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Geology

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2002

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Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics

Energy‐Constrained Open‐System Magmatic Processes 3. Energy‐Constrained Recharge, Assimilation, And Fractional Crystallization (Ec‐Rafc), Frank J. Spera, Wendy A. Bohrson Dec 2002

Energy‐Constrained Open‐System Magmatic Processes 3. Energy‐Constrained Recharge, Assimilation, And Fractional Crystallization (Ec‐Rafc), Frank J. Spera, Wendy A. Bohrson

All Faculty Scholarship for the College of the Sciences

Geochemical data for igneous rock suites provide conclusive evidence for the occurrence of open‐system processes within thermally and compositionally evolving magma bodies. The most significant processes include magma Recharge (with possible enclave formation and magma mixing), Assimilation of anatectic melt derived from wallrock partial melting and formation of cumulates by Fractional Crystallization (RAFC). In this study, we extend the Energetically Constrained Assimilation and Fractional Crystallization (EC‐AFC) model [Spera and Bohrson, 2001; Bohrson and Spera, 2001] to include the addition of compositionally and thermally distinct recharge melt during simultaneous assimilation and fractional crystallization. Energy‐Constrained Recharge, Assimilation, and Fractional …

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Interactive Learning Tools: Animating Statics, Nancy Hubing, David B. Oglesby, Timothy A. Philpot, Vikas Yellamraju, Richard H. Hall, Ralph E. Flori Dec 2002

Interactive Learning Tools: Animating Statics, Nancy Hubing, David B. Oglesby, Timothy A. Philpot, Vikas Yellamraju, Richard H. Hall, Ralph E. Flori

Business and Information Technology Faculty Research & Creative Works

Computer-Based Modules for Engineering Instruction Must Be Concise, Flexible, Educational and Engaging in Order to Effectively Supplement Traditional Classroom Teaching Tools. a Computer Example that Takes More Time Than a Chalkboard Presentation is Not Likely to Be Useful in Today's Engineering Classroom. Flexible Navigation is Necessary So that the Instructor Can Quickly and Easily Respond to Student Questions. Useful Modules Must Also Improve Problem-Solving Skills or Clarify Troublesome Concepts in Order to Be Considered Worthy of Inclusion in the Limited Class Time Available. Finally, and Perhaps Most Importantly, Effective Computer-Based Modules Must Meet the Challenge of Holding the Student's Attention. …

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Seismic Cycle And Rheological Effects On Estimation Of Present-Day Slip Rates For The Agua Blanca And San Miguel-Vallecitos Faults, Northern Baja California, Mexico, Timothy H. Dixon, Julien Decaix, Fred Farina, Kevin Furlong, Rocco Malservisi, Richard Bennett, Francisco Suarez-Vidal, John Fletcher, Jeffrey Lee Oct 2002

Seismic Cycle And Rheological Effects On Estimation Of Present-Day Slip Rates For The Agua Blanca And San Miguel-Vallecitos Faults, Northern Baja California, Mexico, Timothy H. Dixon, Julien Decaix, Fred Farina, Kevin Furlong, Rocco Malservisi, Richard Bennett, Francisco Suarez-Vidal, John Fletcher, Jeffrey Lee

All Faculty Scholarship for the College of the Sciences

Geodesy can be used to infer long-term fault slip rates, assuming a model for crust and upper mantle rheology. We examine the sensitivity of fault slip rate estimates to assumed rheology for the Agua Blanca and San Miguel-Vallecitos faults in northern Baja California, Mexico, part of the Pacific–North America plate boundary zone. The Agua Blanca fault is seismically quiet, but offset alluvial fans indicate young activity. Current seismicity is confined to the nearby San Miguel-Vallecitos fault, a small offset fault better aligned with plate motion. GPS measurements between 1993 and 1998 suggest that both faults are active, with a combined …

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Ua66/8/3 Geogram, Wku Geography & Geology Oct 2002

Ua66/8/3 Geogram, Wku Geography & Geology

WKU Archives Records

Newsletter created by and about the WKU Geography & Geology highlighting activities of faculty, students and alumni.

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Late Quaternary Slip Rates Across The Central Tien Shan, Kyrgyzstan, Central Asia, Stephen C. Thompson, Ray J. Weldon, Charles M. Rubin, Kanatbek Abdrakhmatov, Peter Molnar, Glenn W. Berger Sep 2002

Late Quaternary Slip Rates Across The Central Tien Shan, Kyrgyzstan, Central Asia, Stephen C. Thompson, Ray J. Weldon, Charles M. Rubin, Kanatbek Abdrakhmatov, Peter Molnar, Glenn W. Berger

All Faculty Scholarship for the College of the Sciences

Slip rates across active faults and folds show that late Quaternary faulting is distributed across the central Tien Shan, not concentrated at its margins. Nearly every intermontane basin contains Neogene and Quaternary syntectonic strata deformed by Holocene north‐south shortening on thrust or reverse faults. In a region that spans two thirds of the north‐south width of the central Tien Shan, slip rates on eight faults in five basins range from ∼0.1 to ∼3 mm/yr. Fault slip rates are derived from faulted and folded river terraces and from trenches. Radiocarbon, optically stimulated luminescence, and thermoluminescence ages limit ages of terraces and …

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Whole Mantle Shear Structure Beneath The East Pacific Rise, Timothy I. Melbourne, Donald V. Helmberger Sep 2002

Whole Mantle Shear Structure Beneath The East Pacific Rise, Timothy I. Melbourne, Donald V. Helmberger

All Faculty Scholarship for the College of the Sciences

We model broadband seismograms containing triplicated S, S2, and S3 along with ScS to produce a pure path one‐dimensional model extending from the crust to the core‐mantle boundary beneath the East Pacific Rise. We simultaneously model all body wave shapes and amplitudes, thereby eliminating depth‐velocity ambiguities. The data consist of western North American broadband recordings of East Pacific Rise (EPR) affiliate transform events that form a continuous record section out to 82° and sample nearly the entire East Pacific Rise. The best fitting synthetics contain attenuation and small changes in lithospheric thickness needed to correct for …

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Field Trip Guide (For The Nebraska Well Drillers Association) Central Nebraska Geology, James W. Goeke, Robert F. Diffendal Jr., Duane A. Eversoll Sep 2002

Field Trip Guide (For The Nebraska Well Drillers Association) Central Nebraska Geology, James W. Goeke, Robert F. Diffendal Jr., Duane A. Eversoll

Conservation and Survey Division

Field trip guide, for the Nebraska Well Drillers Association, covering Central Nebraska Geology from September 2002.

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Effects Of Grand-Cycle Cessation On The Diagenesis Of Upper Cambrian Carbonate Deposits In The Southern Appalachians, U.S.A, Bosiljka Glumac, Kenneth R. Walker Aug 2002

Effects Of Grand-Cycle Cessation On The Diagenesis Of Upper Cambrian Carbonate Deposits In The Southern Appalachians, U.S.A, Bosiljka Glumac, Kenneth R. Walker

Geosciences: Faculty Publications

The vertical transition from the mainly subtidal alternating shale and carbonate units (or grand cycles) of the Conasauga Group (Middle to Upper Cambrian) to the peritidal dolostone of the Knox Group (Upper Cambrian to Lower Ordovician) marks a major change in the early Paleozoic passive-margin sedimentation of the southern Appalachians. The grand cycles represent an interplay between intrashelf shale basin and carbonate-platform deposition. The end of grand-cycle deposition occurred in response to carbonate platform progradation over the infilled intrashelf basin and is associated with a prominent change in diagenetic patterns observed in the uppermost Conasauga Group strata-the Maynardville Formation. The …

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Karst Aquifers As Atmospheric Carbon Sinks: An Evolving Global Network Of Research Sites, Chris Groves, Joe Meiman, Joel Despain, Liu Zaihua, Daoxin Yuan Aug 2002

Karst Aquifers As Atmospheric Carbon Sinks: An Evolving Global Network Of Research Sites, Chris Groves, Joe Meiman, Joel Despain, Liu Zaihua, Daoxin Yuan

Earth, Environmental, and Atmospheric Sciences Faculty Publications

Karst flow systems formed in carbonate rocks have been recognized as a sink for atmospheric carbon that originates as gaseous carbon dioxide and ends up as dissolved aqueous carbon, primarily as bicarbonate. While measurements of the magnitude of the sink associated with carbonate rock dissolution have assumed that half of the dissolved inorganic carbon leaving a given catchment comes from the mineral and half from the atmosphere, consideration of the kinetics of carbonate mineral dissolution in acid solutions suggests that the ratio is enriched in mineral-source carbon to an extent that depends on the geochemical environment of mineral/fluid contact. After …

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Field Trip Guide (For The Nebraska Well Drillers Association) Southwestern Nebraska Geology, Duane Eversoll, Jim Goeke Jul 2002

Field Trip Guide (For The Nebraska Well Drillers Association) Southwestern Nebraska Geology, Duane Eversoll, Jim Goeke

Conservation and Survey Division

No abstract provided.

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Microbial Composition Of Near-Boiling Silica-Depositing Thermal Springs Throughout Yellowstone National Park, Carrine E. Blank, Sherry L. Cady, Norman R. Pace Jul 2002

Microbial Composition Of Near-Boiling Silica-Depositing Thermal Springs Throughout Yellowstone National Park, Carrine E. Blank, Sherry L. Cady, Norman R. Pace

Geology Faculty Publications and Presentations

The extent of hyperthermophilic microbial diversity associated with siliceous sinter (geyserite) was characterized in seven near-boiling silica-depositing springs throughout Yellowstone National Park using environmental PCR amplification of small-subunit rRNA genes (SSU rDNA), large-subunit rDNA, and the internal transcribed spacer (ITS). We found that Thermocrinis ruber, a member of the order Aquificales, is ubiquitous, an indication that primary production in these springs is driven by hydrogen oxidation. Several other lineages with no known close relatives were identified that branch among the hyperthermophilic bacteria. Although they all branch deep in the bacterial tree, the precise phylogenetic placement of many of these lineages …

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Rock Glacier Surface Motion In Beacon Valley, Antarctica, From Synthetic-Aperture Radar Interferometry, Andrew G. Fountain, Eric Rignot, Bernard Hallet Jun 2002

Rock Glacier Surface Motion In Beacon Valley, Antarctica, From Synthetic-Aperture Radar Interferometry, Andrew G. Fountain, Eric Rignot, Bernard Hallet

Geology Faculty Publications and Presentations

We present radar interferograms of rock glaciers in the Beacon Valley sector of the McMurdo Dry Valleys, in East Antarctica, as part of a comprehensive study of surface processes in the area. Due to the relative absence of net precipitation (snow) in this region and the stability of the surface, the rock glaciers maintain excellent coherence of the radar returns over several years. As a result, we obtain a spatially continuous surface velocity field with a precision of fractions of a millimeter per year. On distinct rock glaciers entering Beacon Valley, we find coherent velocity patterns, with peak velocities approaching …

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Gravity Evidence For A Larger Limpopo Belt In Southern Africa And Geodynamic Implications, Rubeni T. Ranganai, Ali Basira H. Kampunzu, Estella A. Atekwana, B. K. Paya, J. G. King, D. I. Koosimile, Edgar H. Stettler Jun 2002

Gravity Evidence For A Larger Limpopo Belt In Southern Africa And Geodynamic Implications, Rubeni T. Ranganai, Ali Basira H. Kampunzu, Estella A. Atekwana, B. K. Paya, J. G. King, D. I. Koosimile, Edgar H. Stettler

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The Limpopo Belt of southern Africa is a Neoarchean orogenic belt located between two older Archean provinces, the Zimbabwe craton to the north and the Kaapvaal craton to the south. Previous studies considered the Limpopo Belt to be a linearly trending east-northeast belt with a width of ∼250 km and ∼600 km long. We provide evidence from gravity data constrained by seismic and geochronologic data suggesting that the Limpopo Belt is much larger than previously assumed and includes the Shashe Belt in Botswana, thus defining a southward convex orogenic arc sandwiched between the two cratons. The 2 Ga Magondi orogenic …

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Mapping The Volumetric Soil Water Content Of A California Vineyard Using High-Frequency Gpr Ground Wave Data, Susan Sharpless Hubbard, Katherine R. Grote, Yoram N. Rubin Jun 2002

Mapping The Volumetric Soil Water Content Of A California Vineyard Using High-Frequency Gpr Ground Wave Data, Susan Sharpless Hubbard, Katherine R. Grote, Yoram N. Rubin

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

An attempt was made to establish the utility of ground-penetrating radar (GPR) as a quick and noninvasive field tool for shallow soil water content estimates as a function of space and time. Initially, detailed studies of collocated data, with electromagnetic velocity estimates from GPR data compared to gravimetric measurements of water content and to soil testure were carried out. Using the procedures developed during the detailed studies, full grids of GPR data were collected over the entire site several times. Data obtained indicate that incorporation of multiple frequency GPR grids can provide high-resolution estimates of soil water content variations as …

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Thermochronological Evolution Of Calcite Formation At The Potential Yucca Mountain Repository Site, Nevada: Part 2 Fluid Inclusion Analyses And Upb Dating, Jean S. Cline, Amy J. Smiecinski, Robert Bodnar May 2002

Thermochronological Evolution Of Calcite Formation At The Potential Yucca Mountain Repository Site, Nevada: Part 2 Fluid Inclusion Analyses And Upb Dating, Jean S. Cline, Amy J. Smiecinski, Robert Bodnar

Publications (YM)

The presence of two-phase fluid inclusions in thin secondary mineral crusts at the potential Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository has raised questions regarding the origin, timing, and temperature of past fluid flow through the repository horizon. The geologically recent passage of fluids with high temperatures would call into question the suitability of the site for the storage of high level nuclear waste. This study determined the thermal history of fluid flow through the site using fluid inclusion analyses and constrained the timing of thermal fluids by dating silica minerals spatially associated with the fluid inclusions using U-Pb techniques. Results provide …

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Gpr Monitoring Of Volumetric Water Content In Soils Applied To Highway Construction And Maintenance, Katherine R. Grote, Susan Sharpless Hubbard, Yoram N. Rubin May 2002

Gpr Monitoring Of Volumetric Water Content In Soils Applied To Highway Construction And Maintenance, Katherine R. Grote, Susan Sharpless Hubbard, Yoram N. Rubin

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

An overview is given on two experiments, a controlled pit study and a transportation application in subasphalt soils. Both experiments show that common-offset ground-penetrating radar (GPR) reflection data can be used to estimate θv to a high degree of accuracy. The methodology developed in these two experiments provides a technique for obtaining quick, noninvasive, accurate, and high-resolution estimates of θv.

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Temporal Variation Of Seismic B-Values Beneath Northeastern Japan Island Arc, Aimin Cao, Stephen S. Gao May 2002

Temporal Variation Of Seismic B-Values Beneath Northeastern Japan Island Arc, Aimin Cao, Stephen S. Gao

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Analysis of a high quality seismic catalog reveals that the average of seismic b-values in the crust beneath most part of northeastern Japan island arc decreased from 0.86 between 1984 and 1990, to 0.73 between 1991 and 1995. The two areas with the largest decrease are found to be in the same areas where the coupling between the North American and the Pacific plates is the highest, as suggested by a recent geodetic study. In the same time period, the annual seismic moment release increased by 10 times. In addition, there seems to be a corresponding increase in volcanic activities …

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Physical And Chemical Heterogeneity In The Subsurface: Spatial Distribution Of Transport Parameters And Their Relation To Depositional Processes, Dana Divine May 2002

Physical And Chemical Heterogeneity In The Subsurface: Spatial Distribution Of Transport Parameters And Their Relation To Depositional Processes, Dana Divine

Conservation and Survey Division

This thesis consists of two parts. The goal of first section is to better understand the influence of heterogeneity on contaminant transport. This objective is approached by quantifying the heterogeneity that may have affected transport of the Stanford-Waterloo tetrachloroethene (PCE) plume. Specifically, I determine the statistical distribution of the PCE sorption distribution coefficient (Kd) at Canadian Forces Base Borden, identify the spatial distribution of Kd, and determine the cross-correlation structure between PCE Kd and permeability (k). The results show that Kd is not lognormally distributed, and that variance is insufficient to …

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Mantle Discontinuities Beneath Southern Africa, Stephen S. Gao, Paul G. Silver, Kelly H. Liu, Kaapvaal Seismic Group May 2002

Mantle Discontinuities Beneath Southern Africa, Stephen S. Gao, Paul G. Silver, Kelly H. Liu, Kaapvaal Seismic Group

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Seismic velocity discontinuities within the top 1000 km of the Earth beneath southern Africa are imaged by stacking about 1300 source-normalized broadband seismograms recorded by the Southern African Seismic Experiment. The Moho, 410, and 660 kilometer discontinuities are clearly detected. The mean mantle transition zone thickness is 245 km, essentially the same as the global average, suggesting that the transition zone is not anomalously warm. Thus, the lower-mantle 'African Superplume' beneath our study area has no discernible effect on transition zone temperature and is consequently confined to the lower mantle. Variations in transition zone thickness appear to be related to …

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Transport Of The Herbicide Atrazine On Suspended Sediments During A Spring Storm Event In Mammoth Cave, Kentucky, Michael Anderson May 2002

Transport Of The Herbicide Atrazine On Suspended Sediments During A Spring Storm Event In Mammoth Cave, Kentucky, Michael Anderson

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

This study examines the transport of atrazine, an herbicide used in Kentucky to control grassy and broad-leaf weeds in corn fields, on suspended sediments. Atrazine is a known carcinogen and endocrine disruptor and has been shown to be toxic at low environmental concentrations. Atrazine has the capacity to adsorb to soil particles, which in karst areas such as those found in south central Kentucky can be transported directly into the groundwater. Suspended sediments and water were collected from a well at the Hawkins River in Mammoth Cave National Park during a spring storm and tested for atrazine. Atrazine was found …

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Hugo:The Hawaii Undersea Geo-Observatory, Fred K. Duennebier, David Harris, James Jolly, Jacqueline Caplan-Auerbach, Robert Jordan, Kurt Stiffel, Jeff Bosel Apr 2002

Hugo:The Hawaii Undersea Geo-Observatory, Fred K. Duennebier, David Harris, James Jolly, Jacqueline Caplan-Auerbach, Robert Jordan, Kurt Stiffel, Jeff Bosel

Geology Faculty Publications

The Hawaii Undersea Geo-Observatory, HUGO, was installed with the intent of supplying infrastructure for researchers interested in studies of undersea volcanism and associated phenomena at Loihi, the newest volcano of the Hawaiian chain. Much like an astronomical observatory, HUGO is a facility where scientists can perform experiments while sharing resources with others. The main components of HUGO are the shore station, supplying power to the observatory and recording data; the main cable-an electro-optical cable connecting the shore station to the summit of Loihi; the Junction box-the power distribution and data collection center on Loihi; multiplexing (mux) nodes-secondary distribution points; and …

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Geologic Modeling Of Magnetic Data For Cypress Island, Washington, Ian Mynatt Apr 2002

Geologic Modeling Of Magnetic Data For Cypress Island, Washington, Ian Mynatt

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

Cypress Island, Washington is composed of three distinct rock units separated by two major faults with east-west trending surface traces. The rock units are from south to north; an ultramafic unit with varyingly serpentinized harzburgite, a volcanic/ sedimentary unit composed of basalt, numerous pelagic sediments and serpentine, and a greywacke unit. The orientations of the fault contacts at depth are not interpretable by surface data. This study compiled magnetic data from several sources to model subsurface geologic aspects of the island. Magnetic anomaly profiles were created from the data, then analyzed and modeled using the computer program GM-SYS. The primary …

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Transition From Contraction To Extension In The Northeastern Basin And Range: New Evidence From The Copper Mountains, Nevada, Jeffrey M. Rahl, Allen J. Mcgrew, Kenneth A. Foland Mar 2002

Transition From Contraction To Extension In The Northeastern Basin And Range: New Evidence From The Copper Mountains, Nevada, Jeffrey M. Rahl, Allen J. Mcgrew, Kenneth A. Foland

Geology Faculty Publications

New mapping, structural analysis, and 40Ar/39Ar dating reveal an unusually well‐constrained history of Late Eocene extension in the Copper Mountains of the northern Basin and Range province. In this area, the northeast‐trending Copper Creek normal fault juxtaposes a distinctive sequence of metacarbonate and granitoid rocks against a footwall of Upper Precambrian to Lower Cambrian quartzite and phyllite. Correlation of the hanging wall with footwall rocks to the northwest provides an approximate piercing point that requires 8–12 km displacement in an ESE direction. This displaced fault slice is itself bounded above by another normal fault (the Meadow Fork Fault), which brings …

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Longshore Sand Transport – Initial Results From The Large-Scale Sediment Transport Facility, Ping Wang, Bruce A. Ebersole, Ernest R. Smith Mar 2002

Longshore Sand Transport – Initial Results From The Large-Scale Sediment Transport Facility, Ping Wang, Bruce A. Ebersole, Ernest R. Smith

Geology Faculty Publications

Accurate predictions of the total rate of longshore sand transport (LST) and its cross-shore distribution pattern in the surf zone are central to many coastal engineering studies. Present understanding and methods for calculating the LST rate are largely developed based on field studies (e.g., Komar and Inman 1970; Inman et al. 1981; Kraus et al. 1982; Bodge and Dean 1987a, b; Dean 1989; Schoonees and Theron 1993; Miller 1998; Wang, Kraus, and Davis 1998; Wang 1998; Wang and Kraus 1999; Miller 1999). The Coastal Engineering Research Center (CERC) formula (Shore Protection Manual 1984), which is based on field measurements, is …

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International Telephone Calls: Global And Regional Patterns, Risa Palm Jan 2002

International Telephone Calls: Global And Regional Patterns, Risa Palm

Geosciences Faculty Publications

This study examines patterns in international telephone communications, documenting a close relationship between international call volume aggregated by nation and indicators of global connectivity including volume of international trade, tourism and migration. In addition, the analysis documents the existence of a set of national “communities” of callers. The clear orientation of large portions of the world to former colonial powers (e.g., West Africa and North Africa to France), and the separation of the Muslim Middle East and the Chinese-speaking nations of East and Southeast Asia from other calling communities suggest the importance of continuing historic and cultural influences on information …

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The Internet And Home Purchase, Risa Palm Jan 2002

The Internet And Home Purchase, Risa Palm

Geosciences Faculty Publications

In the pre-internet era, information was a key determinant of the geographic nature of intra- urban moves. Information was a far more limited commodity, and therefore subject to management and even manipulation. Information brokers, particularly real estate agents, could order and limit the kinds of information to which prospective buyers gained access, with the potential of strongly biasing search space. In the past few years, a vastly enriched information source on housing vacancies has become available through real estate industry-sponsored sites on the internet. This rich information source has the potential to influence spatial patterns and processes in the search …

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Precursory Transient Slip During The 2001 MW = 8.4 Peru Earthquake Sequence From Continuous Gps, Timothy I. Melbourne, Frank H. Webb Jan 2002

Precursory Transient Slip During The 2001 MW = 8.4 Peru Earthquake Sequence From Continuous Gps, Timothy I. Melbourne, Frank H. Webb

Faculty Scholarship for the Cascadia Hazards Institute

Two-hour position estimates from a continuous GPS station located at Arequipa, Peru, document precursory deformation beginning 18 hours prior to an Mw = 7.6 aftershock of the June 23rd 2001 Mw = 8.4 earthquake. This preseismic signal appears on the north and east components as a slow displacement with an amplitude twice that of the subsequent coseismic. Analysis of three years of 18-hour rate measurement shows this signal to be unprecedented and beyond four standard deviations from the mean rate. The best fitting centroid is directionally consistent with slow slip along the plate interface and suggests the preseismic …

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Groundwater Quality In Kentucky: Arsenic, R. Stephen Fisher Jan 2002

Groundwater Quality In Kentucky: Arsenic, R. Stephen Fisher

Information Circular--KGS

Arsenic is a naturally occurring element found in low concentrations in rocks, soils, water, plants, and animals (Nriagu, 1994 a, b). In Kentucky, arsenic is commonly found in iron sulfide minerals associated with coal deposits and black shales. Arsenic is released when iron sulfides oxidize during weathering. Once released, it is readily sorbed onto iron oxides and iron oxyhydroxides, which limits arsenic concentrations in the near-surface environment.

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Kentucky Is Karst Country! What You Should Know About Sinkholes And Springs, James C. Currens Jan 2002

Kentucky Is Karst Country! What You Should Know About Sinkholes And Springs, James C. Currens

Information Circular--KGS

Kentucky is one of the most famous karst areas in the world. What is karst? It's a landscape with sinkholes, sinking streams, caves, and springs. Much of Kentucky's beautiful scenery, particularly in the Inner Bluegrass Region, is the result of the development of karst landscape. A large amount of Kentucky's prime farmland (including its famous horse farms) is underlain by karst, and springs and wells in karst areas supply water to thousands of homes. Many of Kentucky's major cities, including Frankfort, Louisville, Lexington, Lawrenceburg, Georgetown, Winchester, Paris, Versailles, Nicholasville, Fort Knox, Bowling Green, Elizabethtown, Munfordville, Russellville, Hopkinsville, …

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Groundwater Quality In Kentucky: Ph, R. Stephen Fisher Jan 2002

Groundwater Quality In Kentucky: Ph, R. Stephen Fisher

Information Circular--KGS

The parameter pH (the negative base-10 logarithm of hydrogen ion activity, measured in moles per liter) indicates whether a substance will behave as an acid or base. It is one of the most important parameters that describe groundwater quality, because pH largely controls the amount and chemical form of many organic and inorganic solutes in groundwater.

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