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Genetic Stratigraphy And Geochronology Of Last Interglacial Shorelines On The Central Coast Of South Carolina, Russell Willis

LSU Master's Theses

This study investigated the shallow subsurface of the Lower Coastal Plain of South Carolina in order to determine the sea-level history and stratigraphic architecture preserved within several emergent shoreline complexes. The absolute age of each shoreline complex was estimated using single-aliquot regenerative-dose (SAR) optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) techniques. The resulting geochronology was incorporated into a high-resolution stratigraphic framework defined by ground penetrating radar calibrated with deep sediment cores, many of which contain a complete sequence of highstand deposition. Three emergent barrier complexes were identified within the Lower Talbot, Pamlico, and Princess Anne terraces, and assigned to sea-level highstands during interglacial …

Multiple Phases Of Tertiary Extension And Synextensional Deposition Of The Miocene–Pliocene Salt Lake Formation In An Evolving Supradetachment Basin, Malad Range, Southeast Idaho, U.S.A., S. P. Long, P. K. Link, Susanne U. Janecke, D. W. Rodgers, M. E. Perkins, C. M. Fanning

Geosciences Faculty Publications

The extensional history of the Malad and Bannock ranges in southeast Idaho and northern Utah involves multiple phases of Tertiary normal faulting and synextensional deposition. Detailed geologic mapping, structural and stratigraphic analyses, and geochronologic data from this study elucidate previously defined deformational events in the region, and define two new extensional episodes.

The largest-magnitude extension took place along low-angle normal faults of the ∼10–4-Ma Bannock detachment system, with concurrent sedimentation of the Miocene–Pliocene Salt Lake Formation in a regionally continuous supradetachment basin. This basin developed by ∼10.2 Ma, and was preceded by two phases of smaller-magnitude, aerially restricted normal faulting …

Taphonomic And Sedimentologic Study Of The Cretaceous Tepee Buttes Limestone, Hilary G. Close

Honors Papers

The Tepee Buttes methane seep deposits exist today as topographically defined limestone features in the surrounding Pierre Shale of the Campanian Western Interior Seaway. The present sloping surface has previously been assumed to be indicative of original seep structure, and biofacies were interpreted as roughly ringing a central vent core. Contradictory field observations in this study have prompted a more detailed taphonomic approach to the Tepee Buttes limestone, and certain depositional features such as reworked horizontal shell beds were noted and examined in detail for the first time. The results of a taphonomic and sedimentologic analysis reveal a complex history …

Does The Great Valley Group Contain Jurassic Strata? Reevaluation Of The Age And Early Evolution Of A Classic Forearc Basin, Kathleen D. Surpless, S. A. Graham, J. A. Covault, J. L. Wooden

Earth and Environmental Geosciences Faculty Research

The presence of Cretaceous detrital zircon in Upper Jurassic strata of the Great Valley Group may require revision of the lower Great Valley Group chronostratigraphy, with significant implications for the Late Jurassic–Cretaceous evolution of the continental margin. Samples (n = 7) collected from 100 km along strike in the purported Tithonian strata of the Great Valley Group contain 20 Cretaceous detrital zircon grains, based on sensitive high-resolution ion microprobe age determinations. These results suggest that Great Valley Group deposition was largely Cretaceous, creating a discrepancy between biostratigraphy based on Buchia zones and chronostratigraphy based on radiometric age dates. These …

Fluvial Response To Intra-Canyon Lava Flows, Owyhee River, Southeastern Oregon, Cooper Cooke Brossy

All Master's Theses

At least six lava flows have entered the Owyhee River Canyon north of Rome, Oregon, since the Pliocene and directly impacted the Owyhee River. The effects on the river of the two youngest lava flows, the West Crater (60–80 ka) and Saddle Butte (> 60–90 ka), are readily apparent. These two lava flows entered a paleo-Owyhee Canyon several kilometers wide via three different tributary drainages. The flows dammed the Owyhee River, created lakes, and effectively confined the river to the opposite side of the valley from the flows’ entrance. Lava from these flows filled a paleo-Owyhee Canyon to depths of …

Deciphering The Signature Of Magma Mixing: Examples From The Castle Creek Eruptive Period, Mount St. Helens, Washington, Seth Taylor Mattos

All Master's Theses

Mount St. Helens (MSH) volcano in southwestern Washington has intermittently erupted dacitic products for the last 40,000 years. On limited occasions, the volcano has produced andesite lava flows, and during one short-lived period, basaltic lava flows. This time interval has been termed the Castle Creek eruptive period and occurred between approximately 2500 and 1700 years B.P. The Castle Creek period erupted dacite, andesite and basalt within this short span of time. Andesite and dacite eruptions dominate the first approximately 700 years of the period, and all basaltic units were erupted in approximately the last 100 years of the period. This …

Soil Phosphorus Levels In Residential Lawns And Comparisons Among Four Land Uses In Springfield, Missouri, Timothy R. Davis

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

Eutrophication of surface waters due to high phosphorus (P) concentrations is an important water quality concern in Greene County, Missouri. Phosphorus enrichment has been linked to a variety of non-point sources including runoff from both agricultural and urban land uses. Soil P has been shown to be a source of P in runoff. The differences in soil P among different land uses may provide insight into which land use contributes more P in runoff. This study examines the soil composition, geochemistry and total P concentration of surface soil (0-5cm) in four land uses in Greene County, Missouri. The land uses …

Paleocene To Early Eocene Dinoflagellate Cyst Biostratigraphy In Southeast Nigeria And The Cote D'Ivoire-Ghana Transform Margin (Odp Site 959), Hernan Antolinez-Delgado

Masters Theses

"This study represents a contribution to Early Paleogene biostratigraphy in the tropics where published studies are sparse in comparison with mid and high latitude regions. Data were derived from a comprehensive analysis of dinoflagellate cysts (dinocysts) in 45 samples from the Early Paleocene to Early Eocene interval at two localities in West Africa, namely Alo-1 well in the Anambra Basin, southeastern Nigeria, and Ocean Drilling Program Hole 959D (ODP Leg 159) in the Cote d'Ivoire-Ghana Transform Margin. Dinocyst recovery varied from very good to poor, and the specimens were commonly well preserved. The dinocyst data were calibrated with existing calcareous …

Phytophthora Diseases Of Cutflower Crops, Department Of Agriculture And Food, Western Australia

Bulletins 4000 -

Phytophthora root rot is the most common soil borne disease causing plant death in native cut flower production. It is also a pathogen of exotic cutflower crops such as rose, lily, carnation, proteas and gerbera. The fungus, Phytophthora cinnamomi, the cause of jarrah dieback is the pathogen that first comes to mind when Phytophthora is mentioned. This has one of the widest host ranges of all Phytophthora species, particularly amongst native Australia species. P.nicotianae also has a wide host range, infecting a wide range of exotic, as well as Australian native flower crops. There are also a number of …

Methods To Set Land Salinity Resource Condition Targets For The South West : Case Studies From Australia And New Zealand, Sharon Hu

Resource management technical reports

This Resource Management Technical Report provides background to methods to set targets on land salinity in the South West Natural Resource Management (NRM) region of Western Australia. Case studies from Australia and New Zealand have been reviewed to determine what approaches should be used. Resource Condition Targets (RCTs) are required for land salinity, soil condition and remnant vegetation.

Ravensthorpe Area Catchment Appraisal 2006, A Massenbauer

Resource management technical reports

The Ravensthorpe area covers 861, 000 hectares. Ninety percent of the study area covered in this report falls within the Ravensthorpe Shire, Western Australia. This document aims to give the reader a starting point from which to further assess larger scale areas of the catchment for the purpose of planning to reverse and improve land degradation and sustainable farming in Western Australia.

Mineralogical Characterization Of Protolith And Fault Rocks From The Safod Main Hole, John G. Solum, Stephen H. Hickman, David A. Lockner, Diane E. Moore, Ben A. Van Der Pluijm, Anja M. Schleicher, James P. Evans

Geosciences Faculty Publications

Washed cuttings provide a continuous record of the rocks encountered during drilling of the main hole of the San Andreas Fault Observatory at Depth (SAFOD). Both protolith and fault rocks exhibit a wide variety of mineral assemblages that reflect variations in some combination of lithology, P-T conditions, deformation mechanisms, and fluid composition and abundance. Regions of distinct neomineralization bounded by faults may record alteration associated with fluid reservoirs confined by faults. In addition, both smectites occurring as mixed-layer phases and serpentine minerals are found in association with active strands of the San Andreas Fault that were intersected during drilling, although …

Structural Evolution And Vorticity Of Flow During Extrusion And Exhumation Of The Greater Himalayan Slab, Mount Everest Massif, Tibet/Nepal: Implications For Orogen-Scale Flow Partitioning, M. J. Jessup, R. D. Law, M. P. Searle, Mary S. Hubbard

Geosciences Faculty Publications

The Greater Himalayan Slab (GHS) is composed of a north-dipping anatectic core, bounded above by the South Tibetan detachment system (STDS_ and below by the Main Central thrust zone (MCTZ). Assuming simultaneous movement on the MCTZ and STDS, the GHS can be modelled as a southward-extruding wedge or channel. New insights into extrusion-related flow with the GHS emerge from detailed kinematic and vorticity analyses in the Everest region. At the highest structural levels, mean kinematic vorticity number (Wm) estimates of 0.74-0.91 (c. 45-28% pure shear) were obtained from sheared Tethyan limestone and marble from the Yellow Band on Mount Everest. …

Characterization And Interpretation Of The Cephalopod Marker Bed, Oakes Quarry Park, Fairborn, Ohio, Jessica Nicole Mcdonough

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

A distinct sequence of orange-brown, fossiliferous grainstones with interbedded blue mudstones exists in the upper portion of the Silurian-aged (Llandoverian) Brassfield Formation exposure at Oakes Quarry Park, Fairborn, Ohio. The unit is locally referred to as the cephalopod marker bed as it can be easily identified and is continuous throughout the quarry. The unit varies considerably in thickness (0.3m-0.9m) and contains a variety of sedimentary structures and fossils indicative of a warm, shallow marine environment subject to wave action. Dominant fossils within the unit include echinoderms, cephalopods, bryozoans, abraded mollusks, gastropods, brachiopods, and trilobites. Less-common fossil organisms within the unit …

Feasibility Analysis Of The Strontium Ratio Obtained From Pennsylvanian Chondricthian Dentary, Cullen John Erbacher

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

This research was undertaken to determine the amount of time between transgressive and regressive sequences. One of the methods used to determine the amount of missing time in an unconformity is the 87Sr / 86Sr ratio. The 87Sr / 86Sr ratio will be high around brackish and freshwater environments while it will be lower in open marine conditions. Limestones and their constituent parts are susceptible to diagenetic processes that can contaminate or obliterate isotope values contained within the rocks. The purpose of this research was to discover if reliable isotope information could be pulled from Pennsylvanian aged shark teeth. Nine …

Geostatistical Characterization Of Heterogeneity In The Aberjona River Aquifer, Woburn, Massachusetts, James Ralph Damico

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

Ground water flow and contaminant transport patterns are largely controlled by the distribution of high- and low-permeability sediments. Therefore, an accurate description of the aquifer architecture is paramount to producing a representative ground water model. Models of contaminant fate and transport in the aquifer near Woburn, Massachusetts, have previously been created by others using a deterministic approach. As a complement to these prior studies, the proportions, geometry, and juxtaposition of the different lithofacies of the aquifer were statistically characterized for developing stochastic models for the aquifer system. The descriptions of lithology from boreholes were separated into eleven categories based primarily …

Diatom Paleolimnological Record Of Holocene Climatic And Environmental Change In The Altai Mountains, Siberia, Karlyn S. Westover, Sherilyn C. Fritz, Tatyana A. Blyakharchuk, Herbert E. Wright

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Faculty Publications

The sedimentary diatom records of three shallow lakes in the Altai Mountains, southern Siberia, were examined to assess the nature and timing of Holocene environmental changes. Few paleoenvironmental records, especially reconstructions not based on pollen, have been reported from this region. The lakes differ in elevation, annual precipitation, and catchment vegetation. Diatom assemblages in all lakes were dominated for the entire period of record by small benthic species of Pseudostaurosira Williams & Round, Staurosira Ehrenberg, and Staurosirella Williams & Round. Planktonic taxa only occur in very low abundances (<5%). The most diverse diatom flora was found in Dzhangyskol, which is situated at the lowest elevation within a forested catchment. A lack of detailed information on the ecological preferences of the dominant taxa and the complexity of environmental drivers make direct interpretation of the diatom record difficult. However, other proxies suggest that dramatic shifts in dominance between Staurosira elliptica and Staurosirella pinnata in Grusha Ozero reflect millennial-scale variability …

A Miocene Palaeovalley Network In The Western Taurus (Turkey), Olivier Monod, Catherina Kuzucuoğlu, Aral İ. Okay

Turkish Journal of Earth Sciences

Lower Miocene conglomerates in the Köprü and Manavgat basins contain pebbles that can be confidently traced back to their source areas, owing to their distinctive lithologies. Among others, are the green Huğlu volcanics (Late Trias), known only in allochthonous units from the Beyşehir region, or the Alanya blueschists, restricted to the Sugözü unit in the Alanya Massif. The problem is to find out how this detrital material could have travelled about eighty kilometres through the Taurus calcareous units during the Miocene. Fortunately, the present drainage system is not yet fully reorganised in the Taurus, and large areas of the chain …

Effects Of Elevated Atmospheric Co₂ On Scrub-Oak Root Carbon Pools And Soil Microbial Processes, Alisha Lea Pagel Brown

Biological Sciences Theses & Dissertations

The levels of atmospheric CO₂ are rising and this affects the growth of plants and the ecosystems in which they reside. Plants take up additional C from the atmosphere and have potential to sequester C in the soil. I investigated the sequestration of C belowground and the microbial processes that control C retention in the soil. This study was conducted in a Florida scrub-oak ecosystem, where CO₂ levels have been elevated to twice ambient since 1996 in open top chambers. There were eight replicates of ambient CO₂ chambers and eight replicates of twice-ambient CO₂ levels. The …

Relationships Between Deflector Faults, Collapse Dolines And Collector Channel Formation: Some Examples From Slovenia, France Šušteršič

International Journal of Speleology

In some Slovenian caves collector channels gather sinking underground streams and redirect them for potentially long distances parallel to certain faults. The collector channels formed due to ongoing long-term collapse of cave roofs at the points where passages break through the faults, which function as a kind of screen and are termed deflector faults. The fault trends are marked by collapse within the caves, and by active collapse dolines at the surface.

Caves And Speleogenesis At Blomstrandsøya, Kongsfjord, W. Spitsbergen, Stein-Erik Lauritzen

International Journal of Speleology

Blomstrandsøya, at Kongsfjord (78° 57’N), Spitsbergen, is within the high arctic, a completely permafrozen zone. The bedrock consists of Paleozoic marbles and has yielded a surprising amount of karst features. Early phases of hydrothermal, possibly Caledonian, speleogenesis and subsequent Devonian karstification with redbed deposits is well documented. 62 active seacaves, and more than 30 relict karst caves were found in the coastal cliffs and in escarpment faces around the island. All caves have very limited extent; they are either quite short, like most of the active sea caves, or they are soon choked by frozen sediments and ground ice after …

The Distribution Of Diatom Flora In Ice Caves Of The Northern Yukon Territory, Canada: Relationship To Air Circulation And Freezing, Bernard Lauriol, Clément Prévost, Denis Lacelle

International Journal of Speleology

In the late 1980’s and early 1990’s, various media in karst environments in the Northern Yukon Territory were examined for their diatom content. Cryogenic cave calcite powders, grus and various ice formations (ice plugs, ice stalagmites and floor ice) were collected from three freezing caves and one slope cave to make an inventory of the diatom content, and to explain the spatial distribution of the diatoms within the caves. The results show that approximately 20% of diatoms in the caves originate from external biotopes and habitats (e.g., river, lake, stream), with the remaining 80% of local origin (i.e., from subaerial …

Identification Of Cave Minerals By Raman Spectroscopy: New Technology For Non-Destructive Analysis, William B. White

International Journal of Speleology

The identification of minerals from caves generally requires that samples be removed from the cave for analysis in the laboratory. The usual tools are X-ray powder diffraction, the optical microscope, and the scanning electron microscope. X-ray diffraction gives a definitive fingerprint by which the mineral can be identified by comparison with a catalog of reference patterns. However, samples must be ground to powder and unstable hydrated minerals may decompose before analysis is complete. Raman spectroscopy also provides a fingerprint useful for mineral identification but with the additional advantage that some a-priori interpretation of the spectra is possible (distinguishing carbonates from …

Burrows Dug By Large Vertebrates Into Rain-Moistened Middle Jurassic Sand Dunes, David B. Loope

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Faculty Publications

In south-central Utah, eolian cross-strata of the Escalante Member of the Entrada Sandstone contain inclined, cylindrical burrows up to 63 cm in diameter and 305 cm long. Of the 14 large tunnels located during this study, 12 descend from second- and third-order bounding surfaces that formed on the lee slopes of large dune ridges, well above the water table. The tunnels are inclined 15°–22°; one tunnel ends in an expanded chamber. Eolian cross-strata fill proximal portions of four of the tunnels and indicate that after abandonment, sand drifts migrated as much as a meter into the open shafts. Structureless sand …

The Earth All Around Us: Selected Building Stone In Lincoln, Nebraska. A Walking Tour, William J. Wayne

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Faculty Publications

Stone has been a primary building material for millennia. Cities, therefore, are treasure troves of earth materials. A wide variety of stones from many places are used for walls, as foundations to support entire buildings, as trim, and more recently as cladding (facing, an overlay). The Earth science teacher can find, in the limited space of an urban environment, a superb collection of stones with which to introduce students to these materials. The surfaces of stones on the outsides of buildings illustrate the durability and the vulnerability of each kind of stone to the local climate. And the history of …

Understanding Farmers’ Forecast Use From Their Beliefs, Values, Social Norms, And Perceived Obstacles*, Q. Steven Hu, Lisa M. Pytlikzillig, Gary D. Lynne, Alan Tomkins, William J. Waltman, Michael J. Hayes, Kenneth Hubbard, Ikrom Artikov, Stacey Hoffman, Donald A. Wilhite

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Faculty Publications

Although the accuracy of weather and climate forecasts is continuously improving and new information retrieved from climate data is adding to the understanding of climate variation, use of the forecasts and climate information by farmers in farming decisions has changed little. This lack of change may result from knowledge barriers and psychological, social, and economic factors that undermine farmer motivation to use forecasts and climate information. According to the theory of planned behavior (TPB), the motivation to use forecasts may arise from personal attitudes, social norms, and perceived control or ability to use forecasts in specific decisions. These attributes are …

Spatial Distributions Of Perchloroethylene Reactive Transport Parameters In The Borden Aquifer, Richelle M. Allen-King, Dana Divine, Michel J. L. Robin, J. Richard Alldredge, David R. Gaylord

Conservation and Survey Division: Faculty and Staff Publications

We determined the descriptive statistical and spatial geostatistical properties of the perchloroethene ln K_d and the ln k of a 1.5 m thick by 10 m horizontal transect of the Borden aquifer near the location of the Stanford-Waterloo (SW) tracer experiment. The ln K_d distribution is not normal and is right skewed because of a few high values that occur localized in two regions of the transect. In contrast, the ln k data can be characterized by a normal distribution. A linear regression of ln K_d on ln k yields a statistically significant positive correlation, also shown …

Regional Patterns In The Isotopic Composition Of Natural And Anthropogenic Nitrate In Groundwater, High Plains, U.S.A., P. B. Mcmahon, J. K. Bohlke

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Mobilization of natural nitrate (NO₃^-) deposits in the subsoil by irrigation water in arid and semiarid regions has the potential to produce large groundwater NO₃^- concentrations. The use of isotopes to distinguish between natural and anthropogenic NO₃^- sources in these settings could be complicated by the wide range in δ¹⁵N values of natural NO₃^-. An ~10 000 year record of paleore-charge from the regionally extensive High Plains aquifer indicates that δ¹⁵N values for NO₃^- derived from natural sources ranged from 1.3 to 12.3‰ and …

Coupling Between Primary Terrestrial Succession And The Trophic Development Of Lakes At Glacier Bay, Alaska, D. R. Engstrom, Sherilyn C. Fritz

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Faculty Publications

The natural eutrophication of lakes is still an accepted concept in limnology, arising as it does from the earliest efforts to classify lakes and place them in an evolutionary sequence. Recent studies of newly formed lakes at Glacier Bay, Alaska, only partially support this idea, and suggest more variable trends in lake trophic development which are under local (catchment-level) control. Here we use sediment cores from several lakes in Glacier Bay National Park to examine the relationship between successional changes in catchment vegetation and trends in water-column nitrogen (a limiting nutrient) and lake primary production. Terrestrial succession at Glacier Bay …

Isopiestic Measurement Of The Osmotic Coefficients Of Aqueous {Xh2So4 + (1−X)Fe2(So4)3} Solutions At 298.15 And 323.15 K, Mariano Velazquez-Rivera, Donald Palmer, Richard Kettler

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Faculty Publications

This study measures the osmotic coefficients of {xH₂SO₄ +(1−x)Fe₂ (SO₄)₃}(aq) solutions at 298.15 and 323.15 K that have ionic strengths as great as 19.3 mol•kg^-1, using the isopiestic method. Experiments utilized both aqueous NaCl and H₂SO₄ as reference solutions. Equilibrium values of the osmotic coefficient obtained using the two different reference solutions were in satisfactory internal agreement. The solutions follow generally the Zdanovskii empirical linear relationship and yield values of a_w for the Fe₂ (SO₄)₃–H₂O binary system at 298.15 …