Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

The Origin Of Carbonate Cements In Bahama Escarpment Limestones, Katharine D. Fulker

Masters Theses

Limestones recovered from Bahama Escarpment dives (DSRV Alvin, 1978) were expected to contain shallow marine, freshwater, and deep marine cementation since the limestones had been fractured, bored, and cemented at depth. Magnesium and trace element concentrations, carbon-oxygen composition, cathodoluminescence, and petrographic study indicated the presence of all three cement types.

Lithification may have proceeded by allochem deposition, major shallow marine cementation, sparse freshwater cementation leaving porosity, fracturing, and final deep marine cementation leaving minor porosity. According to this interpretation, the pore space remained open for an unlikely 75-115 million years. In an alternative interpretation, pore space is occluded after freshwater …

Pennsylvanian Deltaic Sedimentation In Grand Ledge, Michigan, Jeffrey R. Martin

Masters Theses

Pennsylvanian outcrops along the Michigan Basin's southern/margin are composed of fluvial-deltaic and marine shelf sediments. Constructive deltaic facies include point-bar sandstones displaying erosional bases, channel lag, and upward decreasing grain size and sedimentary structures. Cross-stratification data indicate a unimodal, highly variant, northward-trending, paleocurrent pattern that deviates from regional paleoslope. Point-bar sandstones record delta plain deposition by meandering distributary channels. Channel margin facies include Lingula-bearing, interdistributary bay shales; overlain gradationally by laminated, flaser-bedded and rooted marsh shales and siltstones; and subbituminous swamp coal. Bay-fill facies are interrupted by lens-shaped, quartz-poor, fine-grained, crevasse-- splay sandstones.

Delta destructive facies--quartz -rich bioturbated sandstone-- suggest …

Seasat Orbital Radar Imagery Applied To Lineament Analysis And Relationships With Hydrocarbon Production In The Wartburg Basin Area, Tennessee, S. E. A. Brite

Masters Theses

Seasat, an orbital synthetic aperature radar launched in 1978, has produced high-resolution imagery enhancing over 1186 observed linear topographic indentations or lineaments in the Wartburg Basin area of east-central Tennessee. The main objectives of this thesis are to verify these lineaments in the field, to compare them with aerial photographic lineaments in the same area, to statistically analyze lineament trends, and to compare lineaments with oil and gas trends in the Wartburg Basin area.

Lineaments from Seasat imagery were located in the field with a high degree of accuracy. Three distinct lineament systems were derived from lineament orientations, their grouping …

The Geology And Origin Of The Sawyer Uranium Prospect, Live Oak County, Texas, Charles L. Brewster

Masters Theses

The Sawyer uranium prospect is a subsurface uranium occurrence hosted within the basal Oligocene Catahoula Formation of the Texas coastal plain. The host rocks consist of tuff-ball conglomerate, tuffaceous sandstone and tuffaceous claystone whose geometry and lithological characteristics indicate that they are the products of a crevasse-splay depositional environment. Compositionally, these lithologies are feldspar-depleted litharenites, with the feldspar depletion due to the corrosive, ore-forming processes. These sediments display pedogenic to early diagenetic features including diffuse to discrete micrite nodules, clay cutans, fresh to partially argillized glass shards, clay booklets, authigenic zeolites and sulfides, paleosoil horizons and calcite cement.

Uranium mineralization …

The Marine Geochemistry Of Selenium, Kazufumi Takayanagi

OES Theses and Dissertations

A fluorometric method for the determination of Se (IV) and total selenium in natural waters has been developed and optimized. The detection limit is about 20 pM for both analyses using a one liter sample. The precisions were about 2 % at 338 pM for Se (IV) and at 234 pM for total selenium.

The concentrations of both total selenium and Se (IV) decreased with increasing salinity in the surface waters of the James River and southern Chesapeake Bay. While total selenium seemed to exhibit conservative behavior at salinities above 0.36 ('o)/oo, Se (IV) was apparently removed during estuarine mixing. …

Analysis Of Heavy Minerals In Arenaceous Lutites From The Northern Canada Basin, Arctic Ocean, Kim Zauderer

OES Theses and Dissertations

Heavy minerals from arenaceous lutites in three widely spaced cores from the northern Canada Basin were analyzed for the first time to determine the provenance of these sediments. The abundant minerals (sp. gr. == 2.70) in decreasing order for most samples were detrital carbonate, micas, clinoamphibole, clinopyroxene, garnet, epidote, tourmaline, and chlorite. The majority of pyroxene grains were etched. Sedimentary sources dominated and metamorphic and igneous sources were important but secondary. The northern Canada Arctic Archipelago and northern Greenland is proposed as the provenance for the heavy minerals in the arenaceous lutites for at least the past three million years. …

Some Effects Of The Polychaete Nereis Succinea Frey And Leukart 1847 On The Distribution Of Copper Cadmium And Zinc In Sediments And Water, Gabriela Kitzig August

OES Theses and Dissertations

Two laboratory experiments, each lasting 216 hours, were conducted in order to determine the effects of a burrowing polychaete, Nereis succinea Frey and Leukart, 1847, on the distribution of copper, cadmium, and zinc in sediments and water in environmentally controlled microcosms. Dissolved metal concentrations in microcosms containing worms (experimental) decreased more rapidly than in microcosms without worms (controls). From 72 hours to 216 hours, suspended metal concentrations in experimental microcosms increased while concentrations in controls remained relatively constant. Sediment cadmium concentrations in experimental microcosms increased more over time than in controls. Polychaetes accumulated significant amounts of all three metals. These …

The Effects Of Varying Fresh Water Discharge On Dispersion In An Estuarine Hydraulic Model Of The Lafayette River, Norfolk, Virginia, Michael J. Jugan

OES Theses and Dissertations

Three experimental tests were conducted in the Lafayette River branch of the Chesapeake Bay Hydraulic Model, each successive test with an increase in the amount of fresh water discharged into the head of the river. This was done to study the response from varying river discharge on mixing parameters including the longitudinal dispersion coefficient (E).

The model generated a tide of constant range and period. Batch releases of Rhodamine WT dye were made in the model and sampled throughout the river for ten tidal cycles. Samples were taken simultaneously at selected high and low water slack.

The calculation of the …

Nitrate Levels In The Groundwater Of Kalamazoo County, Michigan, William Robert Norman

Masters Theses

Nitrate levels from 1,978 wells were compiled and analyzed to identify areas having levels above the Federal and State Drinking Water Standards of 10 ppm, identify possible sources of nitrate in each area and determine factors that produce high concentrations of nitrate in groundwater.

Eighteen areas in which nitrate concentrations exceeded 10 ppm were identified. County-wide, 465 (23 percent) of the wells for which data were available produced water with nitrate concentrations above drinking water standards.

Septic tank effluent is thought to be the most common source of nitrate in the problem areas. Agricultural practices are also likely nitrate contrbutors; …

The Effects Of Precipitation On The Quality Of Ground Water And Leachate Seeps At A Stabilizing Landfill, Nicholas C. Pogoncheff

Masters Theses

A monitoring program was established at a landfill in Kalamazoo County, southwestern Michigan to determine the effects of precipitation on selected parameters in landfill lechate as surface seeps and ground water. Approximately 280 ground-water and surface-water samples were collected from monitoring wells and leachate seeps during more than 11 precipitation events throughout the summer and fall of 1981 and analyzed for specific conductance, pH, chloride, and iron.

Results of the study indicate that infiltration through the refuse due to precipitation is a major factor in controlling the levels of selected leachate characteristics and that with high infiltration rates concentrations will …

Stratigraphy And Depositional Environments Of A Late Pleistocene Barrier Island Complex, Southeastern Virginia, Alan K. Jasper

OES Theses and Dissertations

The Norfolk, Kempsville, and Sand Bridge Formations beneath the HIckory Scarp of southeastern Virginia are reinterpreted as representing one glacio-eustatic transgressive cycle. The timing of this transgressive event is set during the earliest Wisconsinan. The formations were previously interpreted as unconformable overlying one another. The Norfolk-Kempsville unconformity is actually a diagenetic boundary. Evidence is presented which indicates that the Kempsville Scarp area should be reduced to member status or dropped entirely.

Thermometry And Barometry Of Precambrian Orthogneisses And Related Rocks From The Minnesota River Valley, Southwestern Minnesota, Paula J. Leier

Undergraduate Theses and Senior Projects

Granulite facies metamorphism is reported to have occurred in the Granite Falls-Montivideo area of the Minnesota River Valley and a broader view of the valley is taken to determine the extent of granulite facies metamorphism. Pressures and temperatures of metamorphism were determined using two geothermometers and one geobarometer. Based upon two-feldspar and garnet-biotite thermometers, temperature of metamorphism is approximated at 600 °c. Metamorphic pressures based on the reaction cordierite= garnet+ quartz + sillimanite were probably between 4 and 6 Kbars. Based on barometry and thermometry, it is suggested the Algoman o rogeny (2600 m.y. ago) was at least upper amphibolite …

Petrology And Mineralogy Of Tertiary Volcanic Rocks In The Vicinity Of The Rozel Hills And Black Mountain, Box Elder County, Utah, Elizabeth R. Greenman

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Two basalt flows and an andesite fissure eruption occur in the Rozel Hills - Black Mountain area in Box Elder County, Utah. Both basalt flows are aphanitic, and contain olivine, plagioclase, augite, and opaque oxides. They may be distinguished both chemically and on the basis of their textures. Unit 2 basalt is finer grained, and appears to be associated with a fault in the Black Mountain area. Chemically, it is similar to high-iron lavas in the Craters of the Moon, Idaho area. It has higher alkali, total iron, and titanium contents that Unit 1 basalt. Unit 1 basalt is similar …

Nonpoint Source Transport Model For Indicator Bacteria From Western Rangeland Watersheds, Everett P. Springer

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Grazing is a primary land use in much of the western United States, but little is known about grazing impacts on water quality. The most sensitive water quality indicators of grazing are the fecal indicator bacteria. The objective of this study was to develop a general transport model describing the movement of fecal indicator bacteria from upland sources to channel systems.

Model development was done using simulated rainfall and a runoff surface 30.48 m by 1.83 m.

Initially the runoff surface was smooth concrete and was used to examine the effects of distance from the outlet on coliform counts by …

Structure And Petrography Of The Tertiary Volcanic Rocks Between Death Creek And Dairy Valley Creek (Box Elder Co.), Utah, E. Matthew Hare

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Several volcanic flows lie between Death Creek and Dairy Valley Creek, near Etna, Utah. The major, central portion of the volcanic flows is composed of dacite and dacite vitrophyre. An elongate ridge in the southeastern corner of the study area and several small outcrops in Death Creek Valley are composed of rhyolite and rhyolite vitrophyre. Additional rock types include conglomerate, volcanic ash, and tuffaceous sedimentary rock of the Tertiary Salt Lake Formation, Paleozoic limestone, and Tertiary basalt.

Dacite and dacite vitrophyre samples are porphyritic, containing phenocrysts of plagioclase, quartz, biotite, amphibole, orthopyroxene, and iron-titanium oxides. Rhyolite and rhyolite vitrophyre samples …

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- …

Petrology Of The Lower Middle Cambrian Langston Formation, North-Central Utah And Southeastern Idaho, Gary Jay Butterbaugh

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The Lower Middle Cambrian Langston Formation was studied in the Bear River Range of north-central Utah and southeasternmost Idaho and the Wellsville Mountains of north-central Utah. The depositional textures and sedimentary structures preserved within the rocks were compared with characteristics of similar modern sediments and ancient rock to determine environments of deposition, paleogeography, diagenetic alteration and pattern of dolomitization.

The rocks of the Langston Formation were divided into eleven different rock types. These eleven rock types were formed within four recognizable lithofacies: 1) upper peritidal; 2) inner carbonate shelf; 3) inner clastic shelf; and 4) outer clastic shelf.

The general …

Genesis Of A Vertisol And An Associated Palexeroll In Northern Utah, Robert C. Graham

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The genetic relationship between a Vertisol and an associated Mollisol with an argillic horizon was studied. These soils are taxadjuncts of the Hawkins and Ostler series, respectively. They occur in the Wasatch Mountains of northern Utah and have similar parent materials, altitudes, and slope percentages. Ostler soils have a dense cover of Gambel oak (Quercus gambelii) and occur preferentially on north aspects. Mule's ear (Wyethia amplexicaulis) is the dominant vegetation on Hawkins soils, which are most frequent on south aspects. Erosion is prevalent on Hawkins soils because the mule's ear does not adequately cover the soil …

Chemical Changes In Groundwater Of Northern Utah Valley, Utah, Paul E. Fairbanks

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Northern Utah Valley is one of the fastest growing areas of Utah and has increasing needs for domestic, industrial, and agricultural water. To meet these needs, groundwater and surface water systems must be understood to maximize their use. Chemical studies of the sediment mineralogy and related water-chemistry give insight to the movement of the water.

There are three major aquifers present in the valley: shallow Pleistocene; deep Pleistocene; and Tertiary. They are composed of sands and gravels and are separated by confining layers (aquitards) composed mostly of clay. Along the flanks of the bordering mountains there are undifferentiated aquifers which …

Evaluation Of Low-Temperature Geothermal Potential In Cache Valley, Utah, Janet L. De Vries

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The purpose of this research was to continue the assessment of the low-temperature geothermal resources of Cache Valley, Utah initiated by the Utah Geological and Mineral Survey. Field work consisted of locating 90 wells and springs throughout the study area, collecting water samples for later laboratory analyses, and field measurement of pH, temperature, bicarbonate alkalinity, and electrical conductivity. Na⁺, K⁺, Ca⁺² , Mg⁺² , SiO₂, Fe, SO₄^-2, Cl^-, F^-, and total dissolved solids were determined in the laboratory.

Temperature profiles were measured in 12 additional, …

Ground-Water Flow Along The Total Shoreline Of Austin Lake And Its Environmental Contribution To Pollution Of The Lake, William Thomas Williams

Dissertations

The vertical direction of ground-water flow in Austin Lake was determined by placing minipiezometers along the entire shoreline at fifty randomly selected sites. Ground-water samples were taken at each site and the specific conductivity of the water samples was determined along with the chloride and phosphate content. The data were analyzed to determine if there were any relationships among water movement, chemical content, and the presence or absence of an onshore septic tank. The minipiezometer data show that the primary direction of water movement through the sediment-water interface is downward but may become reversed at localized regions as conditions vary. …

The Features And Significance Of Layering And Shearing Within The Zone Of Mylonitization, Northeastern Idaho Batholith, Jon Michael Hermann

Masters Theses

The northeastern border zone of the Idaho batholith contains a north-south trending zone of myionitized gneiss, schist, and granite-granodiorite. The schist and gneiss contain plagioclase augen surrounded by crushed and recrystallized biotite, quartz, feldspar, + muscovite, + hornblende. The granite grades upward from porphyritic rock into augen-bearing mylonitic rocks interlayered with schist and gneiss.

The Petrochemistry Of The Ankara Volcanics, Central Turkey, Jay A. Ach

Geology Theses and Dissertations

The Ankara volcanics comprise a small volcanic field immediately to the north of Ankara, Turkey. This volcanic field is composed of a mixture of flows, tuffs, and agglomerates, with the flows ranging in composition from high-K basaltic andesite to rhyolite. Dacitic flows are the most common. A potassium-argon date gives a Middle Eocene age of 42.0 ± 1.6 m.y. The volcanics unconformably overlie Paleozoic sediments of the "Cimmerian continent" to the south and Mesozoic rocks of the Ankara melange to the north.
Results of analyses on 25 samples for major elements and Y, Sr, Rb, Ni, Cr, V, Co, Zn, …

The Structural Geology Of The Tectonized Ultramafic Suite Of The Table Mountain Massif, Bay Of Islands Complex, Newfoundland, Robert Whitney Blake

Geology Theses and Dissertations

Table Mountain is the northernmost massif in the Bay of Islands Ophiolite. It represents a continuous, approximately 7 kilometer thick, section of residual harzburgite tectonites capped by a nearly flat-lying assemblage of deformed and undeformed cumulate rocks. The notable mesoscopic structural features of the massif include a zone of penetrative deformation extending upsection from the tectonized harzburgites approximately 500 meters into the dunites and basal cumulates. The orientation of the foliation and associated lineations as well as the inferred shear sense within the zone is consistent with that affecting the harzburgites. Highly deformed dunite lenses which range in thickness up …

The Geology Of The Oceanographer Transform Fault, Richard H. Moody Jr.

Geology Theses and Dissertations

A detailed survey of the Oceanographer transform fault and environs at 35º N, 35ºW has yielded detailed information with respect to the generation and evolution of seafloor at a slowly accreting plate margin. From this data detailed bathymetric maps and maps of depth to basement have been constructed for a swath of seafloor 1800 km long and 100-200 km wide centered about the offset region. This data was used to subdivide major phases of seafloor spreading during the Tertiary. The ridge crest and all major topographic features near the transform appear to be affected by their proximity to the transform. …

Structure Of The Northern Margin Of The Bitlis Suture Zone Near Sivrice, Southeastern Turkey, Mark R. Hempton

Geology Theses and Dissertations

Detailed mapping near Sivrice shows that the northern margin of the Bitlis Suture zone consists of three major tectonostratigraphic units outcropping as distinct north-dipping thrust slices. From south to north these are: (1) the Pütürge Complex; (2) the Maden Complex; and (3) the Elazig Complex.
The pre-Eocene Pütürge Complex consists of 80% metapelite, 15% metaquartzite, and 5% recrystallized limestone. These rocks represent a continental margin sequence that has been metamorphosed to the lower greenschist facies. There are three generations of structural elements: (1) a transposition foliation and macroscopic isoclinal folds, (2) a crenulation cleavage and mesoscopic folds, and (3) kink …

Geology And Hydrothermal Alteration, Glass Buttes, Southeast Oregon, Dulcy Annette Berri

Dissertations and Theses

The Glass Buttes volcanic complex consists of many domes and individual vents that erupted both rhyolitic and basaltic lavas during the late Miocene to early Pliocene. The east half of the complex, in the vicinity of Little Glass Butte, contains interfingering, finely flow-banded rhyolite and black obsidian flows. The youngest unit, an obsidian, has been dated at 4.9 m.y. East of Little Glass Butte lie two northwest-trending ridges, Antelope and Cascade Ridges, composed of two or more overlapping exogenous domes that formed along northwest-trending faults.

Structure And Influence Of The Tillamook Uplift On The Stratigraphy Of The Mist Area, Oregon, Moinoddin Murtuzamiya Kadri

Dissertations and Theses

Fifty three sedimentary samples were analyzed for their minor and trace element concentrations utilizing instrumental neutron activation analysis. Concentrations of Na, K, La, Sm and Sc, and their ratios appear to establish significant trends. The data suggest a major break from a granitic-metamorphic provenance and a volcanic component dominated provenance between the Cowlitz and Keasey Formations respectively. The provenance of the Astoria Formation indicates the presence of flood basalts.

The Stratigraphic Relationships Of The Columbia River Basalt Group In The Lower Columbia River Gorge Of Oregon And Washington, Terry Leo Tolan

Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of this study was to produce a detailed geologic map of the CRBG in the western portion of the Columbia River Gorge (fig. 1). The objectives were (1) to identify and delineate the extent of the Priest Rapids Member and Pomona Member intracanyon flows, and (2) to define the relationship of post-CRBG units to the CRBG intracanyon flows.

A Preliminary Investigation Of The Lithological Characteristics Of The Troutdale Formation In Portions Of The Camas, Sandy, Washougal, And Bridal Veil Quadrangles, David Lee Cole

Dissertations and Theses

The study area encompasses a region of about 80 square kilometers, centered about Corbett, Oregon. Sieve analyses suggest that the Troutdale Formation is composed of a conglomerate, a coarse-grained sandstone, and a siltstone lithofacies. Measured sections data show that 56 to 60 percent of the Troutdale Formation's exposures are composed of the conglomerate lithofacies. The coarsegrained sandstone lithofacies makes up 34 to 38 percent, while the siltstone lithofacies makes up only 4 to 8 percent. Pebble count data show that the representation of basalt varies from 69 to 100 percent, with an average of 85 percent, while quartzite varies from …