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Middle Crustal Ductile Deformation Patterns In Southern Tibet: Insights From Vorticity Studies In Mabja Dome, Jackie Langille

All Master's Theses

Mabja Dome, southern Tibet, exposes mid-crustal rocks proposed to have originated from a southward flowing mid-crustal channel. Kinematic, mean kinematic vorticity (Wm), and metamorphic petrography analyses on these mid-crustal rocks were performed to test this hypothesis. Kinematic indicators show a transition with structural depth from top-north and top-south shear to solely top-south shear. Along the northernmost transects, Wm in schists and orthogneisses range from 0.52–0.84 (63–36% pure shear). Wm for quartzites ranges from 0.9–0.99 (27–1% pure shear). Deformation temperatures increase from ~450 °C in the chloritoid-zone to ~700 °C in the sillimanite-zone and were recorded between ~35–16 Ma. These patterns …

Turbulent Lifestyle: Microbial Mats On Earth’S Sandy Beaches—Today And 3 Billion Years Ago, Nora Noffke

OES Faculty Publications

Archean Earth history is very difficult to reconstruct. Until recently, only bacterial cells preserved in chert, microborings, and stromatolites provided the few clues to ancient life. Now, siliciclastic “microbially induced sedimentary structures” (MISS) are adding to our knowledge of both past life and paleoenvironments. MISS rise from the interaction of photoautotrophic microbial mats with physical sediment dynamics in siliciclastic, shallow-marine settings. Archean MISS can be understood through observations of living microbial mats and modern biotic-physical sedimentary processes. Such geobiological studies are key to the interpretation of the early evolution of prokaryotes. For example, the 2.9 Ga Pongola Supergroup, South Africa, …

Effect Of Oilfield Brine On Groundwater Quality In Marmul Area, Sultanate Of Oman, Salim Ahmed Sakroon

Theses

During a period of 28 years, more than 96 million m³ of oilfield produced water was re-injected in the shallow aquifer at Marmul oilfield area, and changed groundwater characteristics. The 10 wells of Shallow Water Disposal (SWD) have been used to inject water in shallow groundwater aquifers of Dammam and Rus formations. The disposal of oilfield produced water to shallow aquifer has been continuing since 1980, with approximately 96 Mm³ of produced water having been disposed and an estimation of approximately 9600 m³ oil has been disposed of in this case until the beginning of 2008.

The …

The Global Stratotype Section And Point (Gssp) For The Base Of The Katian Stage Of The Upper Ordovician Series At Black Knob Ridge, Southeastern Oklahoma, Usa, Daniel Goldman, Stephen A. Leslie, Jaak Nõlvak, Seth Young, Stig M. Bergström, Warren D. Huff

Department of Earth, Environment and Sustainability Faculty Publications

The International Subcomission on Ordovician Stratigraphy (ISOS) of the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS) recently defined the base of the global Upper Ordovician Series to be at the first appearance datum (FAD) of the graptolite species Nemagraptus gracilis in the Fågelsång GSSP in southern Sweden. This designation recognized the tremendous utility for global correlation of the first appearance of a cosmopolitan taxon that occurs within a consistent succession of other first appearance datums (e.g., Finney and Bergström, 1986; Bergström et al., 2000). Current efforts by the ISOS have focused on subdividing the Upper Ordovician into three stages and choosing appropriate …

Eesi Newsletter, No. 3, Oct. 2007, Energy & Environmental Security Initiative (University Of Colorado Boulder)

EESI: The Energy & Environmental Security Initiative [Newsletter] (2007)

No abstract provided.

Assessment Of Undiscovered Oil And Gas Resources In Tertiary Strata Of The Gulf Coast, 2007

United States Geological Survey: Publications

Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated a mean of 113.7 trillion cubic feet of undiscovered natural gas, a mean of 690 million barrels of undiscovered oil, and a mean of 3.7 billion barrels of undiscovered natural gas liquids in onshore lands and State waters of the Gulf Coast.

Reservoir Characterization And Outcrop Analogs To The Navajo Sandstone In The Central Utah Thrust Belt Exploration Play, Ashley Dalrymple

Theses and Dissertations

Reservoir heterogeneity plays an important role in oil field economics and completion strategies. We herein characterize the reservoir heterogeneity of the Early Jurassic Navajo Sandstone in the Justensen Flat/Devils Canyon area of the San Rafael Swell, Utah. These outcrops are located approximately 60 kilometers (45 mi) east of the recently discovered Covenant oil field which is located in the central Utah thrust belt exploration play. The reservoir for the Covenant field is the Navajo Sandstone. This study can serve as an outcrop analogue for this developing play and other eolian reservoirs worldwide. There are eight facies within the Navajo Sandstone …

The Geologic History Of Subsurface Arkosic Sedimentary Rocks In The San Andreas Fault Observatory At Depth (Safod) Borehole, Central California, Sarah D. Draper

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The aim of the San Andreas Fault Observatory at Depth (SAFOD) project, a component of the NSF Earthscope Initiative, is to directly observe active fault processes at seismogenic depths through the drilling of a 3 km deep (true vertical depth) inclined borehole across San Andreas fault. Preliminary subsurface models based on surface mapping and geophysical data predicted different lithologies than were actually encountered. At 1920 meters measured depth (mmd), a sequence of well-indurated, interbedded arkosic conglomerates, sandstones, and siltstones was encountered. We present a detailed lithologic and structural characterization as a step toward understanding the complex geologic history of this …

Hikorocodium Endo Is Not An Alga But An Inozoid Sponge, J. Keith Rigby, Baba Senowbari-Daryan

Faculty Publications

The genus Hikorocodium, with the type species Hikorocodium elegantae from the Permian of Japan, was described originally as a codiacean alga by Endo. It is not a codiacean alga but an inozoid sponge of the family Preperonidellidae. Several fossils described later by Endo and other authors as H. elegantae should be assigned to different inozoid sponge taxa. Specimens of H. fertiliz, described by Endo from the Jurassic of Japan, are also sponge fragments. The taxonomic positions of H. transversum Endo and H. kuramotoi Nakamura, as sponges or

Extinction Pattern Of Reef Ecosystems In Latest Permian, Yasheng Wu, Jiasong Fan, Hongxia Jiang, Wan Yang

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Studies of two Permian-Triassic boundary (PTB) sections on top of a Changhsingian reef in Ziyun, Guizhou Province, southwestern China indicate that the end-Permian mass extinction of reef ecosystems occurred in two steps. The first step is the extinction of all stenotropic organisms such as calcisponges and fusulinids in the latest Permian (in the Clarkina yini conodont zone). The biota after the first extinction is simple, comprising eurytropic organisms including microgastropods, ostracods, and some small burrowing organisms, or only algal mats. At the beginning of the Early Triassic (i.e. the beginning of the Hindeodus parvus zone), the environments became anoxic, and …

Geodetic Monitoring Of The Yucca Mountain Region Using Continuous Gps Measurements, Geoff Blewitt, Jonathan Price, Nevada Geodetic Laboratory, Nevada Bureau Of Mines & Geology

Publications (YM)

What Task 3 is About:

Monitor current crustal deformation at YM
– In the broader tectonic context of the NA-Pacific plate boundary
– In the regional context of the East California Shear Zone (ECSZ)
– In the geological context of specific fault activity
– Vertical motion associated with geophysical fluids

Using geodetic methods
– GPS – mature, proven
track the 3-D point-positions of 47 stations with < 1 mm precision
– InSAR – new, experimental
regional map of displacement along the line-of-sight (accuracy??)
proven capability: (1) co-seismic deformation; (2) local instabilities

Summary And Highlights Of The 10th International Symposium On Antarctic Earth Sciences, T. J. Wilson, R. E. Bell, P. Fitzgerald, S. B. Mukasa, R. D. Powell, C. Finn

ANDRILL Related Publications of Affiliates

The 10th International Symposium on Antarctic Earth Sciences (10th ISAES) was convened at the University of California, Santa Barbara, in August 2007. At the symposium about 350 researchers presented talks and posters with new results on major topics, including climate change, biotic evolution, magmatic processes, surface processes, tectonics, geodynamics, and the cryosphere. The symposium resulted in 335 papers and extended abstracts (Cooper et al., 2007, and this volume). Many science discoveries were presented spanning the last 2 billion years, from times when Antarctica was part of former supercontinents Rodinia and Gondwana to the present when Antarctica is an isolated, ice-covered …

Handle With Care, Minnesota State University, Mankato

Conservation/Energy Alternatives

Bibliography and photographs of a display of government documents from Minnesota State University, Mankato.

The Yellowstone Hotspot, Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, And Human Geography, Kenneth L. Pierce, Don G. Despain, Lisa A. Morgan, John M. Good

United States Geological Survey: Publications

Active geologic processes associated with the Yellowstone hotspot are fundamental in shaping the landscapes of the greater Yellowstone ecosystem (GYE), a high volcanic plateau flanked by a crescent of still higher mountainous terrain. The processes associated with the Yellowstone hotspot are volcanism, faulting, and uplift and are observed in the geology at the surface. We attribute the driving forces responsible for the northeastward progression of these processes to a thermal plume rising through the Earth’s mantle into the base of the southwest-moving North American plate. This progression began 16 million years ago (Ma) near the Nevada-Oregon border and arrived at …

Reconnaissance Study Of Pleistocene Lake And Fluvial Deposits In And Near Ancestral Yellowstone Lake, Wyoming, J. D. Love, John M. Good, D. G. Browne

United States Geological Survey: Publications

Seven sequences of Pleistocene strata, five of them predominantly lacustrine, are described from outcrops north of Yellowstone Lake. These are (1) Turbid Lake sequence, 30–50 feet of white pumiceous claystone and tuff with carbonaceous partings and a distinctive compositional pattern of excesses and deficiencies of many elements; (2) Yellowstone Falls sequence, 75 feet or more of varved white claystone and tuff containing pollen and diatoms, overlain by gray conglomerate and sandstone; (3) Hayden Valley sequence, 200 feet or more of gray and white silt and claystone containing sparse diatoms; (4) Alum Creek sequence, 30 feet or more of bedded sand …

Postglacial Inflation-Deflation Cycles, Tilting, And Faulting In The Yellowstone Caldera Based On Yellowstone Lake Shorelines, Kenneth L. Pierce, Kenneth P. Cannon, Grant A. Meyer, Matthew J. Trebesch, Raymond D. Watts

United States Geological Survey: Publications

The Yellowstone caldera, like many other late Quaternary calderas of the world, exhibits dramatic unrest. Between 1923 and 1985, the center of the Yellowstone caldera rose nearly 1 m along an axis between its two resurgent domes (Pelton and Smith, 1979; Dzurisin and Yamashita, 1987). From 1985 until 1995–1996, the caldera subsided at about 2 cm/yr (Dzurisin and others, 1990). More recent radar-interferometry studies show renewed inflation of the northeastern resurgent dome between 1995 and 1996; this inflation migrated to the southwestern resurgent dome from 1996 to 1997 (Wicks and others, 1998).

We extend this record back in time using …

An Investigation Of Lead And Other Metal Contaminants In The Sediments Of Clearwater Lake, Missouri, Gary W. Krizanich

Doctoral Dissertations

"The purpose of this investigation is to characterize the spatial and temporal distribution and concentration of trace metals in sediments of Clearwater Lake. Understanding how trace metals are released to and transported in aquatic environments is important to the overall understanding of the impacts of mining on the natural environment. The main focus of this research will be on historic sedimentation within Clearwater Lake, which may act as a sink where mining related trace metals are stored. Because of their high preservation rates in basins, sediments can provide detailed chronostratigraphic histories of trace metal inputs in lakes. Sediment records can …

Sediment Flux And Fate In The Mississippi River Diversion At West Bay: Observation Study, Thomas Mitchell Andrus

LSU Master's Theses

Land-building sediment diversions, such as the Mississippi River Diversion at West Bay, can be used as important building blocks in the conservation and restoration of Mississippi Delta wetlands. Sediment deposition and retention patterns were studied in the West Bay diversion outfall area through analyses of sediment cores, hydrodynamics, and bathymetry. Cores and x-ray samples were collected at twenty stations in March 2004, August 2004, November 2005, and April 2006. Cores were analyzed for grain-size distributions and ⁷Be activities, in order to examine patterns of recent sediment deposition. In comparing ratios of total ⁷Be inventory to atmospheric ⁷Be …

Integrated Geophysical Data Processing And Interpretation Of Crustal Structure In Ethiopia With Emphasis On The Ogaden Basin And Adjacent Areas, Ketsela Tadesse

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The combined effects of magmatism and stretching due to asthenosphere upwelling modifies the crustal structure of the Earth as seen in the Ethiopian rift and adjacent areas. The Ethiopian rift provides unique opportunities to understand the nature of rifted crust and the intensity of its modification by magmatic processes. I used geological and geophysical data to conduct an integrated study in and around the Ethiopian rift including the northern Kenyan rift and the northern part of the Kenyan dome. New gravity, controlled source seismic, and teleseismic data from the EAGLE (Ethiopia-Afar Geoscientific Lithospheric Experiment) were used as additional constraints in …

Tourmalinities In Neoproterzoic Metaevaporitic Deposit Of Duruchas Formation, Damar Belt, Central Namibia, Haiting Sun

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Tourmalinites from a well-developed meta-evaporite sequence in the Neoproterozoic Duruchaus Formation of central Namibia contain tourmalines with chemical and textural features that are excellent recorders of their environment of formation. Unlike most other meta-evaporitic deposits, this tourmalinite locality exhibits only minor deformation. The tourmalinites form as finely laminated units ca. 1 m thick within a sequence of quartzites, mica schists, dolomitic marbles, and carbonate breccias. Well-preserved pseudomorphs are considered to replace a variety of evaporitic minerals. The meta-sedimentary rocks of the Duruchaus Formation have been interpreted as representing lacustrine, playa lake, fluvial, and non-marine evaporite deposition in an intracontinental rift …

Ichnogenic Porosity, High-Frequency Cyclostratigraphy, And Groundwater Flow In The Karst Biscayne Aquifer, Se Florida, Usa, Kevin Cunningham, H. Allen Curran

Geosciences: Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Geosciences Newsletter - 2006, Department Of Geosciences

Geological and Environmental Sciences News

Vol. 2, No. 2

• Mohamed Sultan, Chairperson
• Faculty News
• Department News
• Michigan Geological Repository for Research and Education (MGRRE)
• Department Updates
• Graduate Student News
• Awards & Graduations
• Alumni News
• Outstanding Alumni Academy
• Dedication Ceremony Michigan Geological Repository for Research and Education (MGRRE) New Faces in the Geosciences

Slides: The Monumental Legacy Of The Antiquities Act Of 1906: The Rainbow Bridge National Monument In Context, Mark Squillace

Celebrating the Centennial of the Antiquities Act (October 9)

Presenter: Professor Mark Squillace, Director, Natural Resources Law Center, University of Colorado School of Law

35 slides

A Stratigraphic And Geochronologic Analysis Of The Morrison Formation/Cedar Mountain Formation Boundary, Utah, Brent W. Greenhalgh

Theses and Dissertations

The Lower Cretaceous Cedar Mountain Formation preserves several vertebrate faunas and has the potential of providing critical timing information pertaining to Early Cretaceous dinosaurs and the Sierran magmatic arc. Historically, the Morrison/Cedar Mountain contact and the duration of the unconformity between them have been difficult or impossible to determine because 1) the formations were deposited in similar environments, 2) the basal Cedar Mountain Formation is composed of reworked Morrison Formation, and 3) there are no radiometric ages for the lower Cedar Mountain Formation. A stratigraphic study through central Utah reveals a diagnostic suite of pedogenic and sedimentologic characters across the …

Geologic Map And Structural Analysis Of The Twin Rocks 7.5 Minute Quadrangle, Wayne County, Utah, Samuel C. Sorber

Theses and Dissertations

A new geologic map of the Twin Rocks 7.5 minute quadrangle primarily located within Capitol Reef National Park, south-central Utah, provides stratigraphic and structural detail not previously available. This map has also been instrumental in understanding the evolution and development of fluvial terraces associated with Sulfur Creek and the structural geology of the backlimb of the Miners Mountain uplift. Nine bedrock stratigraphic formations and eight types of Quaternary deposits were mapped throughout the quadrangle. Bedrock stratigraphy ranges in age from Permian to Jurassic. New details absent on previous geologic maps include members of the Chinle and Moenkopi Formations and the …

Unlv Magazine, Carol C. Harter, Joe Cockrell, Tony Allen, Regina Bacolas, Lori Bachand, Jennifer Lawson, Bret C. Birdsong, Steve Parker, Erin O'Donnell, Jennifer Robison

UNLV Magazine

No abstract provided.

Seeing Through The Noise: Seismic Reflection Profiling In Urban Areas, Lee M. Liberty, Thomas L. Pratt, Scott S. Hess

CGISS Publications and Presentations

Studies for urban hazard or resource assessment often take place in densely populated areas characterized by considerable cultural noise. These site conditions can severely compromise seismic reflection data quality. We have collected vibroseis and hammer (weight drop) seismic reflection data in a range of geologic conditions to image stratigraphy and structures in the upper one km along regional highways, city streets,and power line access roads. In addition to the challenges of safety and outreach, acquisition efforts along busy streets and highways often encounter poor receiver coupling and large-amplitude coherent noise from traffic and power lines. Although higher quality seismic reflection …

Change In Atmospheric Mineral Aerosols In Response To Climate: Last Glacial Period, Preindustrial, Modern, And Doubled Carbon Dioxide Climates, Natalie M. Mahowald, Daniel R. Muhs, Samuel Levis, Philip J. Rasch, Masaru Yoshioka, Charles S. Zender, Chao Luo

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Desert dust simulations generated by the National Center for Atmospheric Research’s Community Climate System Model for the current climate are shown to be consistent with present day satellite and deposition data. The response of the dust cycle to last glacial maximum, preindustrial, modern, and doubled-carbon dioxide climates is analyzed. Only natural (non-land use related) dust sources are included in this simulation.

Mapping Of A Detachment Fault In Kythera Island And Study Of The Related Structural Shear Sense Indicators, Antonios Marsellos

Geology Theses and Dissertations

Kythera Island is located on the prominent submarine horst between Crete and the Peloponnese in the southwestern part of the Aegean. The structure of Kythera is characterized by a pile of tectonic slices derived from different paleogeographic zones. The upper unmetamorphosed units comprise pelagic limestones and cherts of Pindos zone emplaced by thrusting in the Eocene on top of Tripolis zone neritic limestones. These units are separated from the lower metamorphosed unit of Phyllite-Quartzite (PQU) exposed in the northern part of Kythera by an extensional detachment fault of Late Miocene age. The lower tectonic unit of PQU was affected by …

Reply To Comment On ‘Petrography And Petrology Of The Calc-Alkaline Sarıhan Granitoid (Ne Turkey): An Example Of Magma Mingling And Mixing’, Zafer Arslan

Turkish Journal of Earth Sciences

No abstract provided.