Geological Engineering Commons^™

Preclassic Environmental Degradation Of Lake Petén Itzá, Guatemala, By The Early Maya Of Nixtun-Ch’Ich’, Brooke A. Birkett, Jonathan Obrist-Farner, Prudence M. Rice, Wesley G. Parker, Peter M.J. Douglas, Melissa A. Berke, Audrey K. Taylor, Jason H. Curtis, Benjamin Keenan

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Paleolimnological Evidence Indicates the Ancient Maya Transformed Terrestrial Ecosystems by Felling Forest Vegetation to Construct Large Civic-Ceremonial Centers and to Expand Agriculture. Human Settlements Influenced Lacustrine Environments But the Effects of Maya Activities on Aquatic Ecosystems Remain Poorly Studied. Here We Analyzed a Sediment Core from Lake Petén Itzá, Guatemala, to Infer Paleoenvironmental Changes Resulting from Maya Occupation of the Archaeological Site of Nixtun-Ch'ich'. Increases in Charcoal and Fecal Stanol Concentrations Indicate Maya Occupation of the Candelaria Peninsula by the Late Early Preclassic Period. Geochemical Proxies Reveal a Period of Lake Ecosystem Alteration during Construction and Expansion of the City's …

Evolutionary History Of Western Eos Chaos Of Valles Marineris, Mars: Insights From Morphological Characteristics, Asif Iqbal Kakkassery, V. J. Rajesh, Rishitosh K. Sinha, Devika Padmakumar, K. S. Sajinkumar

Michigan Tech Publications

The dynamics of aqueous processes within the Eos Chasma region in the trough of Valles Marineris on Mars have been attributed to a variety of Hesperian-aged landforms. We aim to improve the understanding of the geological characteristics of the western part of the Eos Chaos by investigating the morphological, topographical, and thermo-physical characteristics of the western semi-circular segment of Valles Marineris. The western Eos Chaos is characterized by remnants of an elevated crater rim, a central peak, and a circular boundary. Based on these observations, we infer that the study area is an ancient, highly degraded impact crater. Our observations …

Landscape Position And Cover Crops Affects Crop Yields In A Terrace-Tiled Field, Harpreet Kaur, Kelly A. Nelson, Gurbir Singh, Gurpreet Kaur, Katherine R. Grote

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Cover Crops (CC) Provide Soil Ecosystem Benefits Including Reduced Soil Erosion, Improved Soil Health, and Nutrient Cycling. However, the Effect of CCs on Rotational Commodity Crop Grain Yields and Nutrient Uptake May Vary at Different Landscape Positions and under Different Soil Moisture Dynamics. the Objectives of This Study Were to Determine the Influence of CCs in a Terraced Field on Soil Moisture at Crop Emergence and Reproductive Stages of Corn (Zea Mays L) and Soybean (Glycine Max L. Merr.) Development, and Evaluate CCmix (Wheat (Triticum Aestivum L.), Radish (Raphanus Raphanistrum Subsp. Sativus), and Turnip (Brassica Rapa Subsp. Rapa)) and Cereal …

Development Of Eco-Friendly Chitosan-G-Polyacrylamide Preformed Particle Gel For Conformance Control In High-Temperature And High-Salinity Reservoirs, Reem Elaf, Ahmed Ben Ali, Mohammed Saad, Ibnelwaleed A. Hussein, Baojun Bai

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Oil and gas extraction has become challenging nowadays due to the accompanying amount of excess produced water that results in poor recoverability of hydrocarbon, besides other environmental and economic isues. A recent and efficient technology for conformance control is the injection of preformed particle gels (PPGs), which results in a more practical production process. Nevertheless, existing treatments fail in high-temperature reservoirs, are extremely sensitive to salinity, and are hazardous. The characteristics of the designed PPG, such as mechanical strength and thermal durability, is mainly depend on their crosslinking method. Polysaccharides-based gels prepared by physical crosslinking are weaker than the ones …

Semi-Supervised Learning Method For The Augmentation Of An Incomplete Image-Based Inventory Of Earthquake-Induced Soil Liquefaction Surface Effects, Adel Asadi, Laurie Gaskins Baise, Christina Sanon, Magaly Koch, Snehamoy Chatterjee, Babak Moaveni

Michigan Tech Publications, Part 2

Soil liquefaction often occurs as a secondary hazard during earthquakes and can lead to significant structural and infrastructure damage. Liquefaction is most often documented through field reconnaissance and recorded as point locations. Complete liquefaction inventories across the impacted area are rare but valuable for developing empirical liquefaction prediction models. Remote sensing analysis can be used to rapidly produce the full spatial extent of liquefaction ejecta after an event to inform and supplement field investigations. Visually labeling liquefaction ejecta from remotely sensed imagery is time-consuming and prone to human error and inconsistency. This study uses a partially labeled liquefaction inventory created …

Reducing Uncertainty In Sea-Level Rise Prediction: A Spatial-Variability-Aware Approach, Subhankar Ghosh, Shuai An, Arun Sharma, Jayant Gupta, Shashi Shekhar, Aneesh Subramanian

I-GUIDE Forum

Given multi-model ensemble climate projections, the goal is to accurately and reliably predict future sea-level rise while lowering the uncertainty. This problem is important because sea-level rise affects millions of people in coastal communities and beyond due to climate change's impacts on polar ice sheets and the ocean. This problem is challenging due to spatial variability and unknowns such as possible tipping points (e.g., collapse of Greenland or West Antarctic ice-shelf), climate feedback loops (e.g., clouds, permafrost thawing), future policy decisions, and human actions. Most existing climate modeling approaches use the same set of weights globally, during either regression or …

Observing Ocean Ecosystem Responses To Volcanic Ash, K. M. Bisson, S. Gassó, N. Mahowald, S. Wagner, B. Koffman, S. A. Carn, S. Deutsch, E. Gazel, S. Kramer, N. Krotkov, C. Mitchell, M. E. Pritchard, K. Stamieszkin, C. Wilson

Michigan Tech Publications, Part 2

Volcanic eruptions can be catastrophic events, particularly when they occur in inhabited coastal environments. They also play important roles in climate and biogeochemical cycles, including through nutrient deposition in the ocean. Volcanic ash studies in the ocean have focused on the phytoplankton response, generally quantifying changes in chlorophyll-a concentration. Many gaps remain in addressing fundamental questions regarding why volcanic ash deposition may enhance or limit both phytoplankton growth and/or drive community composition shifts. Here we outline a wide, multidisciplinary vision for monitoring volcanic eruptions near ocean ecosystems from satellites, including considerations for characteristics of airborne volcanic ash and ash geochemistry …

Mantle Flow Underneath The South China Sea Revealed By Seismic Anisotropy, Fansheng Kong, Rui Gao, Stephen S. Gao, Kelly H. Liu, Weiwei Ding, Xiongwei Niu, Aiguo Ruan, Pingchuan Tan, Jianke Fan, Shaoping Lu, Zhengyi Tong, Liqun Cheng, Wenfei Gong, Yanghui Zhao

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

It Has Long Been Established that Plastic Flow in the Asthenosphere Interacts Constantly with the overlying Lithosphere and Plays a Pivotal Role in Controlling the Occurrence of Geohazards Such as Earthquakes and Volcanic Eruptions. Unfortunately, Accurately Characterizing the Direction and Lateral Extents of the Mantle Flow Field is Notoriously Difficult, Especially in Oceanic Areas Where Deployment of Ocean Bottom Seismometers (OBSs) is Expensive and Thus Rare. in This Study, by Applying Shear Wave Splitting Analyses to a Dataset Recorded by an OBS Array that We Deployed between Mid-2019 and Mid-2020 in the South China Sea (SCS), We Show that the …

Quantification Of Geodetic Strain Rate Uncertainties And Implications For Seismic Hazard Estimates, Jeremy Maurer, Kathryn Materna

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Geodetic velocity data provide first-order constraints on crustal surface strain rates, which in turn are linked to seismic hazard. Estimating the 2-D surface strain tensor everywhere requires knowledge of the surface velocity field everywhere, while geodetic data such as Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) only have spatially scattered measurements on the surface of the Earth. To use these data to estimate strain rates, some type of interpolation is required. In this study, we review methodologies for strain rate estimation and compare a suite of methods, including a new implementation based on the geostatistical method of kriging, to compare variation between …

Modeling Heat Propagation And Thermal Enhanced Decay In A Solar Thermal Remediation System, Justin Trainor

All Theses

Low temperature solar thermal remediation is designed to accelerate ongoing biotic and abiotic treatment processes at a much lower temperature and cost than high temperature thermal remediation strategies. An array of borehole heat exchangers are used to circulate a solar-heated fluid through a closed-loop system of thermally conductive pipes. Thermal energy heats the surrounding contaminated zone through the process of thermal conduction which serves to enhance the degradation of the contaminant.

A three dimensional analytical solution was previously constructed to model heat propagation from borehole heat exchangers into the surrounding subsurface. The model utilizes a system of finite line sources …

Children First: Women’S Perspectives On Evacuation At Fuego Volcano And Implications For Disaster Risk Reduction, Beth A. Bartel, Ailsa K. Naismith

Michigan Tech Publications, Part 2

As major drivers of behavior during crisis, cultural norms influence how disasters differentially affect people of different genders. Cultural gender norms also impact how authorities and at-risk populations approach disaster risk reduction strategies. At Fuego volcano, Guatemala, we applied qualitative methods to investigate women’s experiences of the evacuation process after a paroxysmal eruption on 7–8 March 2022. While participants’ experiences and decisions varied, we identified how gender influences evacuation dynamics within communities at Fuego volcano, including who evacuates and who decides at the community and household levels. We find that communities prioritized women for evacuation with the children and elderly …

Genesis Of The 1.45 Ga Kratz Spring Iron Oxide-Apatite Deposit Complex In Southeast Missouri, Usa: Constraints From Oxide Mineral Chemistry, Brandon Sullivan, Marek Locmelis, Bolorchimeg N. Tunnell, Cheryl M. Seeger, Marilena Moroni, Sarah Dare, Ryan Mathur, Thomas Schott

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Seven major and numerous lesser Fe oxide occurrences within the 1.47 Ga St. Francois Mountains terrane in Missouri (USA) have previously been described as iron oxide-apatite (IOA) and iron oxide-copper-gold (IOCG) deposits. Researchers speculate that these contain significant amounts of critical minerals, most notably rare earth elements and cobalt. One of the less-studied deposits in the region is the 1.455 Ga Kratz Spring deposit. The deposit consists of two steeply dipping magnetite bodies beneath 450 m of sedimentary cover. The genesis of the Kratz Spring deposit and its relationship to nearby IOA-IOCG deposits remains poorly constrained. To better understand the …

Distinct Modes Of Aged Soil Carbon Export In A Large Tropical Lake Basin Identified Using Bulk And Compound-Specific Radiocarbon Analyses Of Fluvial And Lacustrine Sediment, Wesley G. Parker, Jason M.E. Ahad, Jonathan Obrist-Farner, Benjamin Keenan, Peter M.J. Douglas

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The 14C content of sedimentary organic matter (OM) and specific organic molecules provide valuable information on the source and age of OM stored in sediments, but these data are limited for tropical fluvial and lake sediments. We analyzed 14C in bulk OM, palmitic acid (C16), and long-chain n-alkanoic acids (C24, C26, and C28), within fluvial and lake sediments in the catchment of Lake Izabal, a large tectonic lake basin in Guatemala. We combined these measurements with bulk and compound-specific δ13C measurements, as well as sediment organic carbon to nitrogen (OC:N) ratios, to understand the source and age of sedimentary OM …

River Meanders On Alluvial Plains And Hilly Topography, Puguh Dwi Raharjo, Eko Haryono, Muhammad Anggri Setiawan, Haryadi Permana

Journal of Environmental Science and Sustainable Development

Previous research on meandering rivers in Indonesia, precisely in Java, has predominantly focused on alluvial plains, while their presence is also observed in hilly regions with rocky substrates. The study aims to investigate different meandering types in Java and establish regional connections between these types and geological and geomorphological processes. The methodology involves identifying high-resolution remote sensing images and topographic data, followed by analysis based on geological and geomorphological developments. To categorize the rivers, sinuosity ratios are meticulously calculated. The tectonic setting, which influences physiography and geomorphology, is an analytical unit for determining the meandering process. The result reveals that …

Controls On The Stratiform Copper Mineralization In The Western Syncline, Upper Peninsula, Michigan, William C. Williams, Theodore J. Bornhorst

Michigan Tech Publications, Part 2

The Western Syncline hosts reduced-facies, or Kupferschiefer-type, sedimentary rock-hosted stratiform Cu deposits (SSC) in the lowermost meters of the Nonesuch Formation, which is part of a thick section of clastic sedimentary rocks that comprise the upper fill of the Mesoproterozoic Midcontinent Rift of North America. Located in the Porcupine Mountains Cu district in Upper Peninsula, Michigan, these blind deposits were discovered in 1956, but are not yet developed, although recent renewed interest may result in near-term production. The deposits are distinguished by their relatively undeformed nature and lack of superposed hydrothermal events. Prior to lithification, chalcocite mineralization replaced diagenetic pyrite …

Uav-Based Quantification Of Dynamic Lahar Channel Morphology At Volcán De Fuego, Guatemala, Jerry C. Mock, Jeffrey B. Johnson, Armando Pineda, Gustavo Bejar, Amilcar Roca

Michigan Tech Publications, Part 2

This study quantified erosional and depositional processes for secondary lahars in Las Lajas drainage at Volcán de Fuego, Guatemala, during the rainy season from May to October 2021. Abundant pyroclastic material from ongoing eruptive activity is remobilized seasonally during heavy precipitation, which can impact infrastructure and populations living near Fuego. Our region of focus was in an agricultural zone 6 to 10 km from the summit, surveyed with an unoccupied aerial vehicle (UAV) quadcopter at monthly intervals. Imagery was processed into overlapping time-lapse structure from motion digital elevation models (DEMs). DEMs were differenced to find volumetric changes as a function …

Terrain Characterization Via Machine Vs. Deep Learning Using Remote Sensing, Jordan Ewing, Thomas Oommen, Jobin Thomas, Anush Kasaragod, Richard Dobson, Colin Brooks, Paramsothy Jayakumar, Michael Cole, Tulga Ersal

Michigan Tech Publications

Terrain traversability is critical for developing Go/No-Go maps for ground vehicles, which significantly impact a mission’s success. To predict the mobility of terrain, one must understand the soil characteristics. In-situ measurements performed in the field are the current method of collecting this information, which is time-consuming, costly, and can be lethal for military operations. This paper investigates an alternative approach using thermal, multispectral, and hyperspectral remote sensing from an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) platform. Remotely sensed data combined with machine learning (linear, ridge, lasso, partial least squares (PLS), support vector machines (SVM), and k nearest neighbors (KNN)) and deep learning …

Multi-Sensor And Multi-Scale Remote Sensing Approach For Assessing Slope Instability Along Transportation Corridors Using Satellites And Uncrewed Aircraft Systems, Marta Zocchi, Anush Kasaragod, Abby Jenkins, Chris Cook, Richard Dobson, Thomas Oommen, Dana Van Huis, Beau Taylor, Colin Brooks, Roberta Marini, Francesco Troiani, Paolo Mazzanti

Michigan Tech Publications

Rapid slope instabilities (i.e., rockfalls) involving highway networks in mountainous areas pose a threat to facilities, settlements and life, thus representing a challenge for asset management plans. To identify different morphological expressions of degradation processes that lead to rock mass destabilization, we combined satellite and uncrewed aircraft system (UAS)-based products over two study sites along the State Highway 133 sector near Paonia Reservoir, Colorado (USA). Along with a PS-InSAR analysis covering the 2017–2021 interval, a high-resolution dataset composed of optical, thermal and multi-spectral imagery was systematically acquired during two UAS surveys in September 2021 and June 2022. After a pre-processing …

Analysis Of Soil From The Palouse Prairie Restoration Project: Sample Pp-3, Jarod Imel, Spencer Hagel, Keagan Ives, Richard Orndorff , Phd

2023 Symposium

The Palose Prairie Restoration Project is a project devoted to the restoration of 120 acres of land to the west of Eastern Washington University. This land is actively being restored to its once natural state for the purpose of recreational activities for the students attending EWU and the community members of Cheney, WA. Our group was tasked with conducting soil analysis testing from a soil sample at the restoration site. We used ASTM standardized testing during soil analysis and have compiled valuable information to assist in the restoration project.

A Hidden Spider Web Of Roots: Utilizing Ground Penetrating Radar To Uncover Laterally Expansive Roots Of An Oak Tree, Megan Lapkoff

All Theses

Roots are critical to understanding tree health, subsurface biomass, and overall tree root stability. However, accessing tree roots is difficult and traditional methods used to quantify roots harm or kill the tree. Ground penetrating radar (GPR) provides a non-invasive way to characterize subsurface roots without harming the tree. GPR provides high-resolution data and the ability to collect data with high spatial coverage, making it an ideal tool for characterizing roots. GPR works by detecting contrasts in dielectric permittivity or electromagnetic (EM) velocity at interfaces between materials. Small scattering objects, like roots, generate predictable artifacts called diffraction hyperbolas. Diffraction hyperbolas will …