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Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons

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Earth Sciences

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University of Nevada, Las Vegas

2013

West (U.S.)

Articles 1 - 2 of 2

Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics

Application Of (U-Th)/He And 40ar/39ar Thermochronology To The Age Of Thrust Faulting In The Sevier Orogenic Belt, Michael Giallorenzo Dec 2013

Application Of (U-Th)/He And 40ar/39ar Thermochronology To The Age Of Thrust Faulting In The Sevier Orogenic Belt, Michael Giallorenzo

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The Sevier fold-thrust belt of the Cordilleran orogen in the western United States is a well-studied geologic province, yet our understanding of the history of thrust faulting is still far from complete. Thermochronological methods are applied to major thrust systems from two distinct sections of the Sevier fold-thrust belt (SFTB): the Wheeler Pass thrust in the Mojave Desert section of the southern SFTB, and the Willard thrust in the Idaho-Utah-Wyoming section of the SFTB. The new thermochronological data greatly improve our understanding of the structural evolution of this extensive geologic province.

The zircon (U-Th)/He (ZHe) system records thrust-induced uplift and …


Impacts Of Climate Changes On The Spatiotemporal Distribution Of Precipitation In The Western United States, Peng Jiang Dec 2013

Impacts Of Climate Changes On The Spatiotemporal Distribution Of Precipitation In The Western United States, Peng Jiang

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Precipitation in the Intermountain West is characterized by its great variability in both spatial and temporal distributions. Moreover, the spatiotemporal distribution of the precipitation is changing due to the climate changes. In this dissertation, three studies are conducted to investigate the multi-scale temporal variability of precipitation, the performance of current climate models on this variability, the influence of large-scale ocean oscillations on heavy precipitation, and the impact of human induced global warming on storm properties.

The first study is to examine the performance of current climate models on the simulation of the multi-scale temporal variability determined from the observed station …