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The Barriers Present In More Developed Countries And Less Developed Countries Slowing The Implementation Of Substainability, Luke Giovine

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

In 1996 the natural resource base of the world is being depleted at a rate far below the sustainable level. This is very evident in less developed countries (IDC), where raw limited natural resources are being poorly utilized and/or exported to more developed countries (MDC). The More Developed Countries such as the United States, Japan, and Germany use a high amount of natural resources and energy to maintain their material Standard Of Living (SOL), and this is at rates above what their own country can sustain with its own natural resources within its own borders. Both MDC's and LDC's are …

An Analysis Of Remediation Alternatives In An Attempt To Establish An Effective Hydrocarbon-Contaminated Soils Remediation Program At The Yucca Mountain Site Characterization Project (Ymp), Marc A. Gonzales

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

An analyses, of six (6) soil remediation alternatives was completed in attempt to establish an effective hydrocarbon-contaminated soils remediation program at the Yucca Mountain Site Characterization Program (YMP). The remediation alternatives analyzed included: no remediation, on-site incineration, off-site incineration, in-situ .bioremediation, ex-situ bioremediation, and excavation and disposal. Variables considered in the evaluation process included cost of contaminated soil transportation, treatment costs, future liability, and success of remediating the contaminated soils to below regulatory thresholds. The analysis concluded in the recommendation of an on-site ex-situ bioremediation treatment facility (BTF) to remediate hydrocarbon-contaminated soils at the YMP. The selection was based on …

Mafic Volcanism In The Colorado Plateau: Basin And Range Transition Zone, Hurricane, Utah, Alexander Sanchez

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The Hurricane volcanic field (HVF) is a small-volume (0.48 km³) mafic volcanic field in the Colorado Plateau/Basin & Range Transition Zone located in the eastern part of the St. George basin in southwestern Utah. Strombolian-Hawaiian style eruptions produced thin (10 m) a'a lava flows and cinder (scoria) cones composed of vesicular basalt, bombs and agglutinate. Radiometric dating and geologic relationships demonstrate that the HVF formed over a period of at least 100,000 years. In the upper crust, magma probably rose along joints in sedimentary rocks because chains of volcanic vents follow joint orientation maxima in sedimentary rocks.

Three …

Geochemical Evolution Of A Mid-Miocene Synextensional Volcanic Complex: The Dolan Springs Volcanic Field, Northwestern Arizona, Scott Michael Mcdaniel

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The Dolan Springs volcanic field (DSV), of northwestern Arizona, is dominated by andesite and basaltic-andesite flows and breccias, with minor amounts of basalt, rhyolite, and ash-flow tuff. Geochemistry is used here as a tool to evaluate the roles and contributions of the lithospheric and asthenospheric mantles to magmatism related to Miocene extension in the Colorado River extension corridor (CREC). The majority of synextensional volcanic rocks in the DSV are geochemically similar to regional trends, but rare tholeiitic basalts erupted near the end of extension. The tholeiites have trace element signatures similar to ocean island basalt (OIB), but have isotopic values …

Tectonic Denudation Of Mesozoic Contractile Structures By A Low-Angle Normal Fault And Associated Faults, Southern White Pine Range, Nevada, Holly Langrock

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The Blackrock Canyon area in the southern White Pine Range, Nevada mostly consists of the highly extended upper plate of a low-angle normal fault, the Blackrock fault. The post-31.3 Ma Blackrock fault places upper Paleozoic sedimentary rocks and overlying Tertiary volcanic rocks of the Garret Ranch Group in its hangingwall against a 50 degrees E-dipping homocline of Cambrian through Mississippian rocks in its footwall. The 15 to 30 degrees W-dipping Blackrock fault is non-planar and consists of two fault segments and a pronounced corrugation, the Bull Spring corrugation. These geometric irregularities suggest the slip direction on the fault was east-southeast …

Geology And Geochemistry Of Tertiary Volcanic Rocks In The Northern Reveille And Southern Pancake Ranges, Nye County, Nevada, Kelly Brian Rash

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The northern Reveille and southern Pancake Ranges, located in the south-central Great Basin, experienced a prolonged history of Tertiary volcanism. Volcanic activity in this area began with the eruption of large-volumes of ash-flow tuffs from calderas of the central Nevada caldera complex. The Reveille Range and the southernmost portion of the Pancake Range are the site of two calderas that are the sources for the tuff of Goblin Knobs and tuff of northern Reveille Range. The tuff of Goblin Knobs (70.4-75.3 wt.% SiO₂) erupted from the caldera of Goblin Knobs (25.6 Ma) and is the thickest (~1700 m) …

Housing Conditions & Demographical Survey: Housing Rehabilitation For The City Of North Las Vegas, Lisa M. Morris

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The basis of this research, is to evaluate the North Las Vegas area in order to develop knowledge of what areas are in critical need of rehabilitation. Improperly maintained affordable housing is one of the largest sources of wasted resources. The research was obtained through a windshield survey process, which included approximately 12,000 homes in the North Las Vegas area to determine their conditions. The findings of the windshield survey was used to correlate the results of the housing conditions, with demographics such as: Population, Age Distribution, Racial Distribution, Median Income, Poverty Levels, Age of Homes and Female Head of …

Management Of Pesticide Related Soil Contamination In Tulare County, California: Remediation And Prevention Options, Nickolas Keoni Akana

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The case study chosen for research is the Remedial Action Plan (RAP) summary report of Remedial Investigations of the Harmon Field contaminated site located near the town of Pixley, in Tulare County, California. "These reports were prepared in accordance with a directive from the California Environmental Protection Agency (Cal-EPA), formerly the California Department of Health Services (DHS). (Canonie, 1996).

Harmon Field is a hundred acre field located at 1494 South Airport Road. The airfield has been in full operation since 1952. The uses of the airport are all agriculturally related. The primary use is for crop duster operations. (Canonie 1996). …

A Petrographic And Fluid Inclusion Study Of The Purple Vein And Post/Betze Orebodies, Carlin, Nevada, Jan B. Lamb

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The Purple Vein (Meikle Mine) and Post/Betze orebodies, two Carlin-type, gold deposits, display important differences in size, alteration, silicification, pyritization, and gold grade. A core hole was examined from each deposit to gather petrographic and microthermometric data to determine the mineral paragenesis, to determine fluid pressure, temperature, and composition to compare of the two orebodies, and to determine depths of formation.

The parageneses determined were divided into three stages. (1) The Early Mineralization Stage contains quartz, pyrobitumen, barite, sphalerite, sulfosalts, quartz, and pyrite in the Purple Vein deposit and consists of calcite in the Post/Betze deposit. High salinity basinal brines, …

An Understanding Of Factors Controlling Isotopic Ratios Of Wine As A Potential Surrogate Of Past Precipitation, Eric Alan Caldwell

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Precipitation, vapor water, ground water, soil water, grape berry and grape leaf water, grape must, and vintage wines were collected from northern California for stable isotopic analysis. An understanding of factors controlling isotopic ratios of wine allows evaluation of wine as a surrogate of past precipitation. Stable isotopic compositions of grape berry waters collected at Charles Krug Winery in Napa Valley. CA range from -31 to -17 per mil in 8D and +7.2 to +15.3 per mil in 8180, and plot along a transpiration line of slope 2. 7. Grape leaf waters range from -25 to +5 per mil in …

The Study Of Yucca Mountain For A Possible Nuclear Storage Facility Science Vs. Politics, Anna Leske

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The purpose of this paper is to determine whether scientific or political methods were used by the of the United States Congress in the study of the nuclear waste storage facility in Yucca Mountain, Nevada. The history nuclear power and the history of the Johnston compromise that lead to the elimination of Texas and Washington States as possible sites for the repository is explained. A review of the conflicts between Nevada politicians and the U.S. Congress over the designation of Yucca Mountain as the sole study for a permanent storage site of the nation's high-level nuclear waste is addressed along …

Limiting Growth In Las Vegas - A Necessary Growth Strategy For The Twenty-First Century, Cheryl Ann Frassa

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Land development in the Las Vegas Valley continues at an unprecedented rate and future growth will no doubt be strongly advocated. Yet, water resources in this desert area are finite, and in the near future, supply will fall short of demand. Plans are underway to supplement the existing supply, and proposals to secure additional sources are under investigation. But there are no guarantees these ambitious endeavors will materialize. In light of the pending water crisis, the pervasive "growth at all cost" policies now dominant in the valley must be abandoned and more realistic land-use policies developed; ones based on the …

Updating The Colorado River Compact, Jeffrey A. Freer

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Water is essential to life in the arid environment of the western United States. For centuries, humans have used the Colorado River to fulfill their needs and until the past 100 years, the use of the river was sustainable. Over the last 100 years, the Colorado River has been dammed and diverted to "reclaim" the arid west for man's use. In 1946, a Department of the Interior report stated that "Tomorrow the Colorado will be utilized to the very last drop. Its water will convert thousands of additional acres of sagebrush desert to flourishing farms and beautiful homes for servicemen, …

Structural Analysis Of The Hurricane Fault In The Transition Zone Between The Basin And Range Province And The Colorado Plateau, Washington County, Utah, Meg E. Schramm

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This study defines fault segments and segment boundaries along the Hurricane fault in southwestern Utah and determines the geometric and kinematic relationship to other regional structures. Fault segment identification is critical for understanding fault processes and seismic risk; segment length is the maximum earthquake rupture length along a fault. Segment boundaries may act as barriers to earthquake propagation.

Normal fault segmentation only recently has received attention and has never been studied along the Hurricane fault. The fault changes strike along its length, and is thus a segmented fault. This study documents one nonconservative segment boundary and two fault segments, the …

Drip Irrigation, An Adaptive Strategy, Heather A. Grant Digeorge

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Adaptation has always played a role in the survival of man. In today's Southwest we are quickly approaching a water shortage. Agriculture is the second largest user of water. One way to save water is by conservation. Drip irrigation would save vast amounts of water currently lost to inefficiency. Drip irrigation will become an option in the adaptation in agriculture.

Determining Recreational Visitor Carrying Capacity: The Case Of Black Canyon At Lake Mead National Recreation Area, Kenneth C. Forman

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Lake Mead and Lake Mohave, created by Hoover and Davis Dams respectively, were combined, along with much of the surrounding area, into the Lake Mead National Recreation Area in 1964. The enabling legislation is specific about the duty the National Park Service has to the public to create and maintain this, and other, national recreation areas for the benefit of the visitors, the environment, and future generations. By investigating human impacts on the physical environment (water quality, litter, etc.) and by querying park users on their opinions (with respect to crowding, visitor behavior, etc.), insight can be gained about appropriate …

The Economics Of Free Parking: Transportation Policy At The University Of Nevada, Las Vegas, Richard A. Nielsen

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This paper culminates a natural progression of studies done over the past two years examining parking and transportation policy at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. The purpose of these studies has been to evaluate the adequacy of these policies and to estimate the potential impact a Transportation Demand Management (TDM) program could produce on parking and traffic conditions and air quality improvement. Included in the report are results from a commuter survey conducted in April 1993, a simple rollback model developed to produce an estimation of vehicle miles traveled (VMT) at the University and any subsequent reduction of VMT …

Spectral Analysis Of The Flow Behavior Of Big Spring, Kings Canyon National Park, California, Linda Urzendowski

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Big Spring, the resurgence of a karst aquifer in the Lilburn Cave system (Kings Canyon National Park, California), displays the uncommon phenomena of ebb and flow discharge during periods of high runoff.

Hydrograph analyses indicate that the portion of Lilburn Cave between the Z-Room and Big Spring is primarily a conduit flow aquifer. The power spectra strongly indicate a nonlinear system, with evidence of quasi-linear behavior found on a smaller scale. The transfer and kernel function indicate that no additional significant inputs or outputs to the system exist. The bench-scale model built to simulate the ebb and flow cycles in …

The Geology Of The Tuff Of Bridge Spring: Southern Nevada And Northwestern Arizona, Shirley Ann Morikawa

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The Tuff of Bridge Spring (TBS) is a regionally-widespread, andesite to rhyolite (59.50 to 74.91 wt. %) ash-flow tuff of mid-Miocene age (ca. 15.2 Ma) that is exposed in the northern Colorado River extensional corridor of southern Nevada and northwestern Arizona. Determination of the areal distribution, geochronology, lithology, geochemistry, and internal stratigraphy of the TBS is important for its establishment as a reliable stratigraphic reference horizon for tectonic reconstructions of the extensional corridor during the middle Miocene. Based on reoccurring patterns of major and trace element variation, the TBS is divided into constant Cr/variable SiO₂ and variable Cr/variable SiO …

Analysis And Evaluation Of The Workplace Exposure Assessment Workbook Developed By Keith Tait Including Some Recommended Revisions, Lisa Hebberd

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Some risk due to the contamination of workplace environments is an inevitable part of human lives. These risks can often be reduced by improving the control of environmental pollution in the workplace. An extremely important challenge for any industry is to develop a mechanism to identify acceptable levels of safety, or "acceptable risk" in the workplace for specific situations, and to assure adequate quality control over measured or calculated exposure concentrations and their possible contributions to adverse health effects.

Depositional Environments And Paleoecology Of The Lower Ordovician Pogonip Group, Opd Unit, Arrow Canyon Range, Clark County, Nevada, Jeffrey K. Donovan

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The Opd Unit of the Pogonip Group is a slope-forming carbonate sequence that crops out in the Arrow Canyon Range 75 miles north of Las Vegas, Nevada. It is composed mainly of grainstones, packstones, and intraformational conglomerates and also contains Calathium-bearing bioherms composed dominantly of wackestones. These rocks were deposited in a shallow-water, high-energy, subtidal, tropical marine environment. Nuia and Nuia-crinoid shoals developed on this shallow ramp and the area was frequently disturbed by storms.

Calathium-dominated carbonate mudmounds emerged on the Nuia and Nuia-crinoid shoals. Although Calathium dominated the mounds on a macroscopic scale, the mounds …

Desorption Hysteresis In Five Ion Exchanged Montmorillonites, Jerry Paul Fairley

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

It is generally believed that the formation of recalcitrant (slowly desorbing) fractions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in soils is due to diffusion of compounds to sorption sites inaccessible to bulk fluid. The exact nature of these sites, however, is not well understood. In clay minerals, researchers favor two probable areas for the storage of persistent contamination; sites between the clay lamella, or sites with clay particle aggregates.

To test the hypothesis that recalcitrant fractions are formed in interlamellar spaces, a Na/Ca Montmorillonite (Smectite) was ion exchanged with five different cations (K⁺, Na⁺, Ca⁺, …

The Sloan Sag: A Mid-Miocene Volcanotectonic Depression, North-Central Mccullough Mountains, Southern Nevada, Hayden L. Bridwell

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

In the Hidden Valley area of the north-central McCullough Mountains, southern Nevada, mid-Miocene andesite and dacite domes, flows and pyroclastic units (the Sloan volcanics) partially fill a sag in the underlying Hidden Valley volcanics. The 13.5 km diameter sag formed during and/or after the eruption of the Sloan volcanics. Sagging was accommodated by a combination of movement on the McCullough Wash fault system, and subsidence into evacuated chambers.

Major, trace and rare-earth element geochemistry suggests that the rocks of the Sloan volcanics belong to four groups, each of which were produced by partial melting of chemically distinct sources. With the …

Hydrogeology And Hydrogeochemistry Of The Shallow Alluvial Aquifer Zone, Las Vegas Valley, Nevada, Harry Stephen Wild Jr.

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

In Las Vegas Valley, Nevada, the shallow alluvial aquifer zone is a possible source of contamination to the principal alluvial aquifers that provide 30% of the public drinking water supply for the valley. Development of the principal aquifers has lowered pressure head in the principal aquifers and created the potential for downward seepage from the shallow aquifer zone. This study was undertaken to characterize the hydrogeology and hydrogeochemistry of the shallow alluvial aquifer zone and to compare the hydrogeochemistry of the shallow and principal alluvial aquifer zones.

A 37 well shallow ground water monitoring network was established and water-level, water-quality, …

Stromatolites Of The Lower Cambrian Deep Spring Formation; Mount Dunfee, Esmeralda County, Nevada, Lynn Oliver

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The Middle Member of the Lower Cambrian Deep Spring Formation at Mount Dunfee, Nevada contains a diverse assemblage of stromatolites that formed on a tide- and storm-dominated, siliciclastic-influenced, carbonate shelf. The stromatolites formed in a shallow subtidal environment within and near active oolite shoals under strongly focused currents. The stromatolites occur in four different lithofacies: (1) bioherms of digitate stromatolites, (2) bioherms and biostromes of inclined stromatolites, (3) isolated forms of massive and hemispheroidal stromatolites, and (4) a biostrome of cryptomicrobial boundstones. The first three lithofacies are interpreted as microbial reefs. They had topographic relief, formed in active agitated waters, …

Late-Holocene Earthflows Of The Willard Playa/Dune Complex, Estancia Valley, New Mexico: A Geomorphic Response To Climatic Change, Kurt A. Goebel

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Late-middle to late Holocene dune sediment that overlies Pleistocene lacustrine sediment marks the onset of xeric conditions in the Estancia Valley, central New Mexico. Incised into the underlying lacustrine sediments, the modern deflation basins are enclosed by parabolic dunes composed of clay and gypsum derived from the underlying sediment.

Located on the in-facing dune slopes of the deflation basins, the most striking geomorphic feature of this dune complex are numerous elongated scars. These relict scars document a geomorphically distinct earthflow event. Arroyos that cut into flow scars expose eolian earthflow sediment overlying lacustrine deposits. In the zone of depletion, erosional-flow …

The Geology And Structural Significance Of The Arch Mountain Area, Northern Black Mountains, Mohave County, Arizona, Edward Eschner

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The Arch Mountain area of northwestern Mohave County, Arizona, is typified by rocks that range from Precambrian to Quatemary in age. Arch mountain is a north-trending horst bounded on the west by the Petroglyph Wash graben and on the east by the Virgin Basin. A low-angle normal fault, herein named the Arch Mountain detachment fault, is exposed for 6 km along strike just below the ridge crest of Arch Mountain, and it is typified by a 2-20 cm thick zone of hematite-impregnated breccia and cataclasite. The detachment fault places an upper plate of Precambrian gneiss, Paleozoic quartzite, shale and dolomite, …

Spring Flow In A Portion Of Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona, David Bruce Goings

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Hermit, Monument, Salt, and Horn Creeks flow through four side canyons of the Colorado River within the Grand Canyon. They lie just west of Grand Canyon Village on the south side of the canyon. Each of these creeks is fed by at least one spring.

Comparisons of flow at each of these springs for a 14 month period, and precipitation on the south rim show a close correlation. The lag period between recharge at the rim and discharge at the springs is less than one month for Hermit Creek and between one and two months for the other three creeks. …

Provenance And Description Of Landslide Masses, Rainbow Gardens Clark County, Nevada., Joseph R. Parolini

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

A landslide breccia of plutonic and metamorphic rocks located 20 km east of Las Vegas, Nevada is interstratified with the late Tertiary Thumb Formation. Rock types of similar mineral composition to the landslide masses in the Rainbow Gardens are found 60 km to the east in the Gold Butte (Nevada) area. The landslide masses were displaced into their present position by lateral strike-slip motion along either the left-lateral Lake Mead fault system or the right-lateral Las Vegas shear zone. In t.he Rainbow Gardens landslide masses, five plutonic rock types, including rapakivi granite, match rocks from the Gold Butte area, both …

Provenance And Description Of Landslide Masses, Rainbow Gardens, Clark County, Nevada, Joseph R. Parolini

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

A landslide breccia of plutonic and metamorphic rocks located 20 km east of Las Vegas, Nevada is interstratified with the late Tertiary Thumb Formation. Rock types of similar mineral composition to the landslide masses in the Rainbow Gardens are found 60 km to the east in the Gold Butte (Nevada) area. The landslide masses were displaced into their present position by lateral strike-slip motion along either the left-lateral Lake Mead fault system or the right-lateral Las Vegas shear zone. In the Rainbow Gardens landslide masses, five plutonic rock types, including Rapakivi granite, match rocks from the Gold Butte area, both …