Other Earth Sciences Commons^™

Evaluating Reclaimed Mines And Heavy Metal Soil Contamination, Torin A. Matthews

ATU Research Symposium

Arkansas has a rich history of lead and zinc mining. While there are still some active mines, many historical mines have been abandoned and/or reclaimed. Although most reclamation procedures result in the burial and containment of target minerals, accessory minerals and elements can be leached out of waste materials/tailings piles and include heavy metals (i.e., Pb, As, Cd). We aim to evaluate the soil and watershed of a few abandoned/reclaimed mines in Pope County, AR, for the presence of heavy metals/source minerals. Soil and stream sediment geochemistry will be conducted using a portable x-ray fluorescence analyzer. Field work and sampling …

Reducing Food Scarcity: The Benefits Of Urban Farming, S.A. Claudell, Emilio Mejia

Journal of Nonprofit Innovation

Urban farming can enhance the lives of communities and help reduce food scarcity. This paper presents a conceptual prototype of an efficient urban farming community that can be scaled for a single apartment building or an entire community across all global geoeconomics regions, including densely populated cities and rural, developing towns and communities. When deployed in coordination with smart crop choices, local farm support, and efficient transportation then the result isn’t just sustainability, but also increasing fresh produce accessibility, optimizing nutritional value, eliminating the use of ‘forever chemicals’, reducing transportation costs, and fostering global environmental benefits.

Imagine Doris, who is …

The Upper Ocean At The End Of An Ice Age: Using Proxies In Benthic Foraminifera To Investigate Intermediate Water Changes During The Last Glacial Termination, Cassandre R. Stirpe

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The ocean is an important component of the global climate system and plays a key role as a storage reservoir for heat and carbon. Under glacial conditions, the ocean sequestered carbon from the atmosphere, contributing to a cooler global climate. During the last glacial termination, that carbon was released back into the atmosphere, but the exact timing and mechanisms of this transfer are still not fully understood. This study examines waters from the intermediate depths of the Southern Ocean to gain insight into deglacial processes. Intermediate waters are capable of reacting to climate change on decadal timescales, making them a …

The Fate Of Carbonate Rocks During Hypervelocity Impacts: Case Studies From Three Impact Structures On Earth, Nicolas D. Garroni

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Approximately 28% of all hypervelocity impact structures discovered on Earth exist in a carbonate-dominated target sequence. Despite decades of research, how carbonate rocks and minerals react to shock metamorphism is still poorly understood. In this contribution, three impact structures on Earth were studied to determine the effects of shock metamorphism on carbonate minerals: Chicxulub, Crooked Creek and Jebel Waqf as Suwwan.

At Chicxulub, carbonates from the impact-melt bearing breccia of drill core, M0077A were characterized petrographically and geochemically. Calcite was the only carbonate mineral present and is abundant throughout the impact breccia in five distinct varieties: limestone clasts …

Natural Fracture Evolution: Investigations Into The Middle Devonian Marcellus Shale, Appalachian Basin, Usa, Natalie Abigail Mitchell

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Optimizing recovery from unconventional shale reservoirs has generated considerable research into optimal recovery methods through hydraulic fracturing design and shale reservoir characterization in the development of long-term hydrocarbon producers. Permeability at multiple scales from nanometer-scale pore sizes and nano-darcy permeability to completion-induced fractures defining a 100’s of meter stimulated reservoir volume plays a significant role in hydrocarbon flow during production in shale reservoirs. Preexisting cemented fractures in unconventional shale reservoirs are abundant and preferentially reactivate during induced hydraulic fracturing treatment to create necessary large-scale permeability. While previous investigations have significantly improved our knowledge of shale reservoirs, it has also highlighted …

Geomorphic And Paleoclimatic Implications Of Glacial Extent Records In The Sierra Nevada Del Cocuy, Colombia During Termination 1, Jordan Nickerson Herbert

Dartmouth College Master’s Theses

Reconstructions of past glacial extents using geomorphic mapping and cosmogenic dating provide an opportunity to infer past climates. A record of the past extents of tropical mountain glaciers is particularly useful because there are few other means to reconstruct past temperatures in high-altitude, low-latitude locations. The tropics play an outsized role in mediating global climate, yet there is a lack of understanding of how the tropics may have influenced past climate changes such as the most recent deglaciation (Termination 1, ~18–11.7 ka). Improving reconstructions of tropical mountain glaciers will aid in understanding the role of the tropics in the global …

Geochemical Characterization Of The Bone Spring Formation, Delaware Basin, Using Chemostratigraphy And Integrated Petrophysics, David Tonner

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Delaware Basin forms part of West Texas's and New Mexico’s famous petroleum-generating Permian Basin. The Bone Spring Formation is a prolific hydrocarbon producer within this basin, creating one of the world’s richest oil shales. This formation has lithological sequences that are characterized by repeating carbonate and siliciclastic intervals of a third-order cycle which can largely be correlated to highstand and lowstand systems tracts, respectively. Lithological complexity and facies change are manifested by debris flows, turbidites, and slumps. In addition to glacio-eustasy, both tectonism and broader Milankovitch cycles have influenced the depositional history. Previous investigations have utilized cores and wireline …

Precambrian Molar-Tooth Structure: Unraveling The Diagenesis Of Ancient Carbonates, Agustin Kriscautzky

Doctoral Dissertations

Molar-tooth structure (MTS) is an enigmatic carbonate fabric that occurs mainly within Proterozoic carbonate host rocks. It is composed of two distinct features: cracks of various morphologies and crack-filling calcite microspar. Although the origins of MTS remain unknown, most previous investigation has focused on the formation of the cracks and mechanisms involved in the void space generation, with less emphasis on the intriguing carbonate fill. In this study I have investigated molar-tooth bearing carbonates from regions that span both paleogeography and geologic time. Analysis at the microscopic scale, including traditional petrography, cathodoluminescence petrography, scanning electron microscopy, and micrometer-scale geochemical analyses …

Glaciochemical Investigations In Three Southern Hemisphere Mountain Sites, Mariusz Potocki

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The research presented in this dissertation focuses on glaciochemical records of trace elements, major ions, and stable water isotopes from three mountain regions: the Antarctic Peninsula, the Central Chilean Andes, and South Georgia Island.

The first section reports a significant increase in U concentration over 27 years on Detroit Plateau, Antarctic Peninsula. U concentrations in the ice core increase by as much as 102 between the 1980s and 2000s, accompanied by increased variability in recent years. The U concentration increase coincides with expanded open pit mining in the Southern Hemisphere, most notably Australia. Since other land-source dust elements do not …

Oxygen Speciation In Potassium Silicate And Potassium Aluminosilicate Glasses: Insights From X-Ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy, Ryan Sawyer

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

In a geological context, glasses are useful analogues for silicate melts as they are more readily studied in the laboratory using a wide range of techniques that are impractical for molten liquids. Understanding the structure of binary silicate glasses can help us understand more about the magmatic processes that affect terrestrial planetary bodies.

Potassium silicate glasses ranging in composition from 10 mol% to 35 mol% K₂O were studied using X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS). From high resolution O 1s XPS spectra, Bridging Oxygen (BO) mole fractions were calculated and compared with those of previous ²⁹Si MAS NMR studies. …

Fate And Transport Of Toxoplasma Gondii Oocysts In Saturated Porous Media: Effects Of Electrolytes And Natural Organic Matter, Christian Pullano

All Theses

Toxoplasma gondii is a pathogenic microorganism that is currently a threat to public health. Understanding the fate and transport of T. gondii through the soil and groundwater is vital in determining the risk it poses to water resources and human health. The physico-chemical interactions between the groundwater and the bio colloid within an aquifer will dictate its mobility and its ability to infect humans. This research examines how various naturally occurring groundwater chemistries containing organic compounds and monovalent and divalent salt solutions will alter the fate and transport of T. gondii. Solutions containing various concentrations of humic acid, fulvic …

Evaluating Alternative Ebullition Models For Predicting Peatland Methane Emission And Its Pathways Via Data–Model Fusion, Shuang Ma, Lifen Jiang, Rachel M. Wilson, Jeff P. Chanton, Scott Bridgham, Shuli Niu, Colleen M. Iversen, Avni Malhotra, Jiang Jiang, Xingjie Lu, Jason Keller, Xiaofeng Xu, Daniel M. Ricciuto, Paul J. Hanson, Yiqi Luo

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

Understanding the dynamics of peatland methane (CH₄) emissions and quantifying sources of uncertainty in estimating peatland CH₄ emissions are critical for mitigating climate change. The relative contributions of CH₄ emission pathways through ebullition, plant-mediated transport, and diffusion, together with their different transport rates and vulnerability to oxidation, determine the quantity of CH₄ to be oxidized before leaving the soil. Notwithstanding their importance, the relative contributions of the emission pathways are highly uncertain. In particular, the ebullition process is more uncertain and can lead to large uncertainties in modeled CH₄ emissions. To improve model simulations …

Evaluating Alternative Ebullition Models For Predicting Peatland Methane Emission And Its Pathways Via Data–Model Fusion, Shuang Ma, Lifen Jiang, Rachel M. Wilson, Jeff P. Chanton, Scott Bridgham, Shuli Niu, Colleen M. Iversen, Avni Malhotra, Jiang Jiang, Xingjie Lu, Yuanyuan Huang, Jason Keller, Xiaofeng Xu, Daniel M. Ricciuto, Paul J. Hanson, Yiqi Luo

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

Understanding the dynamics of peatland methane (CH4) emissions and quantifying sources of uncertainty in estimating peatland CH4 emissions are critical for mitigating climate change. The relative contributions of CH4 emission pathways through ebullition, plant-mediated transport, and diffusion, together with their different transport rates and vulnerability to oxidation, determine the quantity of CH4 to be oxidized before leaving the soil. Notwithstanding their importance, the relative contributions of the emission pathways are highly uncertain. In particular, the ebullition process is more uncertain and can lead to large uncertainties in modeled CH4 emissions. To improve model simulations of CH4 emission and its pathways, …

Investigation Of Sulphide-Poor Gold Mineralization At The Deep A Zone, Kiena Complex, Québec, Stephanie A. Kobylinski

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The Kiena Complex is located halfway between Malartic and Val d’Or in Québec, within the Abitibi Greenstone belt in the Superior Province. This study examined mineralization at the Kiena Complex using detailed core logging, geochemical analysis of wall rock, petrography, EPMA, and gold deportment studies. The analysis and interpretations indicate that the unique sulphide-poor gold-rich quartz veins of the Deep A Zone at the Kiena Complex contain 500 μm²) are located at the contact of quartz and corroded albite grains, and fine gold grains (5-500 μm²) are hosted within the corroded albite.

The Mineralogy And Geochemistry Of Illinois Basin Paleosols: Recognizing Detrital, Pedogenic, And Diagenetic Minerals, Julia A. Mcintosh

Earth Sciences Theses and Dissertations

The geochemical compositions of minerals in paleosols are assumed to be homogenous and attained through chemical weathering processes during episodes of pedogenesis in the geologic past. As such, the geochemical composition of minerals from paleosols may be used to reconstruct ancient climates and environments. One problem with this assumption is that paleosols were initially clastic sedimentary rocks or substrate prior to pedogenesis, thus it is likely that some portion of the paleosol is still composed of detrital minerals. Secondly, conditions may change in a sedimentary basin as the basin is buried and later uplifted, potentially triggering new mineralization or transformation …

Chemical Characterization Of Clastic Cave Sediments And Insights Into Particle Transport And Storage In Karst Aquifers, Jill L. Riddell

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Abstract

Chemical characterization of clastic cave sediments and insights into particle transport and storage in karst aquifers

Jill L. Riddell

Cave sediments can be divided into two groups: precipitates and clastics. Precipitates are speleothems, or lithologic or mineral features that are chemically precipitated in the cave environment. Clastic cave sediments are frequently described by depositional facies, sorting, and particle size (Bosch and White, 2004). Robust analytical chemical analyses of these sediments to quantify their physical and chemical components is rarely performed although some chemical characterization of mineralogy and paleomagnetism has become prevalent in recent years (Chess et al., 2010; Sasowsky …

Timescales Of Magma Transport In The Columbia River Flood Basalts, Determined By Paleomagnetic Data, Joseph Biasi, Leif Karlstrom

Other Staff Materials

Flood basalts represent major events in Earth History, in part because they are linked to large climate perturbations and mass extinctions. However, the durations of individual flood basalt eruptions, which directly impact potential environmental crises, are poorly constrained. Here we use a combination of paleomagnetic data and thermal modeling to create a magnetic geothermometer (MGT) that can constrain the active transport lifetime of magmatic conduits and intrusions. We apply the MGT technique to eight feeder dike segments of the Columbia River basalts (CRB), demonstrating that some dike segments were actively heating host rocks for less than one month, while other …

Developing A Bytownite Calibration Curve As A Lunar Analogue, Trevor W. Matterson

Undergraduate Student Research Internships Conference

Planetary analogue materials are useful to help interpret and predict planetary processes on other planetary bodies that we cannot observe directly. Lunar analogue materials include terrestrial rocks and minerals with compositions and textures like those on the moon. This project investigates the lunar analogue mineral bytownite to quantify shock effects on the moon using strain related mosaicity determined through micro x-ray diffraction (µXRD). Calibrating strain information as a function of shock pressure for these minerals will enable us to extract peak shock pressures (in GPa) from naturally shocked materials, such as lunar meteorites and Apollo samples, using µXRD

Investigating Gallium Inclusion In Aluminum And Iron Oxyhydroxides, Corey A. Palmer

Masters Theses

Because Ga shares many physicochemical properties with Al and Fe, Ga may be able to incorporate into Al and Fe oxy-hydroxides. Understanding how Ga incorporates into these oxy-hydroxides may be crucial for finding Ga-rich bauxite deposits. In order to find the difference in Ga inclusion rates into oxy-hydroxides, as well as understand the mechanisms for this Ga inclusion, Al and Fe oxy-hydroxides were synthesized in the lab with Ga additions of 2 mol % Ga and 20 mol % Ga for a low-Ga and high-Ga treatment, respectively, along with a no added Ga control. X-Ray diffraction analyses confirmed the formation …

Atmosphere/Landscape Co2 Interactions In Mammoth Cave National Park: Hydrochemistry Of Cascade River, Great Onyx Cave, Jessica Williams

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

High-resolution analysis of water/CO₂/carbonate rock geochemistry was conducted at the Great Onyx Groundwater Basin in Mammoth Cave National Park. The purpose of this work has been to undertake hydrochemical characterization of the karst groundwater in Cascade River, the largest cave stream in the upper level of Great Onyx Cave, which is below a relatively pristine karst landscape.

Hydrochemical monitoring of Cascade River at Biz Falls using field, laboratory, and high-resolution electronic data-sonde measurements has provided a detailed picture of the stream’s behavior with respect to the transport and influence of carbon dioxide in the surface and groundwater system …

Advancement Of Full-Vector Variable-Temperature Magnetometry For Rock-Magnetic And Paleointensity Applications, Leonid Surovitskii

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Data on the variation of the direction and strength of Earth’s ancient magnetic field (absolute paleointensity) provide crucial information into the mechanisms of the geodynamo and the Earth’s thermal history. However, the use of conventional methods and instrumentation for absolute paleointensity determination has been hampered by physicochemical alteration of the samples caused by multiple high-temperature cycles and long experiment durations. The reliability and efficiency of the measurement process can be improved by the measurement of the full remanent magnetization vector simultaneously with the temperature cycling of a sample. Such as approach can also substantially expand the scope of materials available …

Soils And Paleosols, Daniel R. Muhs

Publications of the US Geological Survey

This article reviews the nature of modern and ancient soils. Soils are naturally occurring bodies that mantle most of the land surface of the Earth. They are found on virtually every part of the Earth’s land surface, other than areas covered by water bodies (lakes and rivers), glacial ice, or steep slopes in mountainous terrain. Soils occur at the interface of the geosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere, and atmosphere and are the medium of growth for much of the Earth’s plant and animal life. The study of soils as naturally occurring bodies on the Earth’s surface is called pedology (in contrast to …

Fire-Vegetation-Climate Interactions Across The Holocene On The U.S. Southeastern Coastal Plain, Mathew S. Boehm

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation research examined multiple proxy indicators in sediment cores from one lake and one wetland to reconstruct long-term relationships between fire, vegetation, and climate in the southeastern U.S.

At Lake Balboa (30.6992 N, 83.2031 W; 48 m elevation), a sinkhole pond located in southern Georgia, Bølling-Allerød conditions were sufficiently wet to maintain a shallow wetland at the site. Evidence for fire was minimal. Between 12,600 and 9200 cal yr BP, water availability declined, leading to a potential hiatus in sedimentation. During the early Holocene moisture availability increased, leading to greater primary productivity within and outside the lake, triggering an …

Interpretation Of Hydrogeologic Data To Support Groundwater Management, Bazile Groundwater Management Area, Northeast Nebraska, 2019—A Case Demonstration Of The Nebraska Geocloud, Christopher M. Hobza, Gregory V. Steele

Publications of the US Geological Survey

Nitrate, age tracer, and continuous groundwater-level data were interpreted in conjunction with airborne electromagnetic (AEM) survey data to understand the movement of nitrate within the Bazile Groundwater Management Area (BGMA) in northeastern Nebraska. Previously published age tracer data and nitrate data indicated vertical stratification of groundwater quality. Younger groundwater sampled within shallow parts of the aquifer had higher concentrations of nitrate, with 70 percent exceeding the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency maximum contaminant level of 10 milligrams per liter. In contrast, groundwater sampled from deeper parts of the aquifer indicated that nitrate concentrations were less than 2 milligrams per liter and …

Sulfur And Trace Metal Cycling At Convergent Margins, Jesse B. Walters

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Subduction zones are the site of long-term chemical exchange between Earth’s surface and interior geochemical reservoirs. Subducting slabs are progressively depleted in volatiles and other mobile elements through dehydration and melting reactions. These elements are then introduced to the mantle wedge and volcanic arc. One consequence of this cycle is that volcanic arcs produce the most oxidized magmas on Earth. Sulfur, which exhibits a range in valence states from S^2- to S⁶⁺, is one of the few elements in the subducting slab capable of oxidizing the arc and mantle wedge. Sulfides in the slab may also act …

The Legacy Of Mining In Southwest Missouri: Past And Present Conditions Of The Tri-State Mining District, Anastasia M C Mcclanahan

MSU Graduate Theses

The historic Tri-State Mining District (TSMD) of southwestern Missouri, southeastern Kansas, and northeastern Oklahoma has a history of lead and zinc mining that extended over a hundred years. During the district’s peak production period, the TSMD was one of the world’s largest producers of lead and zinc. The mining activities in the TSMD produced economic growth that supported the local communities and were essential to the victory of the Allied Forces during World War I and World War II. Beginning in the 1920s, the mining activities in the district slowly began to cease due to depletion of metal ores and …

Characterization Of Magma Storage And Dynamics At Akutan, Semisopochnoi, And Okmok Volcanoes From Analytical And Numerical Models Of Geodetic, Seismic, And Petrologic Data, Kimberly Degrandpre

Earth Sciences Theses and Dissertations

Volcanic eruptions can cause significant socioeconomic loss, but a better understanding of the processes and dynamics influencing the evolution of volcanic plumbing systems will advance the development of eruption forecasting models that will ultimately mitigate hazards and risks associated with eruptive events. Geologic and geophysical data must be integrated in 3D, finite- element, multiphysical, numerical models to define the coupled evolution of magmatic and crustal stress regimes in volcanic environments, but in data limited regions this is not always an option. The remote nature of the Aleutian Island Arc restricts ground-based monitoring and sampling efforts, and due to sparse temporal …

Groundwater Quality In The High Plains Aquifer

Publications of the US Geological Survey

Groundwater provides nearly 50 percent of the Nation’s drinking water. To help protect this vital resource, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Project assesses groundwater quality in aquifers that are important sources of drinking water. The High Plains aquifer constitutes one of the important aquifers being evaluated.

The High Plains aquifer underlies an area of about 169,000 square miles, which is populated by about 2 million people in parts of eight western states (Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas, South Dakota, and Wyoming). The aquifer ranks 13th in the Nation as a source of groundwater for …

Rare-Metal Alkaline Granite From The Arabian Shield, Saudi Arabia, Abdullah A. Aseri

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Mineral deposits of high field strength elements (HFSE) and rare earth elements (REE) are commonly within granites that have experienced strong post-magmatic alterations. There has been a long debate on whether the mineralization is due to magmatic and/or hydrothermal processes. The Arabian Shield hosts several economical rare-metal alkaline granites that are poorly understood. This work aims to evaluate the nature of the mineralization in three rare-metal granites from the Arabian Shield, showing distinct mineralization styles ranging between disseminated mineralization at Al-Ghurayyah, pegmatite and hematized granite at Jabal Sayid, and quartz veins at Dyaheen.

The granites from all three areas are …

Reconstructing Hydrologic Conditions And Metals Supplied By The Peace River To The Peace-Athabasca Delta, Jelle André Faber

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The Peace-Athabasca Delta (PAD) in northern Alberta, Canada, is recognized internationally for its ecological, historical, and cultural significance. The delta is mostly within Wood Buffalo National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and is a Ramsar Wetland of International Importance. The construction of the WAC Bennett Dam (1967) and the Site C Dam (ongoing, 2024) on the Peace River, and expansion of the Alberta Oil Sands industry along the Athabasca River have raised concerns over water quantity and quality in the delta. When industry operations began, effective monitoring had not been implemented. Consequently, pre-industrial reference conditions are unknown and can …