Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Sedimentology, Sequence Stratigraphy, And High-Precision U-Pb Age Constraints On The Late Paleozoic Ansilta Formation, Calingasta-Uspallata Basin, Nw Argentina, John Ethan Malone

Theses and Dissertations

The Ansilta Formation, located several kilometers east of the Astronomical Observatory El Leoncito near Barreal, San Juan Province, Argentina was deposited during the late Mississippian to early Pennsylvanian. This succession includes glacimarine, nearshore, and fluvial systems deposited at the mid-Carboniferous portion of the late Paleozoic ice age within the Calingasta—Uspallata Basin on the western margin of the Protoprecordillera. The lower member of the Ansilta Formation is equivalent to the nearby Leoncito, Majaditas, and Hoyada Verde formations, and is composed of diamictite, conglomerates, sandstones, pebbly mudstones, and laminated mudstone. Glacial environments are unique in that facies changes occur as a result …

Lithofacies, Sequence Stratigraphy, And Sedimentology Of Desert Creek Platform, Slope, And Basin Carbonates, Southern Margin Of The Aneth Complex, Middle Pennsylvanian, Paradox Basin, Utah, Christopher M. Perfili

Theses and Dissertations

The Aneth Field in the Paradox Basin (SE Utah) has produced nearly 500 MMbbls of oil from phylloid-algal and oolitic carbonate reservoirs of the lower and upper Desert Creek (Paradox Formation, Middle Pennsylvanian) sequences, respectively. The oil resides in a 150 to 200 foot-thick isolated carbonate platform located in a distal ramp setting on the southwest margin of the Paradox Basin. The horseshoe-shaped platform is roughly 12 miles in diameter with an aerial extent of approximately 144 square miles. Evaluation of the platform-to-basin transition on the leeward (southern) margin of the Aneth Platform, the focus of this study, was made …

Nearshore Sedimentology Of Eroding Microtidal Estuaries: Bon Secour Bay, Alabama And Perdido Bay, Florida, Jennifer Simpson

Master's Theses

Estuarine shorelines along the northern Gulf of Mexico are dynamic geologic settings that provide numerous ecological and economic benefits. By definition, estuaries are semi-enclosed bodies of water that receive sediment from two sources: (1) fluvial systems feeding into the estuary and (2) sediment transported by wave action and tidal currents from adjacent marine sources. Erosion of estuarine shorelines resulting from rising sea level, storm impact, and anthropogenic influence has been increasingly evident in the microtidal Gulf Coast over recent decades. This study collects quantitative and qualitative data to better understand sedimentary dynamics associated with contemporary estuarine shoreline erosion in Bon …

Alluvial-Lacustrine Sedimentation And Volcaniclastic Deposition In An Intracontinental Tectonic Graben: Paleoenvironmental Evolution Of The Neogene Sinanpaşa Basin, West-Central Turkey, Eli̇f Akiska, Baki̇ Erdoğan Varol

Turkish Journal of Earth Sciences

This study reports on the Sinanpaşa Basin, a typical example of the Miocene tectonic intracontinental grabens formed in West Anatolia, Turkey. The study reconstructs the paleoenvironmental and paleogeographic history of the graben based on a detailed sedimentological analysis of basin-fill deposits exposed mainly near the graben's northern and southern margins. The sedimentary paleoenvironments in the graben range from basin-margin alluvial fan systems and basin-axis fluvial distributary system to an intrabasinal shallow lake environment surrounded by peat-forming mires, changing from carbonate to more clayey, episodically evaporitic, and shifting its shorelines considerably. The spatial distribution and stratigraphic stacking of these paleoenvironments indicate …

Paleohydrology And Machine-Assisted Estimation Of Paleogeomorphology Of Fluvial Channels Of The Lower Middle Pennsylvanian Allegheny Formation, Birch River, Wv, Oluwasegun O. Abatan, Amy Weislogel

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Rivers transport sediments in a source to sink system while responding to allogenic controls of the depositional system. Stacked fluvial sandstones of the Middle Pennsylvanian (Desmoinesian Stage, ∼310–306 Ma) Allegheny Formation (MPAF) exposed at Birch River, West Virginia exhibit change in sedimentary structure and depositional style, reflecting changes in allogenic behavior. Paleohydrologic and numerical analysis were used to quantify geomorphological and paleohydrologic variations reflected by MPAF fluvial deposits with the goal of understanding the controls on resulting fluvial sandstone architecture in these different systems. Channel body geometry, sedimentary structures, and sandstone grain size distribution were used to reconstruct the paleoslope …

Fluvial Interactions Of The Jurassic Salt Wash Member Of The Morrison Formation With The Gypsum Valley Salt Diapir, Co, Clair Henry Bailey

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Gypsum Valley diapir in Gypsum Valley Colorado is an ideal location to investigate the interaction between a fluvial system and a diapir going through late stage collapse and rise. The outcrop exposures in Gypsum Valley allow for the analysis in changes of the fluvial system of the Salt Wash Member of the Morrison Formation as it gets redirected by the salt wall and deposits sediment on top of, on the margins, and in the Disappointment and Dry Creek minibasins. Previous work has focused on understanding and predicting how fluvial systems react when they encounter a salt diapir, but all the …

Fluvial Sedimentology And Architecture Of Two Latest Devonian Lower Huntley Mountain Formation Outcrops, North-Central Pennsylvania, Usa, Evan W. Filion

Honors Theses

Thick successions of river deposits accumulated in the north-central Pennsylvania region of the Appalachian foreland basin during Late Devonian time (~380-360 Ma). The properties and morphologies of these paleorivers are not well characterized. Latest Devonian tectonic, climatic, and eustatic controls on river dynamics and basin infilling also remain unclear. This study assesses the sedimentology, facies architecture, paleochannel depths, and grain size of a 133 m thick section of fluvial strata exposed across two outcrops, Blossburg South (older) and Blossburg West (younger), mapped as lower Huntley Mountain Formation near Blossburg, Pennsylvania. Field-based lithofacies observations, high-resolution panoramic photography, terrestrial lidar scanning, and …

Using Multispectral Imagery To Interrogate Deposition, Alteration, And Weathering Across Curiosity Rover’S Traverse In Gale Crater, Mars, Christina Seeger

WWU Graduate School Collection

Since landing in 2012, the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) Curiosity rover has explored over 20 kilometers of Gale crater, climbing almost 400 meters in elevation. The fluvio-deltaic, lacustrine, and aeolian sediments in the crater have been well documented by Curiosity’s suite of in situ and remote science instruments. Indeed, they have traced chemical trends that track changes in lithology and diagenesis over the study area—though most instruments only sample individual rock, vein, and soil targets at a very small scale. The Mast Camera (Mastcam) has periodically acquired much larger (meter-scale) multispectral, visible to near-infrared observations of outcrops throughout this stratigraphic …

Apmdisc: An Online Computer Program For The Geochemical Discrimination Ofsiliciclastic Sediments From Active And Passive Margins, María Abdelaly Rivera-Gómez, John Selvamony Armstrong-Altrin, Surendra P. Verma, Lorena Díaz-González

Turkish Journal of Earth Sciences

An online computer program called APMdisc (Active and Passive Margin discrimination) for the discrimination of siliciclastic sediments from active and passive margin settings was written in Java along with the ZK framework. APMdisc calculates four complex discriminant functions (DFilr(A-P)M and DFmlr(A-P)M; DFilr(A-P)MT and DFmlr(A-P)MT), which represent linear combinations of log-ratios of all ten major elements (M) and ten major and six trace elements (MT), respectively. In these equations, ilr and mlr stand for isometric log-ratio and modified log-ratio transformations of the chemical composition of active and passive margin sediments, respectively. The ilr transformation provided the same results as the mlr …

Process Based Analysis Of Fluvial Stratigraphic Record: Middle Pennsylvanian Allegheny Formation, North-Central Wv, Oluwasegun O. Abatan

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Fluvial deposits represent some of the best hydrocarbon reservoirs, but the quality of fluvial reservoirs varies depending on the reservoir architecture, which is controlled by allogenic and autogenic processes. Allogenic controls, including paleoclimate, tectonics, and glacio-eustasy, have long been debated as dominant controls in the deposition of fluvial strata. However, recent research has questioned the validity of this cyclicity and may indicate major influence from autogenic controls. To further investigate allogenic controls on stratal order, I analyzed the facies architecture, geomorphology, paleohydrology, and the stratigraphic framework of the Middle Pennsylvanian Allegheny Formation (MPAF), a fluvial depositional system in the Appalachian …

Alluvial Fans, Loess Plains, Lakes, And Distributive Fluvial Systems: Depositional Systems Of The Permian-Triassic Red Beds And Evaporites Of Wyoming (Usa), Jonathan Knapp

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

The end-Permian ecological crisis was a period of warming and aridity reaching extreme levels by the end Permian and not recovering before the Middle Triassic. The Permian Goose Egg Formation and the Chugwater Group’s Early Triassic Red Peak Formation and Middle Triassic Alcova Limestone are a continuous or nearly continuous succession of rocks deposited during this warm, arid time in Wyoming. Comprised of red beds, evaporites, and rare carbonates, these rocks have not been subjected to detailed sedimentological investigations in the modern era. Previous interpretations of marine and marginal marine deposition have largely been based on the laterally extensive nature …

Sedimentological, Architectural, And Paleoenvironmental Analysis Of The Fluvial Upper Devonian Catskill Formation, North-Central Pennsylvania, Usa, Matylda Zaklicki

Honors Theses

During the Late Devonian time period, sediments eroded from the Acadian mountains were transported westward and deposited in fluvial environments, but the morphology of the rivers, avulsion style, and controls on basin infilling remain unclear. This study assesses the sedimentology, channel geometry, stratigraphic architecture, and avulsion style of the paleochannels and floodplains of the uppermost 80 meters of the Catskill Formation near Blossburg, Pennsylvania, using field-based lithofacies observations, high-resolution panoramic photographs, and terrestrial lidar scanning.

Upper Catskill Formation strata at Blossburg Middle consist of sandy channel and muddy floodplain deposits. Floodplain deposits were categorized into either proximal floodplain deposits or …