, and other features of the river at different depositional environments. By looking at trends through the column it is possible to determine how the river’s flow changed through time. Variances in the gravel size and whether it supports itself or is held together by the surrounding sand matrix give clues as to the rate of flow and how …

Reconstruction Of The Hirnantian (Late Ordovician) Palaeotopography In The Upper Yangtze Region, Linna Zhang, Junxuan Fan, Qing Chen, Shuang-Ye Wu

Geology Faculty Publications

Reconstruction of the Hirnantian (Late Ordovician) palaeotopography in South China is important for understanding the distribution pattern of the Hirnantian marine depositional environment. In this study, we reconstructed the Hirnantian palaeotopography in the Upper Yangtze region based on the rankings of the palaeo-water depths, which were inferred according to the lithofacies and biofacies characteristics of the sections. Data from 374 Hirnantian sections were collected and standardized through the online Geobiodiversity Database. The Ordinary Kriging interpolation method in the ArcGIS software was applied to create the continuous surface of the palaeo-water depths, i.e. the Hirnantian palaeotopography. Meanwhile, the line transect analysis …

Lithic Analysis Of Coyote Canyon Mammoth Site Sediments, Kaitlin M. Hill, George V. Last

STAR Program Research Presentations

The landforms and geologic layers of Southeastern Washington record fascinating, unique geologic events, including repeated catastrophic flooding that occurred during the last Ice Age. These floods left behind many distinctive features, and a variety of fossils. After discovery of mammoth-sized bones in 1999, and confirmation that more bones were still in place in 2008, the Coyote Canyon Mammoth Site near Kennewick, Washington was secured for research, and formal excavation began in 2010.

Previous research suggests that the remains are buried in Ice Age flood deposits, which are overlain by eolian sediments, and those in turn overlain by slope wash. We …

Geologic Observations Along The Steamboat Trace Trail, Markers 16-20, In The Vicinity Of Peru, Nemaha County, Nebraska (Including On The Indian Cave Sandstone), Robert F. Diffendal Jr.

Robert F. Diffendal, Jr., Publications

This section of the Steamboat Trace Trail from markers 16 through 20 (Figure 1) offers especially good examples of geologic features in this part of Nebraska (Figure 2). These include: The Missouri River, its valley, river cuts into the valley side, tributaries to the river, and flood control structures; Sites of active and potential landslides; Wind-deposited silts (called loess by geologists and soil scientists); Glacial deposits; Bedrock exposures of ancient sandstone, shale, conglomerate, and limestone; Fossils of ocean- and land-dwelling plants and animals; Coal deposits.

Effectiveness Of Four Water-Bearing Zones Of The Glacierized Basin In Meltwater Runoff Modeling, Umesh K. Haritashya

Geology Faculty Publications

Meltwater runoff modeling from glacierized basins needs several input data, including total meltwater contributing area. This study utilizes optical remote sensing data to assess glacierized basins in the central Himalayas where snow and glaciers contribute substantially to the water resources. Result shows that there are four main water-bearing zones in the basin: (a) dry snow, (b) wet snow, (c) exposed glacial ice, and (d) debris-covered glacial ice, and it is possible to differentiate and map these zones and their spatio-temporal variations from satellite sensor data. These zones can then be incorporated in meltwater runoff modeling as separate entities because they …

Encyclopedia Of Snow, Ice And Glaciers, Vijay P. Singh, Pratap Singh, Umesh K. Haritashya

Geology Faculty Publications

The objective of this encyclopedia is to present the current state of scientific understanding of various aspects of earth’s cryosphere – snow, glaciers, ice caps, ice sheets, ice shelves, sea ice, river and lake ice, and permafrost – and their related interdisciplinary connections under one umbrella. Therefore, every effort has been made to provide a comprehensive coverage of cryosphere by including a broad array of topics, such as the atmospheric processes responsible for snow formation; snowfall observations; snow cover and snow surveys; transformation of snow to ice and changes in their properties; classification of ice and glaciers and their worldwide …

Timing, Distribution, Amount, And Style Of Cenozoic Extension In The Northern Great Basin, Christopher D. Henry, Allen J. Mcgrew, Joseph P. Colgan, Arthur W. Snoke, Matthew E. Brueseke

Geology Faculty Publications

This field trip examines contrasting lines of evidence bearing on the timing and structural style of Cenozoic (and perhaps late Mesozoic) extensional deformation in northeastern Nevada. Studies of metamorphic core complexes in this region report extension beginning in the early Cenozoic or even Late Cretaceous, peaking in the Eocene and Oligocene, and being largely over before the onset of “modern” Basin and Range extension in the middle Miocene. In contrast, studies based on low- temperature thermochronology and geologic mapping of Eocene and Miocene volcanic and sedimentary deposits report only minor, localized extension in the Eocene, no extension at all in …