Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Articles 1 - 2 of 2

Full-Text Articles in Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology

Assessing The Rates Of Post-Depositional Change Within 2004 Indian Ocean Sediments: Implications For Long-Term Records Of Paleotsunamis, Lillian Pearson Aug 2021

Assessing The Rates Of Post-Depositional Change Within 2004 Indian Ocean Sediments: Implications For Long-Term Records Of Paleotsunamis, Lillian Pearson

Master's Theses

Foraminifera are commonly used to examine patterns of tsunami inundation occurring over centennial to millennial timescales, but the impacts of post-depositional change on geologic reconstructions are unknown. In Sumatra, the taphonomic character (i.e., test surface condition) of a foraminifer can deteriorate over time, rendering them unidentifiable, and even dissolve them entirely. Here I investigate the rates of post-depositional change of foraminiferal assemblages found within the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami (IOT) deposit over a 15-year time interval in Aceh, Indonesia in a vegetated open coastal plain (Site 1: Pulot) and an unvegetated protected coastal cave (Site 2). I identified two zones …


Small-Scale Resuspension And Redistribution Of Surface Sediments In The Northeast Gulf Of Mexico, Austin Harris May 2021

Small-Scale Resuspension And Redistribution Of Surface Sediments In The Northeast Gulf Of Mexico, Austin Harris

Master's Theses

Following the release of ~4.9 million barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico from the Macondo wellhead, a vast area of the seafloor contained recently deposited marine sediments contaminated by the oil spill. The initial deposition of these contaminated marine sediments was likely not the end of the journey for the particles. Downslope gravitational processes and events of increased current speed in the deep ocean setting can result in recently deposited sediments to resuspend and be moved laterally with the current flow, increasing the area effected by the oil spill. Erosion experiments performed in a closed-loop resuspension flume were …