Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

The Structural Analysis Of Enola And Greenbrier, Arkansas Earthquake Swarms: Cause And Effect?, Minella Majenu

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Almost 20 years after the remarkable earthquake swarm of 1982, near the town of Enola, Arkansas, with more than 40,000 micro-earthquakes, another event revisited the same North-Central Arkansas region in 2001. Nine years later, in 2010, a huge swarm event shook the northern part of Faulkner County, around the city of Guy. The following year, this seismic swarm event apparently migrated southward towards the city of Greenbrier, with an increase in the number of yearly recorded events. A 13km previously unrecognized, NE trending Guy-Greenbrier basement fault was revealed as a result of these swarm events.

Within the vicinity of the …

Modifying A Cow-Calf Biophysical Simulation Model For Analyses Of Alternative Enterprises, Jennifer L. Lutes

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Cow-calf producers in the United States, tasked with providing beef calves for the beef industry, have had a multitude of difficulties to overcome in recent years. Producers in northwest Arkansas were negatively impacted by high hay prices coupled with low beef cattle market prices due to severe drought experienced in portions of 2010, 2011, and 2012. During this time they also faced high grain prices, due to a record low harvest, combined with portions of the corn harvest diverted from human and animal feed to ethanol production. Tight lending policies of this time, reminiscent of the housing market crash in …

Modified Polysulfone Nanofiltration Membrane Synthesis For Hydraulic Fracturing Water Recycle, Blake Alexander Johnson

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The use of hydraulic fracturing has resulted in significant increases in the yield of oil and natural gas, as water pumped into wells at high pressure cracks the formations and releases the hydrocarbons that are locked in the rocks. This process has created large volumes of brackish water that is very difficult to process and is often disposed of into injection wells. Suspended solids and some dissolved solids are more readily removed, but the multivalent ions found in certain salts can precipitate in a well and complicate the reuse of flowback in future hydraulic fracturing operations.

Nanofiltration, a membrane separation …

Thermodynamic Modeling Of Aqueous Geochemistry Of Chlorine Salts: Application To Stability And Habitability Of Liquid Brines On Mars, Amira Elsenousy

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The WCL (Wet Chemistry Lab) instrument on board the Mars’s Phoenix Lander has identified the soluble ionic composition of the soil at the landing site. Two important ions were detected at the landing site; perchlorates (ClO4-) with a concentration of ~ 2.4 wt% and chlorides (Cl-) with a concentration of 0.54 wt%. Between chloride and perchlorate ions three other oxidized ions exist and called chlorine ions: hypochlorite ClO - (ox. state +1), chlorite ClO2- (ox. state +3) and chlorate ClO3- (ox. state +5). These oxidized ions might be existed as intermediate species on the surface of Mars but remained undetected. …

Reservoir Characterization And Depositional System Of The Atokan Grant Sand, Fort Worth Basin, Texas, Victoria Wood

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Atokan Grant Sands are a tight gas sand play that would add new reserves to the Fort Worth Basin. The Fort Worth Basin is located in north-central Texas just west of Dallas, Texas. Within the basin, the study area consists of Denton, Wise, Tarrant, and Parker Counties in Texas. The basin is bounded to the north by the Red River Arch, to the west by the Bend Arch, to the south by the Llano uplift, to the east by the Ouachita structural front, and to the northeast by the Muenster Arch. The Grant Sands are approximately 1,500 ft stratigraphically …

Evaluation Of Conservation Practices Through Simulation Modeling And Tool Development, Gurdeep Singh

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

For the first objective, predicted impacts of selected Mississippi River Basin Initiative (MRBI) conservation practices (CPs) on sediment and nutrient loss were assessed. The study area was L’Anguille River Watershed (LRW), a priority focus watershed of the MRBI program and the simulated CPs were filter strip, critical area planting, grade stabilization structure, irrigation land leveling, irrigation pipeline, irrigation water management, and nutrient management. The Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model was calibrated (1998 – 2005) and validated (2006 – 2012) for flow, sediment, total phosphorus (TP), and nitrate-nitrogen (NO3-N) at the Colt site (503 sq. km. drainage area) and …

Hydrology-Biology Response Relationships In The Ozark Highlands, Dustin Thomas Lynch

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

I examined flow-ecology relationships among stream communities in the Ozark Highlands, USA. I sampled fish, crayfish, and benthic macroinvertebrates during two consecutive summers, including a drought year (2012) and a flood year (2013). Biological response variables related to community structure were assessed via two different statistical methods: an Information Theoretic approach relating response variables to a priori selected predictor variables incorporating hydrology, habitat, geomorphology, and water quality, and canonical ordination using forward selection to relate these same response variables to a large assortment of hydrologic metrics. In addition to assessing metrics related to predicted natural flow, flow alteration at gaged …

Stratigraphic And Structural Analysis Of Middle Atoka Formation In Aetna Gas Field, Franklin, Johnson And Logan Counties, Arkansas, Ikramuddin Bahram

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Arkoma basin is a prolific natural gas basin. The defining feature of this basin is the Atoka Formation that was deposited in the early-middle Pennsylvanian. The Atoka is held equivalent to the tectonic and structural evolution of the basin. This study focuses on one of the many gas fields in the Arkoma Basin in Arkansas to assess the stratigraphic and structural evolution that the strata in this particular field display.

Aetna Gas Field extends from T. 8N. R. 27 W to T. 9 N, R. 27 W and T. 8 N, R. 26 W to 8N, R. 27. Geographically, Aetna …

Is Chir Pine Displacing Banj Oak In The Central Himalaya? Socioeconomic Implications For Local People And The Conservation Of Oak Forest Biodiversity, Ankush Nautiyal

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Various studies have suggested that chir pine (Pinus roxburghii) is replacing banj oak (Quercus leucotrichophora) in the Central Himalaya. Five sites with three different types of forests (banj oak, chir pine and mixed oak-pine) were sampled to compare the diversity of their vegetation and to assess the impact of this ongoing conversion on biodiversity. Soil samples collected from oak and pine forests were analyzed and compared. In addition, dendrochronology was used to obtain age estimates of chir pine and to understand the growth response of this species to precipitation. Also, samples of ectomycorrhizal fungi were collected in the form of …

Long-Term Effects Of Alternative Residue Management Practices On Near-Surface Soil Properties And Soybean Production In A Wheat-Soybean, Double-Crop System In Eastern Arkansas, Christopher Ryan Norman

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Adoption of management practices that maintain or increase soil organic matter (SOM), which contains 58% carbon (C) on average, may help to mitigate climate change by sequestering atmospheric C. Therefore, the main objective of this study was to determine the long-term trends in SOM, soil C and nitrogen (N), bulk density, various soil chemical properties (i.e., pH, electrical conductivity [EC], and Mehlich-3-extractable nutrients) in the top 10 cm, and soybean yield as affected by residue burning (burning and non-burning), tillage (conventional and no-tillage), irrigation (irrigated and non-irrigated), and N-fertilization/residue level (high and low) in a wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)-soybean [Glycine …

Metal Mobilization In Groundwater, Bauxite, Ar, Steven Alexander Hamlin

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Wilcox Aquifer of Bauxite, AR contains bauxite ore deposits that may contribute heavy metals to groundwater. Twenty-four wells were sampled for aluminum, iron, manganese, zinc, lead, barium, nitrate, sulfate, sodium, alkalinity, calcium, magnesium, chloride, pH, total organic carbon, and total dissolved solids. A Wilcoxon Rank-Sum compared the similarity of the three geographic areas covered in the study. All parameters for wells in Bauxite and Sardis failed to reject the null hypothesis, signifying that wells all occupy the Saline Formation. 2/3rds of the parameters from BFI261 and the Bauxite region did not agree, suggesting the two areas do not occupy …

An Empirical Water Quality And Best Management Practice Prioritization Model For Select Arkansas Watersheds, James Mccarty

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to prioritize subwatersheds using water quality data and watershed characteristics. Water quality data was provided through studies by the Arkansas Natural Resources Commission, Beaver Water District, Arkansas Water Resources Center, and publicly available USGS gage data. A total of 114 sites across five HUC-8 watersheds were analyzed, including 12 USGS gages. Watershed characteristic data was retrieved from USGS and Arkansas GeoStore geodatabase repositories. A significant linear relationship between baseflow and stormflow nutrient concentrations was established allowing for the use of baseflow concentrations in the prioritization methodology. Pearson correlation, linear regression, classification and regression tree, …

The Functional And Distributional Ecology Of Mycetozoans Under Changing Edaphic And Climatic Dynamics, Geoffrey Lloyd Zahn

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Investigations into the distribution and ecosystem functions of fruiting amoebae revealed that local-scale environmental conditions can largely explain broad biogeographical patterns in species assemblage, the way in which amoeboid predators shape bacterial communities and how this top-down influence may affect global biogeochemical processes in a changing climate. The distribution and assemblage of protosteloid amoebae on the islands of New Zealand and Hawaii did not yield any expected patterns of island biogeography, and conformed to other global regions studied. The strongest predictor of species richness in a given region was sampling effort and these species do not appear to have any …

Solubility And Detectability Of Hydrocarbons On The Surface Of Titan, Sandeep Singh

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Titan’s thick atmosphere is enriched with organic compounds and its surface holds reservoirs of hydrocarbons. This makes Titan the only other candidate in our solar system (apart from Earth) to have stable liquid at the surface. The stability and characteristics of liquid and ices on the surface of Titan are of high importance in understanding its surface-atmosphere interactions. Titan’s hydrological cycle is similar to what we see on Earth, with the exception of methane (CH4) and ethane (C2H6) taking the place of water. The smoggy atmosphere veils the surface of Titan from the view of Cassini spacecraft, except at seven …

Lithologic Controls On Bedrock Channel Morphology In The Buffalo River Basin, Evan A. Thaler

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The longevity of high relief terrains in passive margin systems remains an explained phenomenon in geomorphology. Current landscape evolution models assume an equilibrium state between rock uplift rates and erosion rates. However, analysis of chi gradients of bedrock channels across several lithologies in the Buffalo River Basin reveals disequilibrium in the basin controlled by the presence of a thick interval of Pennsylvanian sandstone that caps many of the plateaus in the basin. Headwater channels beneath the caprock tend to have higher chi gradient values in all lithologies than headwater channels in basins where the sandstone caprock is absent. High chi …

Paleoclimate Implications From Stable Isotope Analysis Of Sedimentary Organic Carbon And Vertebrate Fossils From The Cedar Mountain Formation, Ut, U.S.A., Garrett Andrew Hatzell

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Oxygen and carbon isotopic compositions of fossilized vertebrate teeth and bone were analyzed to determine isotopic values of vertebrate faunal diet from the early Cretaceous Cedar Mountain Formation of Utah. Results for δ18O of PO4 (δ18Op) (Suarez et al., 2014) from the same data set have been compared to the δ18O of CO3 (δ18Oc) portion of teeth and turtle shell to determine if diagenetic alteration of the isotopes has occurred by plotting the line of best fit equation that models the relationship between unaltered δ18OP and δ18OC of modern mammals from Iacumin et al., 1996. Results indicate slight diagenesis of …

Pennsylvanian Subsurface Sequence Stratigraphy Based On 3d Seismic And Wireline Data In Western Osage County, Oklahoma, Alexander West

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Pennsylvanian System in the Mid-Continent United States has been studied for nearly a century. In north central Oklahoma, the Pennsylvanian is primarily composed of cyclothems. These cyclothems are sequences of alternating carbonate, clastic, and shale members. Because of this, these zones can be difficult to differentiate. This project provides valuable insight into better understanding the Pennsylvanian System in western Osage County, Oklahoma. The scope of this project is to perform a subsurface study to produce a detailed interpretation of the depositional history and stratigraphy of Pennsylvanian sequences in western Osage County.

This study features 3D seismic and well log …

Methane Emissions From Direct-Seeded, Delayed-Flood Rice Grown On A Clay Soil, Alden Daniel Smartt

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Due to the production of methane (CH4) under flooded-soil conditions, rice (Oryza sativa L.) cultivation is a major contributor to agricultural CH4 emissions. Studies examining CH4 emissions from rice have only recently been initiated in Arkansas and no data have been collected from rice produced on clay soils in Arkansas. Therefore, research was conducted in 2012 and 2013 at the Northeast Research and Extension Center in Keiser, Arkansas to examine the factors affecting CH4 emissions from rice produced on a Sharkey clay (very-fine, smectitic, thermic Chromic Epiaquerts). The objectives of this study were to determine: 1) the effect of vegetation …

Interpretation Of Late Cretaceous Volcanic Mounds And Surrounding Gulfian Series Formations Using 3d Seismic Data In Zavala County, Texas, Laura Claire Bennett

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Late Cretaceous Gulfian series is a prominent and important series across the State of Texas that has been extensively studied since the nineteenth century. It is composed of series of southeast-dipping shelf carbonates and clastics deposited on the northwest margin of the Gulf of Mexico Basin. In south Texas, the Gulfian series was deposited in the Rio Grande Embayment and Maverick Basin and is comprised of the Eagle Ford Group, Austin Group, Anacacho Limestone, San Miguel Formation, Olmos Formation, and Escondido Formation that crop out and continue basinward in the subsurface. Late Cretaceous volcanism formed volcanic mounds composed of …

Toolstone Use In Ozark Prehistory: Assessing Adaptations To A Lithic Dichotomy In The Boston Mountains And Springfield Plateau, Luke Allen Morris

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Toolstone use in the Ozark Mountains is a reactionary process reliant on how the landscape provides or constrains chipped stone for prehistoric populations. These technological adaptations are recognized at sites throughout the area, but no regional assessment of lithic assemblages provides answers as to why certain stones are used at a particular location. This thesis employs a five step mass analysis of lithic assemblages, and GIS visualizations to observe how the organization of stone technologies vary based on location within contrasting geologic contexts. The chert-bearing Springfield Plateau, and the Boston Mountains with siltstone, are two neighboring dichotomous landscapes that illustrate …

An Investigation Of 3d Seismic Deep Basement Events In Osage County, Oklahoma, Kevin Matthew Liner

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Deep basement events seen in 3D seismic surveys located in Osage County, Oklahoma can be observed and may have affect overlying sedimentary formations. The 3D surveys used in this study are on the Chautauqua platform about fifty miles northwest of Tulsa, Oklahoma. Stratigraphy of the work area spans base of the Permian to Precambrian formations, with basement depth averaging around 5000 ft in the area of the 3D seismic surveys. Cores spanning Precambrian to Pennsylvanian were examined in the area of the 3D seismic surveys. Hydrothermal minerals were observed in Mississippian age cores. The basement events where tracked using OpendTect …

Mapping Ancient Baldcypress Forests For Conservation At Black River, North Carolina, Jordan Nichole Burns

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A few ancient baldcypress-bottomland hardwood forests survive across the southeastern United States in a mosaic of remnant old-growth stands left untouched by extensive logging during the early 20th century. Uncut stands in the Southeast that survived centuries of disturbance following European settlement tended to be too senescent and non-commercial to justify logging. Remnant ancient baldcypress forests at Black River, North Carolina, appear to contain the oldest living trees in eastern North America and The Nature Conservancy has protected several of these stands. However, the full extent of ancient bottomland forests along Black River is not known and many valuable tracts …

Stable Isotopes As A Tool To Characterize Carbon Cycling And Develop Hydrologic Budgets In Mantled Karst Settings, Katherine Knierim

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Isotopes of water (δ2H/δ18O), carbon dioxide (δ13C-CO2), and dissolved inorganic carbon (δ13C-DIC) were used to explore water quality, trace carbon cycling, and quantify recharge sources through mantled karst and into Blowing Spring Cave (BSC). Of the possible sources of contamination in the BSC recharge area, septic-tank effluent was hypothesized to degrade water quality at the spring outlet of BSC because of the dominance of septic tanks for waste treatment, unsuitable topography and soil for septic-tank absorption fields, increased nitrate and chloride concentrations concomitant with increased urbanization, and increased Escherichia coli with discharge. Carbon cycling between the soil and BSC was …

Physical Records Of Impacts In The Early And Modern Solar System, Robert Ellis Beauford

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The study of terrestrial meteorite impact craters and of impacted meteorites expands our understanding of cratered rocky surfaces throughout the solar system. Terrestrial craters uniquely expand upon data from remote imaging and planetary surface exploration by providing analogs for understanding the buried sub-surface portions of impact structures, while impacted meteorites provide examples of a much wider range of surface and subsurface impactite materials than we can directly sample thus far through solar system exploration.

This report examines three facets of the impact record preserved in terrestrial impact craters and in meteorites. First, it looks at the macroscopic structure of the …

Stratigraphic Characterization And Depositional History Of The Barnett Shale Within The Fort Worth Basin In Denton County, Texas, Matthew Loren Cope

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Barnett shale, located in the Fort Worth Basin, is a geologic unit that has undergone extensive study and currently holds great economic importance. It contains well-known stratigraphy, but still holds questions with regard to the specific stratigraphic variation over much of its area. Denton County contains a large geographic area of the Barnett shale, and holds many answers to the varying stratigraphy of the Barnett shale, as well as an explanation into its depositional history. The investigation involved the use of two cross sections utilizing 32 and 26 wells respectively in the western region of Denton County, Texas. From …

Terrestrial Impacts Of The Central Atlantic Magmatic Province On Western Pangea, Todd Kenneth Knobbe

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Earth's climate is predominantly controlled by the fluctuation of greenhouse gases, specifically CO2 and CH4, over geologic time. The late Triassic is a period of abrupt climate change that has been associated with a disruption to the global carbon cycle due the emplacement of the Central Atlantic Magmatic Province (CAMP). Evidence has shown that this global carbon cycle perturbation may be the culprit for the end-Triassic extinction. The Whitmore Point Member of the Moenave Formation is a lacustrine deposit with a disputed age of either late Triassic or early Jurassic and currently no absolute dating techniques can be applied to …

Petrology And Weathering Environment Of Sub-Unconformity Limestone Unit: The Kessler Limestone Member Of The Bloyd Formation, Morrowan (Pennsylvanian) Northwest Arkansas, Thomas Daniels Dolan

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In northwest Arkansas the thin, widespread Pennsylvanian Kessler Limestone of the Bloyd Formation is exposed in numerous locations. Comparison of various exposures shows the Kessler is heterogeneous in thickness and lithology. Thickening of the Kessler occurs southward into the Arkoma Basin where the interval has been commonly used as a horizon for natural gas exploration. The Kessler Limestone is underlain by the Dye Shale Member of the Bloyd Formation and overlain by the Trace Creek Shale of the Atoka Formation. The contact between the Kessler Limestone Member and the Trace Creek is a regional unconformity in the midcontinent, marked by …

A Pump Monitoring Approach To Irrigation Pumping Plant Performance Testing, William Merritt Mcdougall

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Traditionally, irrigation pumping plants have been tested using an instantaneous appraoch, which tests performance parameters over a very short time interval. Using this method, the tester measures the necessary work and energy use parameters to calculate the desired pumping plant performance values. The primary limitation of this approach is its inability to determine the season long efficiency of an irrigation pumping plant.

A new approach to evaluating irrigation pumping plant performance is the use of pump monitoring systems which use high frequency, real-time data collection and telemetry to relay information directly from the pump to the user. This method of …

Stratigraphic Analysis With Respect To Aggregate Potential In The Duffield Quarry In Gum Log, Arkansas, Brock Evan Langford

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The crushed stone mining industry is valued at nearly one billion dollars in Arkansas alone. Physical properties of the rock dictate whether or not an area may be suited for the establishment of an aggregate quarry. The Gum Log quarry located 10 miles northeast of Russellville, Arkansas is geographically well situated near areas in need of aggregate material, as well as physically competent rock. The rock mined in Gum Log is located in the Upper Atoka Formation, a Middle Pennsylvanian aged member of the Arkoma Basin. There are five different lithologic facies identifiable in the quarry (Facies 1-5 respectively): A …

Analysis Of Paleokarst Sinkholes In The Arkoma Basin Using 3-D Seismic, Michael Kumbalek

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Paleokarst features are important to understand, both with regards to research geologists and to the petroleum industry. In terms of geology, understanding paleokarst features can yield more information about the depositional and surface environments of past times, and how diagenetic alteration affected the environment during the formation of karst features. In the petroleum industry, paleokarst features can have positive or negative consequence resulting in a potential reservoir with enhanced porosity due to the paleokarst features, or as a geo-hazard to prepare for or avoid when drilling.

Inspired by issues faced when drilling in the Ft. Worth basin, this study utilizes …