Earth Sciences Commons^™

Identification Of Geochemical Facies Through Major Ion Data And Additional Parameters From Shallow Groundwater Utilizing A Comparison Of Geomathematics And Traditional Methods In Las Vegas Valley, Nevada, Eric Dano

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

There has been little exploration to identify geochemical facies in shallow groundwater in the Las Vegas Valley in Clark County, Nevada. Identification of hydrochemical facies in Las Vegas Valley is important for assessing the extent and nature of a potential groundwater resource. The identification of facies could be complicated by the possibility that secondary recharge constitutes a hydrochemical facies of its own. To identify geochemical facies, groundwater samples for major ions, stable isotopes and some municipal tracers were collected from 35 wells in an established network of monitor wells. Wells were purged with a bailer or 12V pump and EC, …

Structural And Metamorphic Evolution Of The West-Central Newton Window, Eastern Inner Piedmont, Burke, Catawba, And Lincoln Counties, North Carolina, William George Gilliam

Masters Theses

Rocks of the western and eastern Inner Piedmont, along with the eastern Blue Ridge, comprise the Neoacadian metamorphic core of the southern Appalachians. The composite Inner Piedmont consists of the eastern Tugaloo (western Inner Piedmont) and Cat Square (eastern Inner Piedmont) terranes, which are separated by the Brindle Creek fault. Geochronologic evidence established the Brindle Creek fault as a terrane boundary within the Inner Piedmont, separating terranes of Laurentian and mixed Laurentian/Avalonian (peri-Gondwanan) zircon suites. The Newton window exposes Tugaloo terrane rocks of the Tallulah Falls Formation in the footwall of the Brindle Creek thrust sheet.

Detailed geologic mapping in …

The Effects Of Contact Metamorphism On The Host Rocks For Carlin-Type Mineralization At The Getchell Development, Nevada, Usa, Nathan C. Eck

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Carlin-type gold deposits (CTGDs) result from low to moderate temperature hydrothermal systems which form replacement bodies in carbonate or calcareous host rocks. The Getchell CTGD is located on the Getchell trend in north central Nevada. The Eocene age mineralization is locally hosted within the metamorphic aureole of the Cretaceous age Osgood stock. Previous studies have noted that the effects of the contact metamorphism can be heterogeneous, with strongly calc-silicate altered carbonates transitioning to relatively pristine limestone over short distances. The main finding of this study was that the variability in calc-silicate alteration is largely dependent on the differing host lithologies …

Temporal And Spatial Assessment Of Evaporation, Transpiration, And Soil Moisture Redistribution, Brian M. Bird

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

At a native stand of creosote bush (Larrea tridentata) in North Las Vegas, a rainfall simulation study was conducted over a 12 month period from October 2005 to October 2006. Simulated rainfall occurred during the winter, spring, summer, and fall periods. Rainfall simulation systems were positioned on each of 12 plots, each containing a single creosote bush. Simulated rainfall events occurred at night with multiple short pulses designed to maximize infiltration while minimizing ponding. Yearly simulated rainfall amounts were set at 0, 15, 30 and 60 cm (replicated three times) and were approximately 0, 1.5, 3.0 and 6.0 times the …

Cockatoo Sands Soil Survey : Assessment Of The Potential Irrigation Areas, Kununurra Area, East Kimberley, Henry Smolinski, Kus Kuswardiyanto, Justin Laycock

Resource management technical reports

No abstract provided.

Slip Distribution Of The 1952 Kamchatka Great Earthquake Based On Near-Field Tsunami Deposits And Historical Records, Breanyn Macinnes, Robert Weiss, Joanne Bourgeois, Tatiana K. Pinegina

All Faculty Scholarship for the College of the Sciences

We explore the magnitude and slip distribution of the 1952 Kamchatka earthquake (M_W 8.8–9.0) using constraints from the 1952 Kamchatka tsunami. Our new field data provide more comprehensive coverage of the near-field tsunami than had been available to date. We examine the effects of internal slip distribution within complex earthquake ruptures on near-field tsunami runup and evaluate some of the limitations of this approach. Our approach compares tsunami-deposit distribution with simulated runup from tsunamis generated by different configurations of seafloor deformation from hypothetical earthquakes resembling that of the 1952 Kamchatka earthquake. We identify areas of high slip because different …

Simulation Of Contaminant Transport From Solid Domestic Waste Disposal Sites In The Warri Deltaic Plain Sands, Warri-Effurun, Nigeria, Charles Onoriode Usiaphre

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

Protecting the groundwater resource in the Warri Deltaic Plain sand from the impact of anthropogenic contamination requires an understanding and knowledge of groundwater flow paths, transport processes and the source of contamination. This study was carried out to find out contaminant transport from solid domestic waste sites to the groundwater. The U.S. Geological Survey three-dimensional finite-difference code, MODFLOW, was used to simulate the groundwater flow. The flow pattern reveals predominantly downward flow, with major horizontal motion towards towns around Ekurede Urhobo and Ekurede Itsekiri in Warri. Simulation of advective contaminant transport using MODPATE1 for particle tracking indicates local movement of …

The Relationships Of Streambank Angles And Shapes To Streambank Erosion Rates In The Little River Watershed, Tn, William Ryan Foster

Masters Theses

Sediment is a leading cause of water quality impairment throughout the United States. In the Little River watershed in eastern Tennessee, several tributaries have been classified as impaired due primarily to sedimentation. Researchers at The University of Tennessee, in collaboration with a group of local and state organizations, began monitoring Little River tributaries to better understand their sources of pollution. To investigate the rates and processes of streambank erosion, erosion-pin monitoring sites were established on 32 banks in the watershed. This thesis complements the erosion-pin monitoring efforts by determining bank characteristics and examining the relationships of streambank angles and shapes …

Petrology And Geochemistry Of The Pompton Pink Granite, New Jersey Highlands, Ian Phillip Johnson

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

The Pompton Pink Granite is a small (~1 km²), post-orogenic granitoid body located in the New Jersey Highlands. It is a mildly peraluminous (ASI or aluminum saturation index, A/CNK = molar Al₂O₃ / (CaO + Na₂O + K₂O) > 1.0) pluton composed of microcline, microperthite, quartz, oligoclase, epidote, biotite, and magnetite and is classified as a granite based on its mineral and geochemical composition using standard IUGS classification schemes. The Pompton Pink Granite shows similar major-element geochemistry to other A-type granitoids found in the New Jersey Highlands, but its trace­ element geochemistry distinguishes it from these other …

Predicting Long-Term Well Performance From Short-Term Well Tests In The Piedmont, David Hisz

All Theses

A reliable estimate of the physically sustainable discharge of a well is a fundamental aspect affecting management of water resources, but there are surprisingly few analyses describing on how to make such an estimate. Current available methods include either an empirical or a quantitative approach. The empirical method is based on holding the head or flow rate constant in order to maintain a target drawdown for as long as possible. The second method involves conducting a constant rate test to calculate the properties of the aquifer, T and S, and extrapolate the drawdown using a type curve (i.e. Theis analysis). …

The Effects Of Changes In Water Content On Uranium(Vi) Leaching In Sediment Mixtures Containing Gravel, Andrew Weber Moore

Masters Theses

This study is aimed at understanding the physical and chemical effects that changes in water content have on uranium leaching in sediment containing gravel. It was hypothesized that leaching will be more efficient under unsaturated conditions because flow will be restricted to the smallest pores and will have the most contact with the uranium contaminated sediment. Under saturated conditions, a large portion of the flow will bypass the < 2 mm material, and in turn not come into contact with uranium contaminated material. Batch adsorption and desorption experiments were performed on < 2 mm ERDF sediment to determine the linearity and reversibility of sorption processes and to aid in the interpretation of the leaching experiments. Results of the desorption experiments on aged, contaminated sediments show that the mass percent of sorbed U(VI) released to solution decreased as the sorbed concentration of U(VI) decreased. The opposite trend was observed on freshly contaminated sediments. This indicated that aging increased U(VI) affinity for the solid phase and was attributed to either the crystallization of calcite, which incorporated a portion of the sorbed U(VI) as it crystallized, or the presence of voids in basaltic lithic fragments accessed by diffusion. Column leaching experiments were performed at two water contents on artificially contaminated sediment collected from the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Hanford Site, Washington state. The sediment contained 81.3% gravel (> 2 mm) by mass. Non-reactive tracers were well fit with the convection-dispersion equation (CDE) at both high and low water contents indicating physical equilibrium. The column experimental data were fitted to an …

Factors Influencing Soil Moisture At The Hillslope Scale In A Semi-Arid Mountainous Environment, Ivan John Geroy

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Soil moisture couples ground, surface, and atmospheric water interactions via the processes of evapotranspiration, infiltration, and runoff generation (Grayson et al., 1997). Consequently, understanding the factors that influence the spatial distribution of soil moisture is vitally important to the accurate conceptualization and modeling of watershed processes. Typically, topographic indexing methods for the prediction of soil moisture have been studied in temperate or humid areas where the soil profile is often saturated and redistribution of soil moisture is driven by topography (Famiglietti et al., 1998; Grayson et al., 1997; Western et al., 1999). By contrast, in semi-arid environments, long periods of …

A Morphological And Geochemical Investigation Of Grypania Spiralis: Implications For Early Earth Evolution, Miles Anthony Henderson

Masters Theses

Macroscopic “carbonaceous” fossils such as Grypania, Katnia, Chuaria, and Tawuia play a critical role in our understanding of biological evolution in the Precambrian and their environmental implications. Unfortunately, understanding of these fossils remains limited by their relative simplicity of form, mode of preservation, and broad taphonomic variability. As a result, debate continues as to even the fundamental taxonomic affinity of the organisms. Megascopic coiled forms (i.e. Grypania and Katnia), for instance, have been interpreted as trace fossils, multicellular algae, prokaryotic filaments, macroscopic bacteria, cyanobacteria, or a transitional form from macroscopic to megascopic bacterial life. Similarly, Chuaria …

Clay Mineral Cycles Identified By Diffuse Spectral Reflectance In Quaternary Sediments From The Northwind Ridge: Implications For Glacial-Interglacial Sedimentation Patterns In The Arctic Ocean, Lyanne N. Yurco, Joseph D. Ortiz, Leonid Polyak, Dennis A. Darby, Kevin A. Crawford

OES Faculty Publications

A Quaternary record of fine-grained sediment composition is used to investigate Arctic Ocean climate variability on glacial-interglacial time scales. Diffuse spectral reflectance data from sediment core P1-92AR-P25 from the Northwind Ridge, north of Alaska, demonstrates cyclic variations in mineralogy. Varimax-rotated R-mode factor analysis of down-core data revealed three major mineralogical assemblages, which were then compared with the content of manganese, a proxy for basin ventilation, and thus glacial-interglacial cycles. Results indicate that factor 1, a smectite + chlorite clay assemblage, was delivered to the core site during interglacials, either by fluvial discharge or sea-ice drift from Siberian rivers or inflow …

A Case History Of The Science And Management Collaboration In Understanding Hypoxia Events In Long Bay, South Carolina, Usa., Denise Sanger, Debra Hernandez, Susan Libes, George Voulgaris, Braxton Davis, Erik Smith, Rebecca Shufford, Dwayne Porter, Eric Koepfler, Joseph Bennet

George Voulgaris

Communication of knowledge between the scientific and management communities is a difficult process complicated by the distinctive nature of professional career goals of scientists and decision-makers. This article provides a case history highlighting a collaboration between the science and management communities that resulted from a response to a 2004 hypoxia, or low dissolved oxygen, event in Long Bay, off Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. A working group of scientists and decision-makers was established at the time of the event and has continued to interact to develop a firm understanding of the drivers responsible for hypoxia formation in Long Bay. Several factors …

Deep Ocean Interaction In A Post-Flood Warm Ocean Scenario, Steven M. Gollmer

Science and Mathematics Faculty Presentations

Explanations for the Pleistocene Ice Ages in the context of a recent creation have ranged from denial of the existence of ice ages to a single contracted ice age with multiple surges. This second position mentioned in The Genesis Flood (Whitcomb and Morris, 1961) and modified by Oard (Oard, 1979) relies on a warm ocean in the wake of a global flood. The warm ocean provides a ready source of water vapor, which can be deposited over cold polar land masses as snow. Since a warm ocean prevents land masses from cooling sufficiently to accumulate snow, it is necessary to …

Evolution Of The Kangmar Dome, Southern Tibet: Structural, Petrologic, And Thermochronologic Constraints, Jeffrey Lee, Bradley Hacker, William Dinklage, Yu Wang, Phillip Gans, Andrew Calvert, Ann Blythe, William Mcclelland

Ann Blythe

Structural, thermobarometric, and thermochronologic investigations of the Kangmar Dome, southern Tibet, suggest that both extensional and contractional deformational histories are preserved within the dome. The dome is cored by an orthogneiss which is mantled by staurolite + kyanite zone metasedimentary rocks; metamorphic grade dies out up section and is defined by a series of concentric kyanite-in, staurolite-in, garnet-in, and chloritoid-in isograds. Three major deformational events, two older penetrative events and a younger doming event, are preserved. The oldest event, D1, resulted in approximately E-W trending tight to isoclinal folds of bedding with an associated moderately to steeply north dipping axial …

Three-Dimensional Mechanics Of Yakutat Convergence In The Southern Alaskan Plate Corner, Peter O. Koons, B. P. Hooks, T. Pavlis, P. Upton, A. D. Barker

Earth Science Faculty Scholarship

Three-dimensional numerical models are used to investigate the mechanical evolution of the southern Alaskan plate corner where the Yakutat and the Pacific plates converge on the North American plate. The evolving model plate boundary consists of Convergent, Lateral, and Subduction subboundaries with flow separation of incoming material into upward or downward trajectories forming dual, nonlinear advective thermal/mechanical anomalies that fix the position of major subaerial mountain belts. The model convergent subboundary evolves into two teleconnected orogens: Inlet and Outlet orogens form at locations that correspond with the St. Elias and the Central Alaska Range, respectively, linked to the East by …

A Flume Experiment On The Effect Of Constriction Shape On The Formation Of Forced Pools, Douglas M. Thompson, C. R. Mccarrick

Physics, Astronomy and Geophysics Faculty Publications

A series of 18 flume runs were conducted in a 6-m long, 0.5-m wide recirculating flume with a bed gradient of 0.8% to determine the influence of obstruction shape on the formation and characteristics of forced pools. Six different-shaped obstructions were added to the flume with the maximum width of the obstruction held constant at 20 cm, which equaled a 40% constriction of flow. The obstruction shapes used included a square, a rectangle, a right triangle with the hypotenuse-facing upstream, a right triangle with the hypotenuse-facing downstream, a combination of a square and triangle with the hypotenuse-facing upstream, and a …

Assessing The Impact Of An Organic Restoration Structure On Boat Wake Energy, Jean Ellis, Douglas Sherman, Bernard Bauer, Jeffrey Hart

Jean Taylor Ellis

No abstract provided.