Paleontology Commons^™

Surficial Geologic Mapping Of The Starkville 7.5-Minute United States Geological Survey Quadrangle 33088d-7 In Oktibbeha County, Mississippi, Jonathan Leard

Theses and Dissertations

The Starkville Quadrangle is a hotspot for geological research. The Late Cretaceous is represented by the Demopolis Formation in the northeast corner of the quadrangle, followed by the Ripley Formation, and the Prairie Bluff Formation. The K-Pg boundary is exposed in the quadrangle, and the remarkable paleontology is of global importance. The Clayton Formation is the first Paleocene unit. Where the Clayton Formation channel sands are in contact with the underlying Prairie Bluff Formation, springs occur. Springs were a rare source of water in the Black Prairie and spurred the settlement of the area over 10,000 years ago. The Paleocene …

Microfabric Analysis Of Mid-Pliocene Amundsen Sea Interglacial Sediments Demonstrates A Link Between Iceberg Melt And Diatom Productivity (Iodp Exp. 379), Heather Leanne Furlong

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Anthropogenically induced climate change in the polar regions has rapidly become an emergent global issue, especially for low-lying coastal communities, which are most affected by sea-level rise. The future of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) is of significant concern due to its history of instability and retreat, especially in light of the observed ongoing changes. Establishing rates of retreat is critical to forecasting future behavior of the WAIS, and previous studies have been unable to establish rates of ice sheet collapse in part because Antarctic continental shelf records are impacted by erosional hiatuses. In 2019, International Ocean Discovery Program …

Model Of A Biotic Hard Substrate Community: Paleoecology Of Large Trepostome Bryozoans From The Upper Ordovician (Katian) Of The Cincinnati Region, Usa, Kate Runciman

Senior Independent Study Theses

The calcite skeletons of trepostome bryozoan colonies from the Upper Ordovician (Katian) of the Cincinnati region record the diverse interactions and growth responses these colonies experienced. Trepostome specimens from three Cincinnatian strata; the Bellevue Member, the Bull Fork Formation, and the Whitewater Formation, were studied within this project. These three strata were deposited in a shallow epicontinental sea environment that was located in the southern subtropics, approximately 20-23°S at the time of deposition. The focus of this project was the paleoecology of large trepostome bryozoans, which was studied by examining bryozoan growth patterns, trace fossils, and sedimentation. Microscopic examination of …

Unearthing The Effects Of European-American Settlement On A Northeast Ohio Kettle Lake Through Diatom Stratigraphy, Justine Paul A. Berina

Senior Independent Study Theses

Recently, wetland conservation has highlighted the necessity for assessing limnological changes following European-American settlement. A prior study at Brown's Lake (northeast Ohio) identified a stratigraphic sequence that shows an abrupt transition from organic-rich muds to several centimeters of a bright loess layer, then a recovery to organic-rich sediments near the top. Based on ²¹⁰Pb dates, the loess deposition occurred before 1846 CE, when a growing population cleared trees and farmed intensively. Likewise, organics had recovered after 1950 CE, when people abandoned farmland and practiced conservation tillage. However, the effects of settlement on limnology are poorly known. Diatoms (microscopic algae; …

Geology And Hydrogeology Of Northeastern Nebraska: Geology, Water Management And Geological Hazards, Nebraska Geological Society Field Trip 2021, Robert F. Diffendal Jr., Sue Olafsen Lackey, Douglas R. Hallum

Conservation and Survey Division

The 2021 Nebraska Geological Society field trip will provide an overview of the geology and hydrogeology of northeast Nebraska, the groundwater quality and quantity issues unique to the region, water management issues and decision-making, and ongoing work relating to water quality and geologic (hydrostratigraphic) framework, along the lower Niobrara and Missouri rivers Between Spencer Dam and Homer Nebraska. This program will be comprised of an auto tour with multiple stops on Saturday October 16 through Monday October 18 as illustrated in Map 1. The tour will begin with an examination of the Spencer Dam site and several locations in and …

Determining Biostratigraphy And Correlation Using Color Alteration Index And Lithofacies Of Conodonts In The Edinburg Formation, Central Virginia, Lauren Showalter

Senior Honors Projects, 2020-current

Conodont species, CAI and lithofacies analysis are used as methods of correlation to determine the relative age, depositional environment, and post depositional burial history of the Edinburg Formation in central Virginia. Samples collected for conodont microfossils yielded faunas of Baltoniodus sp. or Amorphognathus sp., Periodon grandis and Protopanderodus liripipus from a site near Luray and Drepanoistodus suberectus, Plectodina sp., Protopanderodus liripipus, Oistodus sp., Phragmodus undatus, Erismodus radicans and Panderodus gracilis from a site in Harrisonburg. The species supports a Late Ordovician (Late Sandbian age). Conodonts from both sites have a CAI of 4-5, indicating post-depositional heating of …

Terrestrial Soldier Crab (Coenobita Clypeatus, Fabricius 1787) And Cerion Spp. (Röding 1798) Shell Relationship On San Salvador Island, Bahamas, Harley Hunt

Biology Theses

The Caribbean terrestrial soldier crab, Coenobita clypeatus(Fabricius 1787), coexist and utilize the shells of numerous species of land and marine gastropods. Soldier crabs rely on gastropod shells for protection as the crabs have a soft abdomen, leaving them vulnerable for predation and desiccation, threatening their survival. This creates a strong pressure to obtain well-fitting shells that provide adequate protection against water loss. Cerion of Röding (1798) shells are one of the most commonly used shells among living colonies of C. clypeatuson San Salvador Island. This study is interested in the frequency of shell use by C. clypeatus crabs …

Sediment Provenance Of Tsunami Deposits: Implications For Assessing The Relative Intensity Of Paleotsunamis From The Sendai Coastline Of Japan, Tiffany Otai

Master's Theses

The 2011 Tohoku tsunami impacted the northeastern coast of Japan and caused unexpected damages due to the underestimation of this type of hazard. Of particular importance is the fact that geologic evidence for a predecessor event, the Jogan tsunami (CE 869), could have forecasted the severity of the 2011 Tohoku event. While the timing of tsunamis is important for effective hazard mitigation, outside of the 2011 Tohoku event, the intensity of past tsunamis remains unclear. To understand paleotsunami intensity, it is important to document characteristics of modern analogues like the 2011 event. This study utilizes surface distributions of foraminifera from …

Paleoecology Of Bivalves In The Carmel Formation (Middle Jurassic, Bajocian) Of Utah, Evan L. Shadbolt

Senior Independent Study Theses

The Carmel Formation of the Middle Jurassic has many mysteries. One of these enigmas is its bivalves. The formation contains the famous oyster balls called ostreoliths. Despite bivalves making up 80 percent of the fossils found in the Carmel Formation, it is not understood how the bivalves lived in this community. The formation is located in southwestern and central Utah. It was deposited when an epicontinental seaway covered most of Utah. The paleoclimate of Utah was hot and dry, which meant that the environment was evaporite heavy. This also meant that the seawater at the southernmost extent of the seaway …

Interpretive Geologic Maps And Cross Sections For Phelps, Kearney, And Adams Counties In Nebraska, Dana Divine, Leslie M. Howard

Conservation and Survey Division

Data from thousands of test-hole and well logs were interpreted to improve understanding and management of the High Plains aquifer in a three-county study area adjacent to the Big Bend reach of the Platte River. Five principal conclusions resulted from these interpretations: (1) the extent of Neogene Ogallala deposits beneath the study area is different than previously mapped; (2) a large paleovalley incised into Cretaceous bedrock probably cuts across Kearney and Adams counties and may be the course of the ancestral Platte River prior to formation of the Big Bend; (3) a groundwater mound created by irrigation canals artificially raises …

Paleoenvironments Containing Coryphodon In The Fort Union And Willwood Formations Spanning The Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (Petm), Bighorn Basin, Wyoming, Emily N. Randall

Senior Independent Study Theses

Preliminary data point toward a new hypothesis in which Coryphodon lived in wetter habitats before the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM), but was able to adapt to drier habitats in order to survive post-PETM. Early Paleogene nonmarine strata are extensively exposed in the Bighorn Basin of northwestern Wyoming. The Fort Union and Willwood Formations represent alluvial deposition within a Laramide Basin formed from the Paleocene through early Eocene. Therefore, the basin is an ideal place to study the local effects of the PETM, a rapid global warming event that occurred about 55.5 million years ago at the Paleocene–Eocene boundary. During this …

Geology Of Southeastern Nebraska, Robert Matthew Joeckel, Dana Divine, Leslie M. Howard, Kathleen Cameron, Michele M. Waszgis

Conservation and Survey Division

No abstract provided.

Biodiversity And Distribution Of Benthic Foraminifera In Harrington Sound, Bermuda: The Effects Of Physical And Geochemical Factors On Dominant Taxa, Nam Le

Honors Theses

Harrington Sound, Bermuda, is a nearly enclosed lagoon acting as a subtropical/tropical, carbonate-rich basin in which carbonate sediments, reef patches, and carbonate-producing organisms accumulate. Here, one of the most important calcareous groups is the Foraminifera. Analyses of common benthic orders, including miliolids (Quinqueloculina and Triloculina spp.) and rotaliids (Homotrema rubrum, Elphidium spp., and Ammonia beccarii), are essential in understanding past and present environmental conditions affecting the island's coastal environment. These taxa have been studied previously; however, factors explaining their individual patterns of abundance in the Sound are not well detailed. The goal of this study is …

New Insights Into Carboniferous Cyclothems. The Fourth Biennial Field Conference Of The American Association Of Petroleum Geologists (Aapg) Midcontinent Section Fourth Biennial Field Conference Abstracts And Guidebook, Robert Matthew Joeckel, Christopher R. Fielding

Conservation and Survey Division

The term “cyclothem” was coined by Wanless & Weller (1932) to describe repetitive stratigraphic successions of Carboniferous age in Illinois. Nonetheless, comparable rhythmicity had been identified in Carboniferous rocks both in the central and eastern USA, and in Europe during the preceding century. Cyclothems were found to comprise repetitive vertical successions of sandstones, heterolithic (thinly interbedded) sandstones and mudrocks, mudrocks, limestones, and coals, in many cases with pedogenic overprinting of these lithologies. As usage of the term “cyclothem” increased, so did the diversity of successions to which the term was applied, to the point where many geologists advocated abandonment of …

Encrusting Sclerobiont Paleoecology And Bioerosion Of Oysters In The Type Campanian (Upper Cretaceous) Of Southwestern France, Macy A. Conrad

Senior Independent Study Theses

The Campanian Stage of the Upper Cretaceous was established by Henri Coquand in 1857 based on a sequence of richly fossiliferous shallow water carbonates in the Charente and Charente-Maritime departments of southwestern France. One of the most common macrofossils is the gryphaeid oyster Pycnodonte vesicularis (Lamarck, 1806), which often forms extensive shell beds. This bivalve lived primarily on soft marly substrates, forming hard substrate islands. They frequently supported sclerobiont communities comprising encrusters (diverse cheilostome and cyclostome bryozoans, foraminiferans, oysters, bivalves, sabellid and serpulid polychaetes, calcareous sponges), borers (the sponge borings Entobia, the worm borings Maeandropolydora and Caulostrepsis, the barnacle borings …

Using Foraminifera In Stemseas Site 1 To Understand The Recent Paleoceanographic And Paleoclimatic History Of Tanner Basin, California Borderland, Michael Stanley Stone

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

In May of 2016, the STEMSEAS Educational Transit cruise OC1605-tranA collected the STEMSEAS Site 1 core from the Tanner Basin in the California Borderland. This research serves as the first formal survey of the foraminifera preserved within that core. The purpose of this research is to use foraminifera preserved within that core to understand the recent depositional and paleoenvironmental conditions at Site 1, and to place that information into a regional paleoceanographic and paleoclimatic context. In pursuing this purpose, this research aims to answer three questions: 1) Can biostratigraphic markers in the foraminiferal assemblages in STEMSEAS Site 1 core be …

Geology Of Northeastern Nebraska And Environs: Cedar, Dakota, And Dixon Counties In Nebraska, And Plymouth And Woodbury County In Iowa, Robert Matthew Joeckel, Dana Divine, P.R. Hanson, Leslie M. Howard

Conservation and Survey Division

No abstract provided.

Geology And Paleontology Along Part Of The Niobrara River In Northern Nebraska, Robert Matthew Joeckel, S. T. Tucker, Leslie M. Howard

Conservation and Survey Division

No abstract provided.

Paleoecology Of Foraminifera From The Late Miocene - Early Pliocene Pullen And Saint George Formations, Northwestern California, Trenton J. Ryan

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

The Pullen and Saint George formations are coeval late Miocene-early Pliocene sedimentary formations in northwestern California. The type localities of both formations were studied from a micropaleontologic perspective that focused primarily on Foraminifera, but with additional observations of other fossil groups to reconstruct their past depositional environments. The results obtained in this study provided a photomicrographic inventory of the microfossils from both formations, aided in investigating changes in paleobathymetry of the formations during the late Miocene and early Pliocene based on Foraminifera, and allowed for interpretation of paleoecological signals from the foraminiferan associations. Foraminifera have not been previously described in …

Early Miocene Quantitative Calcareous Nannofossil Biostratigraphy From The Tropical Atlantic, Waheed A. Albasrawi

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Quantitative analysis for the Lower Miocene of Ocean Drilling Program Hole 959A from the West African margin was performed to document all the calcareous nannofossil biostratigraphic events present. Combined with data from previous investigations of the Lower Miocene from the tropical Atlantic, this research identifies and tests the viability of markers used in current zonation scheme, identifies alternative markers for age boundaries, and examine statistically the most probable order of event in the Lower Miocene using the Ranking and Scaling method (RASC).

The examination of Hole 959A was performed on a 112 samples. Seven additional sites that collectively span the …

Determining The Age Of A Stabilized Dune Field, Carissa Raymond

UCARE Research Products

The aim of this project was to assess the development and age of the Kearney Dunefield in central Nebraska through the collection and analysis of sand samples from the inactive dunes. These dunes are not part of the well-known Nebraska Sandhills, and so far have not been thoroughly studied. Similar assessments have been conducted on dune fields throughout the Great Plains, and this study seeks to place the Kearney Dunes into a regional context.

The OSL ages for the Kearney cores fall between approximately 590 and 690 years ago. These dates overlap with a period of activation for the Nebraska …

Geology Of The Platte River Valley Near Kearney, Nebraska, Jeremy S. Dillon, Paul R. Hanson, Ashley Larsen, Jacob Bruihler, Carissa Raymond

Conservation and Survey Division

No abstract provided.

North-Central Nebraska Geology: Niobrara River Valley In Brown, Cherry, And Keya Paha Counties, R. M. Joeckel, L. M. Howard, S. T. Tucker

Conservation and Survey Division

No abstract provided.

Field Trip Guidebook For The Nebraska Well Drillers Association, Duane A. Eversoll, Matt Joeckel, Lee Orton

Conservation and Survey Division

No abstract provided.

Letter: A Developing Schism In Flood Geology, Marcus R. Ross

Marcus R. Ross

First paragraph: Froede and Akridge are correct to recognize that creation geology includes two widely divergent groups seeking to reconstruct Earth history within a Biblical framework. Such has been the case throughout the history of creationism, going back to disagreements between Harold Clark and George McCready Price over the reality (or not) of the geologic column. With the increased number of geologically trained young-Earth creationists, discussions over these issues have become more common.

Cyclic Distributional Model Of The Late Moscovian Fusulinids In The Donets Basin (Ukraine) In Response To Eustatic Sea Level Fluctuations And Its Application In Biostratigraphy And Correlation, Rimma Khodjanyazova

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

The continuous Pennsylvanian shallow-marine, paralic, siliciclastic succession in the Donets Basin is pivotal for correlation of marine and continental strata in northern Pangaea with coeval shallow-marine mainly carbonate strata in the Moscow Basin, a historical type area of Moscovian Horizons. The details of the history of establishment, lithostratigraphy and current biostratigraphy of Podolskian and Myachkovian Horizons in the Moscow Basin that are not readily available in Western literature are reviewed.

A model of cyclic recurrence (~0.6 —1myr) of three main fusulinid assemblages in the Pennsylvanian siliciclastic-carbonate succession in the Donets Basin is proposed. A Hemifusulina-association (A) indicates the onset …

The Flood/Post-Flood Boundary (Comment And Reply), Marcus R. Ross

Marcus R. Ross

First paragraph: Michael Oard’s recent article on the Flood/post-Flood boundary consists of two parts: the first is response to my earlier paper on utilizing mammalian biostratigraphy in evaluating post-Flood boundary locations, which found placement of this boundary at or near the Pliocene/Pleistocene boundary untenable; the second part is a set of disparate observations placed in support of a high post-Flood boundary placed at variable locations in the “Late Cenozoic”. (comment continues; download for full comment and reply by Michael Oard)

Tree-Ring Evidence Of North Pacific Volcanically Forced Cooling And Forcing Of The Pacific Decadal Oscillation (Pdo), Lauren Vargo

Senior Independent Study Theses

Two large undocumented volcanic eruptions in 1698/9 and 1809 have been previously identified in ice cores as sulfate peaks, and in tree-ring latewood density data as low-density rings. These eruptions can also be recognized using tree-ring width data, and can be identified in the tree-ring record as narrow rings for several consecutive years. The first part of this study uses tree-ring width data from the Gulf of Alaska to provide further evidence that these eruptions occurred. The two eruptions also provide a natural experiment for investigating the effects large volcanic eruptions have on North Pacific climate, including the Pacific Decadal …

Mary Anning Of Lyme Regis: 19th Century Pioneer In British Palaeontology, Larry E. Davis

Headwaters

No abstract provided.

History, Geology And Water In The Lower Platte River Valley In Eastern Nebraska, Dave Gosselin, Marv Carlson, Matt Joeckel

Conservation and Survey Division

No abstract provided.