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Spatial And Temporal Patterns Of River Incision And Terrace Deposition In Response To Climate And Tectonics In Southern Taiwan, Dominique M. Shore

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Geologists often look at the Earth’s surface to understand the underlying processes that cause mountain formation. As tectonic forces drive uplift of Earth’s surface, processes of erosion transport sediment to lower elevations. Climate can play a large role in landscape formation as well as increased precipitation, accelerating rates of erosion. Rivers leave markers of landscape evolution through terrace landforms, former river floodplains that are left behind when rivers incise into a valley. To better understand landscape response to uplift, this research investigated the initial linkages between uplift, hillslope erosion (mass wasting) and river incision. At some point, it is thought …

The Response Of Utah Lake's Plant And Algal Community Structure To Cultural Eutrophication, Leighton R. King

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Human activities have long had a negative impact on the water quality of freshwater lakes around the world. Utah Lake, located in north-central Utah, has been a subject of such impacts, as the lake experiences recurrent harmful algal blooms during the summer months. Lake warnings and closures have made the public increasingly aware of the ecological and economic impact of these blooms. The objectives of this study were to: 1) compare historical and present-day water quality and ecosystem conditions using environmental data contained in sediment cores, 2) identify whether, and when, Utah Lake transitioned from clearwater to turbid conditions, and …

Evolution Of The Book Cliffs Dryland Escarpment In Central Utah - Establishing Rates And Testing Models Of Escarpment Retreat, Nicholas R. Mccarroll

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Since the earliest explorations of the Colorado Plateau, geologists have suspected that cliffs are retreating back laterally. Clarence Dutton envisioned “the beds thus dissolving edge wise until after the lapse of millions of centuries their terminal cliffs stand a hundred miles or more back from their original position” when he wrote about the landscape in 1882. While many geologic studies have determined how fast rivers cut down through the Plateau, only a few studies have calculated how quickly cliffs retreat laterally, and geologists have been arguing since the 1940’s what exactly drives cliffs to retreat in the first place. We …

Investigating Patterns Of Fluvial Form And Incision Near The Yellowstone Hotspot — Alpine Canyon Of The Snake River, Wyoming, Daphnee Tuzlak

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The shape of a landscape is created by rivers, which erode the underlying bedrock and carve through mountains. The Snake River flows across the uplifting hotspot plume of the Yellowstone region, cuts through the Snake River Range, and ultimately enters the low-lying eastern Snake River Plain. Although there is a good understanding of the track of the Yellowstone hotspot over geologic time and shorter timescales, measurements over Quaternary timescales and an understanding of how uplift influences the rivers and landscape in the Yellowstone region are absent. We study the Snake River and its past deposits where it cuts through Alpine …

Nutrient Contribution Of The Shallow Unconfined Aquifer To Pineview Reservoir, Thomas Nyanda Reuben

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Pineview Reservoir, near Utah’s populous Wasatch Front, could play an important role in modulating water supply as water demands and water uses change in response to increasing population densities. The reservoir’s water quality may decline if nitrogen and phosphorus additions to the reservoir are not controlled. Most of the water flowing into the reservoir in summer and fall is contributed by the shallow ground water. The quantity and quality of the shallow ground water to Pineview Reservoir were studied from February 2010 through November 2011. The objectives were to: 1) increase understanding of nitrogen and phosphorus transport from ground water …

Earthquake Petrology: Linking Fault-Related Deformation To The Earthquake Cycle, Mitchell R. Prante

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Faults have a controlling influence on a variety of geologic processes including fluid flow, the mechanical behavior of the crust, and seismicity. The geologic sciences have long recognized that faults generate earthquakes; however, few indicators of ancient earthquakes exist in fault-zones. This dissertation documents several indicators for the preservation of ancient earthquakes in fault-zones including frictional melt (pseudotachylyte), highly-polished fault slip surfaces, and hydrothermal alteration.

These deformation products result from rapid generation of frictional heat during earthquakes. This dissertation also focuses on the seismic potential of continental low-angle normal faults (LANF). We document the preservation of voluminous pseudotachylyte along a …

Rock Properties And Structure Within The San Andreas Fault Observatory At Depth (Safod) Borehold, Northwest Of Parkfield, California: In Situ Observations Of Rock Deformation Processes And Fluid-Rock Interactions Of The San Andreas Fault Zone At ~ 3 Km Depth, Kelly Keighley Bradbury

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The San Andreas Fault Observatory at Depth (SAFOD) is a scientific drilling experiment situated along the central creeping segment of the San Andreas Fault, near Parkfield, California, and north of a segment of the fault that has experienced large historical earthquakes. Drilling into active fault zones allows scientist’s to examine in situ rock samples and to record real-time data.

The main goal of this study is to characterize the geologic setting and rock properties of the San Andreas fault at ~ 3 km depth in the SAFOD borehole. In this region, the fault deforms nearly continuously through aseismic creep and …

Geothermal Alteration Of Basaltic Core From The Snake River Plain, Idaho, Christopher Joseph Sant

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The Snake River Plain is located in the southern part of the state of Idaho. The eastern plain, which this study focuses on, is a trail of volcanics from the Yellowstone
hotspot. Three exploratory geothermal wells were drilled on the Snake River Plain. This project studies basaltic core from the first well at Kimama, north of Burley, Idaho. The objectives of this project are to establish zones of geothermal alteration and analyze the potential for geothermal power production near the center of the Snake River Plain. Thirty samples from 1,912 m of core were sampled and analyzed. Mineral data, temperature …

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 …

Evolution Of A Miocene-Pliocene Low-Angle Normal-Fault System In The Southern Bannock Range, Southeast Idaho, Stephanie M. Carney

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Geologic mapping, basin analysis, and tephrochronologic analysis in the Clifton quadrangle of southeast Idaho indicates that the modern Basin-and-Range topography is only a few million years old and that the bulk of Cenozoic extension was accommodated by slip on an older low-angle normal-fault system, the Bannock detachment system. The detachment system was active between ~12 and < 4 Ma and accommodated ~50 % extension.

Cross-cutting relationships show that the master detachment fault, the Clifton fault, is the youngest low-angle normal fault of the system, was active at a low angle, and has not been rotated to a low-dip angle through time. Map patterns and relationships indicate that the …

Geometry And Physical Properties Of The Chelungpu Fault, Taiwan, And Their Effect On Fault Rupture, Richard V. Heermance

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Rupture of the Chelungpu fault during the September 21, 1999, 7.6 M_wearthquake in Taiwan caused a 90-Jr,m-long surface rupture with variable displacement along strike. Analysis of core from two holes drilled through the fault zone, combined with geologic mapping and detailed investigation from three outcrops, define the fault geometry and physical properties of the Chelungpu fault in its northern and southern regions. In the northern region, the fault dips 45-60° east parallel to bedding and consists of a narrow (1-20 cm) core of dark-gray, sheared clay gouge at the base of a 30-50 m zone of increased fracture …

Structural And Kinematic Evolution Of Eocene-Oligocene Grasshopper Extensional Basin, Southwest Montana, Julie C. Kickham

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The Grasshopper basin of southwest Montana is a complex east-dipping graben containing five unconformity-bounded sequences of Tertiary sedimentary rocks. The Eocene-Oligocene basin lies within the northern Rocky Mountain Basin and Range province. Geologic mapping in five and a half 7.5 minute quadrangles indicates that at least three distinct phases of extension characterize the Cenozoic tectonic evolution of Grasshopper basin from approximately 46 Ma to < Ma.

The significant phases of extension in Grasshopper basin were phases 1 and 3. During the first phase of extension (46-27 Ma) the nonplanar Muddy-Grasshopper fault was initiated and 90% of the basin fill was deposited. At …

Late Quaternary Glacier Fluctuations And Vegetation Change In The Northwestern Ahklun Mountains, Southwestern Alaska, Yarrow L. Axford

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This research examines moraine and lacustrine records of glacier fluctuations, in combination with palynological records of vegetation change, from the previously unstudied northwestern Ahklun Mountains in southwestern Alaska.

Moraine mapping reveals that ice-cap outlet glaciers in the study area extended ca. 60 km from the center of the Ahklun Mountians ice dome during the early Wisconsin (sensu lato), and ca. 40 km during the late Wisconsin. Correlations with well-studied moraines in the southern Ahklun Mountains indicate an asymmetry of glaciation over the range, with ice-cap outlet glaciers more extensive to the south. This asymmetry was more striking during …

Late Pleistocene Glacial Chronology Of The Western Ahklun Mountains, Southwestern Alaska, Jason P. Briner

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

New glacial mapping and 35 cosmogenic ³⁶Cl surface exposure ages, the first ever reported from Alaska, constrain the extent and timing of late Pleistocene glacial fluctuations in the western Ahklun Mountains, southwestern Alaska. Morphometric and soil relative-age data characterize two main drift units deposited during the Arolik Lake and Klak Creek glaciations, named herein. During the Arolik Lake glaciation (early Wisconsin), outlet glaciers emanated from an ice cap over the central portion of the Ahklun Mountains and deposited moraines at or beyond the modern coast. These moraines have slope angles averaging about 11° and crests averaging about 35 m …

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 …

Hydrogeology And Hydrochemistry Of The Delta Wadi El-Arish Area Sinai Peninsula, Egypt, Medhat A. El-Bihery

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Delta Wadi El-Arish, Sinai Peninsula, Egypt, forms one of the most important parts of Egypt for industrial and agricultural expansion projects. This study focuses on the hydrogeology and the hydrochemistry of the Quaternary aquifer in the delta Wadi El-Arish area. Accurate information about the groundwater characteristics of the Quaternary aquifer will allow implementation of a sound water management policy for the Wadi El-Arish area.

The objectives of this study include: 1) determining the relationships between groundwater extraction and water levels and water quality using water-level measurements, total extraction of the wells, and chemical analyses of water samples; 2) determining the …

Diagenesis And Water Chemistry Of The Woodbine Group In The East Texas Basin, Helmuth Victor Wuerch

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Petrographic and SEM study of flu vial-deltaic sections of the Woodbine Group in the East Texas Basin indicates that authigenic mineral suites are controlled, in part, by the presence of organic-rich matrix.

During early, precompaction diagenesis, organic matter supplied the metabolic fuel required by sulfate-reducing bacteria to reduce sulfate in depositional waters ultimately to pyrite. With burial the sulfate supply was ultimately exhausted, and bicarbonate activity thereafter controlled the precipitation of siderite and Fe-calcite.

Matrix material supplied the components and reaction sites for the most import ant porosity-occluding reaction: kaolinite --> Fe,M g chlorite. Matrix physically inhibited the growth of …

The Petrology Of The Early Middle Cambrian Giles Creek And Upper Chandler Formations, Northeastern Amadeus Basin, Central Australia, James A. Deckelman

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The Giles Creek and upper Chandler formations crop out in the northeastern Amadeus Basin from the north flank of Ross River syncline south to the Pillar Range, and from the nose of Ooraminna anticline east to the Simpson Desert. Twenty-four sections of the Giles Creek and nineteen sections of the upper Chandler were measured by the author in this area. The Giles Creek lies disconformably above the upper Chandler Formation and conformably below the Shannon Formation. The upper Chandler is conformably underlain by the lower Chandler throughout the area except at Ross River Gorge and Wallaby No. 1 well. There …

Petrology Of The Middle Cambrian Blacksmith Formation, North-Central Utah, Howard William Hay Jr.

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The dolostones and dolomitic limestones of the Middle Cambrian Blacksmith Formation were studied in the Bear River and Malad Ranges and the Wellsville Mountains of north-central Utah. The depositional textures and sedimentary structures retained within the rocks form the basis of subdivisions of measured sections, interpretation of depositional paleogeography, and reconstruction of environments.

Other studies of modern carbonate environments and their ancient analogues provided the basis for interpretation of the depositional textures found within the rocks of the Blacksmith Formation. Four identifiable lithofacies were recognized within the study area. These facies include: (1) oolite shoal; (2) restricted lagoon; (3) low- …

The Use Of Clay Forms To Symbolize The Quality Of The Southern Utah Landscape, Ban Kajitani

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This project was concerned with study of Neriage, Zougan, and Raku techniques in search of a creative, individual expression of the Southern Utah landscape. To find ceramic forms which would reflect its history, and show appreciation for its aesthetic characteristics of color, vastness and endless variety of form.

In the development of this artist's philosophy, a potter artist has to acquire certain qualities of form and concepts which are of basic importance in the execution of his work.

These concepts which are a part of his philosophy are first; truth to material. Since clay is a very versatile material it …

Antelope Island Study: Guidelines For Recreational Land Use Planning For Antelope Island, Utah, Using Computer Techniques, Robert D. Scott Jr.

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Throughout the history of traditional land use planning, justification for allocating a land use for a particular area has been accomplished generally in a debilitated fashion. For example, decisions have generally been arrived at by (1) political process--incorporating fringe areas into present land use patterns, or (2) short-term revenue producers are given a land use change from a tax base incentive, or (3) revelations implemented, or other subjective justifications. Except in very few instances, data used to base land use planning decisions was not accurately interpreted for adequate input or not even gathered.

Recently, new and innovative methods for land …

Petrology Of The Ordovician Swan Peak Formation, Southeastern Idaho And North-Central Utah, Warren J. Schulingkamp Ii

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The Swan Peak Formation in southeastern Idaho and north-central Utah is a sedimentary unit consisting of orthoquartzite, sandstone, siltite, shale, and limestone. The formation is divisible into three members, and the lower two members each are divisible into two informal lithologic subunits.

The lower member consists of a lower subunit of gray, calcareous sandy siltite composed of subangular to subrounded quartz grains cemented by quartz overgrowths, calcite, or iron oxide, and an upper subunit of black shale with minor interbedded silty quartzose sandstone and biomicrite (limestone).

The middle member consists of a lower subunit of interbedded pale green shale and …

Geology Of The West-Central Part Of The Malad Range, Idaho, Phillip H. Wach

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The west-central part of the Malad Range is located in south-eastern Idaho. This area was the site of thick marine deposition in the early Paleozoic period. In the Tertiary and Quaternary periods continental deposition occurred, covering the Paleozoic rocks. Quartzite and shale units of the Brigham Quartzite are found near the base of the Cambrian section. Carbonate with shale interbeds is found in the middle and late Cambrian units. Limestone and silty limestone are found in the early and middle Ordovician time overlain by the middle Ordovician Swan Peak Quartzite. The Laketown Dolomite includes units of late Ordovician and Silurian …