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Remote Sensing Of Volcanic Ash Clouds Using Special Sensor Microwave Imager Data, David J. Delene, William I. Rose, Norman C. Grody

Department of Geological and Mining Engineering and Sciences Publications

Measurements from the satellite-based special sensor microwave imager (SSM/I) were used to collect passive microwave radiation (19–85 GHz) for the August 19, 1992 (UT date), Crater Peak/Spurr volcanic cloud. This eruption was also imaged by a ground-based C-band radar system at Kenai, Alaska, 80 km away, and by the thermal infrared channels of the polar-orbiting advanced very high resolution radiometer (AVHRR). The SSM/I sensor detects scattering of Earth-emitted radiation by millimeter size volcanic ash particles. The size of ash particles in a volcanic ash cloud can be estimated by comparing the scattering at different microwave frequencies. The mass of particles …

Pre-Late-Wisconsin Glacial History Of The Naknek River Valley, Southwestern Alaska, Caleb H. Thompson

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The lower Naknek River in southwestern Alaska dissects thick (~20m) exposures of Pleistocene glaciogenic sediments. The stratigraphy of the deposits and their physical, geochemical, mineralogical, and geochronological properties were studies to determine the number and timing of glacial advances represented. Multivariate data reduction methods (cluster and principal component analyses) were applied to the data to differentiate diamicton beds. The results show a clear separation of drift of the lower Naknek River valley from drift of northern Bristol Bay and from younger, moraine-comprising drift up valley. Within the Naknek River valley, however, there is no stratigraphic trend to the clusterings. The …

Paleoenvironmental And Stratigraphic Interpretation Of The Middle Cambrian Ute Formation, Northern Utah, Keith E. Eagan

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The Middle Cambrian Ute Formation includes some 200 m of cyclically alternating carbonates and mud rocks. These are arranged in eight to nine, meter-scale, shallowing-upwards packages, representing deposition under predominantly subtidal conditions. The packages consist of vertical sequences of shale, silty limestone, oncolitic packstone, and oolitic grainstone that exhibit little variance in this general pattern. Small-scale unconformities separate the packages. The inferred depositional environment consists of an intrashelf basin that has a peritidal platform near its margins. The craton, which supplied most of the terrigenous sediment, was situated to the south (Cambrian orientation), and located near the equator. One cycle …

Structural Analysis Of The Mitten Park Reverse Fault And Related Deformation In Dinosaur National Monument, Northwestern Colorado And Northeastern Utah, Clint M. Brown

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

An integrated field and structural analysis of the Mitten Park fault-fold structure, northwestern Colorado and northeastern Utah, examines its structural origin. The Mitten Park structure is a modified fault-propagation-fold. This new model incorporates faulting, folding, and fracturing in one deformational event to produce the Mitten Park fault and associated monocline.

The largest structure in the study area is the Mitten Park fault and associated monocline. The Mitten Park fault has approximately 127 meters (415 feet) of net slip, strikes S28°W and dips 55°WNW. In the footwall, net shortening was accommodated by reverse and normal faulting. Faulting was the result of …

Hydrochemical Definition Of Ground Water And Surface Water, With An Emphasis On The Origin Of The Ground-Water Salinity In Southern Juab Valley, Juab County, Utah, Heidi K. Hadley

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

As part of a U.S. Geological Survey study in Juab Valley in central Utah from 1991 to 1994, the chemistry of ground - and surface -water samples was determined. Total dissolved solids in the ground water of southern Juab Valley have historically been higher, in general, than ground water in other areas of Utah. Total dissolved solids for ground-water samples from this study ranged from 623 to 3,980 milligrams/liter. High-sulfate chemical data of previous studies suggested that the major source of ground-water salinity is the dissolution of gypsum (hydrous calcium sulfate ) from the Arapien Shale. Sulfur-34 to sulfur-32 isotopic …

Aminostratigraphy Of Thatcher Basin, Se Idaho: Reassessment Of Pleistocene Lakes, Amy Hochberg

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The Quaternary geologic history of Lake Thatcher, southeastern Idaho, is pivotal in determining when the Bear River carved its through-flowing channel into the Bonneville Basin. Bright's reconstruction of the history of Lake Thatcher was based on ¹⁴C dates that are now known to be inaccurate. Lava Creek B ash found interbedded with lacustrine sediment suggests that Thatcher Basin contained a lake well before Bright's original estimate of 34 ka.

D/L ratios, which measure the extent of racemization in fossil gastropods, in conjunction with paleosols and tephra, were used to correlate between four localities across Thatcher Basin to reassess lake-level …

Trace Element Analysis Of Selected Springs In The Virgin River Basin, Mary A. Yelken

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Spring water from 23 springs in and near the Virgin River Basin (southwestern Utah, northwestern Arizona, and southeastern Nevada) was collected and analyzed for chemical concentrations. Trace elements and major ion chemistry was used to determine the potential for utilizing water chemistry to provide information on spring water source and flow pathways. Principal Component Analysis (PCA), rare earth element (REE) normalization patterns, and mineral equilibrium modeling (PHREEQE) techniques were used to analyze the data set. Four major spring water groups were displayed by the PCA, based on similarities in water chemistry. The analyses suggest that spring water chemistry is a …

Measurements Of The Complex Dielectric Constant Of Volcanic Ash From 4 To 19 Ghz, R. J. Adams, Warren F. Perger, William I. Rose, A. Kostinski

Department of Geological and Mining Engineering and Sciences Publications

Dielectric data in volcanic ash at weather radar wavelengths (centimeter range) are extremely sparse and are crucial for radar sensing of ash clouds and for imaging of volcanic terrains. This study extends previous data to include a wavelength range of 1.5–7.5 cm and volcanic ash compositions of 50–75% silica. The real part of the complex permittivity, ε′, of volcanic ash is 6 ± 0.5 (1σ) for all wavelengths. The imaginary part, ε″, ranges from 0.08 to 0.27. Both ε′ and ε″ show higher values at lower SiO2 concentration. It is safe to assume in any weather radar applications that the …

Study Of Volcanic Sediments By Microbeam-Pixe Technique, Nazrul I. Khandaker, M. Ahmed, M. A. Garwan

Publications and Research

Single mineral grains in a suite of Cretaceous (85–90 Ma) volcanic sedimentary rocks were analyzed using the microbeam-PIXE technique to understand fundamental geological processes responsible for micro-scale variation in elemental composition across mineral zones, twinning, cleavage planes, fractures and grain boundaries. Distributions of major and trace elements show distinct geochemical features indicative of a specific geological setting and a subsequent diagenetic process in these volcanic sediments. Examples of mineral zoning, microstructures of variable chemistry and post-depositional fluid flow are discussed using the data on feldspar group of minerals.

Ground Water Movement Through The Highly-Fractured Crystalline Core Of A Large-Scale, Foreland Uplift, Roy Al Gorge Arch, South-Central Colorado, Timothy L. Clarey

Dissertations

The objectives of this study were twofold: ( 1) to examine the well-exposed, basement core of the Royal Gorge arch as a large-scale, field test of ground water flow through a fractured, crystalline, aquifer system; and (2) to devise a method to more accurately determine the direction of maximum aperture of a fractured aquifer through structural and hydrogeologic analysis.

The recognition of a preferred direction of maximum aperture in a fractured aquifer remains an important hydrogeologic consideration because flow through a fracture is proportional to the cube of the aperture width. Previous studies of hydraulic directions using fracture orientation techniques …

An Evaluation Of Methods To Determine The Thickness Of Free Product In A Shallow Water Table Aquifer, Ross B. Wagner

Masters Theses

Estimates of the volume of recoverable free phase petroleum product in soils are frequently based on poorly understood empirical methods. These methods, in the form of field tests and/or equations, require simplifying assumptions and apparent product thickness to calculate the thickness or specific volume of free phase product. The purpose of this study was to compare the available methods against each other to cross validate them.

The field methods evaluated at a well with an apparent product thickness of 1.69 feet were: Yaniga's bailer test, split-spoon soil sampling, a test pit excavation and a new tool developed for direct measurement …

A Study Of The Chemical And Physical Interactions Between A Wetland And A Shallow Aquifer In Cass County, Michigan, Lisa Marie Anderson

Masters Theses

A study of the ground-water chemistry and flow direction adjacent to a wetland was performed in a major hog producing area. Nested piezometers, consisting of wells 7 to 18 feet deep, were installed around the wetland to determine the vertical distribution of hydraulic head and water-quality parameters. Piezometer elevations were surveyed to determine precise ground-water elevations to delineate the ground-water flow regime around the wetland. Water samples were taken at three different times to analyze water quality and seasonal variations. Analytical parameters included major ions, redox sensitive parameters (DO, nitrate-N, ammonia, iron, and sulfate), and total organic carbon.

Water level …

A One-Dimensional Model For Storm Breaching Of Barrier Islands, Cheol Shik Shin

Civil & Environmental Engineering Theses & Dissertations

A set of numerical models is developed for simulating the four stages of barrier breaching characterized by one horizontal spatial dimension.

The SBEACH model is employed for the first stage of dune/beach erosion. The Lax-Wendroff two-step explicit scheme for Stage II is developed to simulate initiation of ocean flood propagation on initially dry barrier islands and the method of characteristics (MOC), is employed to compute additional boundary data. The development of the Preissmann implicit scheme for water motion and a forward time centered space explicit scheme for sediment motion in Stages III and IV provide a tool to study the …

The Use Of Hydrochemistry To Identify Potential Processes Operating In The Saddle Mountains Basalt Aquifer And The Use Of The Nitrate-Nitrogen Isotope To Distinguish Between Potential Sources Of Nitrate To The Shallow Alluvial Aquifer In The Lower Umatilla Basin, Oregon, Margot Truini

Dissertations and Theses

Nitrate concentration in excess of national drinking-water standards (10 mg/l) are present in the shallow alluvial aquifer and Saddle Mountains Basalt (SMB) aquifer in the Lower Umatilla Basin, Oregon. To determine sources responsible for elevated nitrate concentrations in the SMB aquifer mass-balance and reaction-path models (NETPATH and PHREEQE) were used to understand observed geochemical trends. Nitrate-nitrogen isotopes were used to distinguish potential nitrate sources in the shallow alluvial aquifer. NETPATH-validated simple water/rock reactions in the SMB aquifers in Irrigon (dissolving glass, precipitating smectite, dissolving or precipitating calcite, and cation exchange) using constituents (calcium, magnesium, sodium and carbon). Diversity of composition …

Geology Beneath The Primary Management Systems Evaluation Area (Msea) Site Southwest Of Shelton, Buffalo County, Nebraska, Robert F. Diffendal Jr., Frank A. Smith

Robert F. Diffendal, Jr., Publications

In 1990, as part of a national presidential initiative on water quality, researchers from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln (UNL) Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources (IANR) received a multiyear grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Cooperative State Research Service, to study management of irrigated corn and soybeans to minimize groundwater contamination. D. G. Watts, R. F. Spalding, and J.S. Schepers, of the IANR led a study at one of the Management Systems Evaluation Areas (MSEA). This area was made up of two sites, a primary site on a terrace of the Platte River near Shelton and a secondary site …

Geology Beneath The Primary Management Systems Evaluation Area (Msea) Site Southwest Of Shelton, Buffalo County, Nebraska, Robert F. Diffendal Jr., Frank A. Smith

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Faculty Publications

In 1990, as part of a national presidential initiative on water quality, researchers from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources (IANR) received a multi-year grant from the United States Department of Agriculture, Cooperative State Research Service, to study management of irrigated com and soybeans to minimize groundwater contamination. D.G. Watts, R.F. Spalding, and J.S. Schepers, of the IANR led a study at one of the Management Systems Evaluation Areas (MSEA). This area was made up of two sites, a primary site on a terrace of the Platte River near Shelton and a secondary site nearer …

Regional Analysis Of Rural Domestic Well-Water Quality -- Southeastern Glacial Drift Area, D. C. Gosselin, J. Headrick, X- H. Chen, S. E. Summerside

Conservation and Survey Division: Faculty and Staff Publications

No abstract provided.

Regional Analysis Of Rural Domestic Well-Water Quality In The Northeast Glacial Drift Area, D. C. Gosselin, J. Headrick, X- H. Chen, S. E. Summerside

Conservation and Survey Division: Faculty and Staff Publications

No abstract provided.

Burt County Test Hole Logs, Raymond R. Burchett, Frank A. Smith

Conservation and Survey Division: Faculty and Staff Publications

No abstract provided.

Organic Geochemistry And Petrology Of Oil Source Rocks, Carpathian Overthrust Region, Southeastern Poland — Implications For Petroleum Generation, Michael A. Kruge, Maria Mastalerz, Andrzej Solecki, B Artur Stankiewicz

Department of Earth and Environmental Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

The organic matter rich Oligocene Menilite black shales and mudstones are widely distributed in the Carpathian Overthrust region of southeastern Poland and have excellent hydrocarbon generation potential, according to TOC, Rock-Eval, and petrographic data. Extractable organic matter was characterized by an equable distribution of steranes by carbon number, by varying amounts of 28,30-dinor-hopane, 18α(H)-oleanane and by a distinctive group of C₂₄ ring-A degraded triterpanes. The Menilite samples ranged in maturity from pre-generative to mid-oil window levels, with the most mature in the southeastern portion of the study area. Carpathian petroleum samples from Campanian-Oligocene sandstone reservoirs were similar …

A Field Trip Guide To Sites Of Geological Interest, Western New Providence Island, Bahamas, James L. Carew, H. Allen Curran, John E. Mylroie, Neil E. Sealey, Brian White

Geosciences: Faculty Publications

See other Smith authored Field Trip Guides of Gerace Research Center.

Annual Departures From Average Annual Precipitation In Nebraska, 1876-1995/ Annual Installation Of Irrigation Wells (1937-1995), Conservation Survey Division

Conservation and Survey Division: Faculty and Staff Publications

No abstract provided.

Regional Hydrogeologic Summaries From Domestic Water-Well Quality In Nebraska -- North Central Tablelands, D. C. Gosselin, J. Headrick, X- H. Chen, S. E. Summerside

Conservation and Survey Division: Faculty and Staff Publications

No abstract provided.

Regional Analysis Of Rural Domestic Well-Water Quality -- East Central Dissected Plains, D. C. Gosselin, X- H. Chen, S. E. Summerside

Conservation and Survey Division: Faculty and Staff Publications

No abstract provided.

Hydrogeology, Hydrogeochemistry, And Spoil Settlement At A Large Mine-Spoil Area In Eastern Kentucky: Star Fire Tract, David R. Wunsch, James S. Dinger, Page B. Taylor, Daniel I. Carey, C. Douglas R. Graham

Report of Investigations--KGS

An applied research program at the Star Fire surface mine in eastern Kentucky, owned and operated by Cypress-AMAX Coal Co., defined spoil characteristics to develop and monitor water resources, which will help identify a reliable water supply for future property development. Water stored in the mine spoil may provide a usable ground-water supply, and the spoil could also be engineered to provide base flow to surfacewater reservoirs.

Ground-water recharge enters the spoil by way of sinking streams, ground-water flow from bedrock in contact with the mine spoil, and a specially designed infiltration basin. Ground water discharges predominantly from springs and …

Geologic Map Of The Logan Quadrangle, Cache County, Utah, James P. Evans, James P. Mccalpin, David C. Holmes

Geosciences Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The Middle And Upper Ordovician Bioclastic Carbonate ("Trenton") Play In The Appalachian Basin, Brandon C. Nuttall

Information Circular--KGS

The bioclastic carbonate play in the Appalachian Basin (referred to by drillers as the "Trenton") includes both gas and oil produced from Middle and Upper Ordovician stratigraphic and combination traps in linear reservoirs often mistaken for reefs. While production from this play is currently reported from nine fields in south-central and eastern Kentucky and five fields in New York, potential reservoir rocks are present throughout most of the Appalachian Basin from New York to Tennessee. Along the western flank of the Appalachian Basin, in the Blue Grass Region of central Kentucky, Middle and Upper Ordovician strata crop out. In the …

Cambrian Hydrocarbon Potential Indicated In Kentucky's Rome Trough, David C. Harris, James A. Drahovzal

Information Circular--KGS

A recent gas discovery in the Rome Trough has resulted in a new phase of deep exploration in eastern Kentucky. This activity is located in Elliott County, near the northern boundary fault of the Cambrian Rome Trough graben. The Carson Associates No. 1 Kazee well was drilled in 1994, and blew out with a reported uncontrolled flow of 11 million cubic feet of gas per day. Although completed at a much lower rate, this well renewed interest in the deep gas potential of the Rome Trough, which has seen sporadic drilling activity since the 1940's. Gas production in the Rome …

Resource News-Summer 1996

Conservation and Survey Division: Faculty and Staff Publications

No abstract provided.

Registered Irrigation Wells In Nebraska-Summer 1995, Mack Ann, Jim Weir, Jennifer Sharpe

Conservation and Survey Division: Faculty and Staff Publications

No abstract provided.