Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Comparative Lineament And Geomorphic Analysis Of Chaotic Terrains And Noctis Labyrinthus, Mars, Sarah A. Walton

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Noctis Labyrinthus (NL) is an extensional trough network connecting the Tharsis rise and Valles Marineris on Mars. Chaotic terrains are a group of polygonally-fractured surface features commonly associated with subsidence due to rapid fluid loss within the subsurface. Polygonal surface patterns are seen at both sites, where geometric topographic highs are bounded by low troughs. Lineaments, topography, and geomorphology of NL and chaotic terrains were analyzed to determine tectonics and fluid influence in the formation and evolution of both sites. NL shows preferential fracture patterns associated with regional extension. Lineaments within chaotic terrains do not show cumulative preferential trends but …

Environmental Fate Of Sulfur In Sulphur Creek, Valles Caldera, Nm: Implications For Metal Transport And Water Quality, Daniel Lavery

Earth and Planetary Sciences ETDs

The 1.2 Ma Valles Caldera in north-central New Mexico hosts a young igneous volcanic hydrothermal system after the model proposed in Goff and Janik (2000). The Sulphur Springs area within Valles Caldera is an acid-sulfate area typical of this model, discharging acidic waters (pH 1.5-3) formed by oxidation of magmatic H₂S at the surface. We report on samples obtained from springs and streams collected between October 2021 and May 2023 in the Sulphur Creek and Alamo watersheds. Sulphur Creek receives input from Sulphur Springs and exhibits low pH (2-4) and high concentrations of Al (≤110 mg/L), Fe (≤60 …

Applications Of Observational Seismology: Insights Into Volcanic And Near Surface Processes, Justin T. Wilgus

Earth and Planetary Sciences ETDs

The field of observational seismology has made tremendous progress in the past two decades. This progress has been multi-faceted in form, but significant contributions emanated from 1) increases in both the quality and the quantity of seismic data 2) advances in computational power 3) advances in algorithmic capability, including machine learning. In this dissertation I report on three distinctly different seismic applications made possible by the aforementioned progress and discuss the insights these applications have provided in understanding volcanic and near surface processes of the Earth.

In the first chapter titled, “Shear Velocity Evidence of Upper Crustal Magma Storage Beneath …

Architecture Of Extraction: Imagining New Modes Of Inhabitation And Reclamation In The Mining Lifecyle, Erica Dewitt

Masters Theses

Mining is the primary method through which modern society obtains the minerals needed to fuel the global economy, provide for modern energy requirements, and support the built environment. Presently, mining accounts for nearly 1% of the global ice-free land surface, with a dramatic increase anticipated in the coming decades. Mining permanently changes and often destroys the pre-existing topography, hydrology, and ecology of the ground, and efforts to reclaim mining landscapes—with the aim of encouraging reforestation and soil replenishment—are often unsuccessful, rendering the land of abandoned mines both unusable and uninhabitable.

This thesis addresses the current state of mining in the …

Metagenomic Investigation Of Microbial Dark Carbon Fixation, Viral Interactions, And Horizonal Gene Transfer Within A Convergent Margin Subsurface Ecosystem, Timothy Joseph Rogers

Doctoral Dissertations

Convergent margins are geological regions where two or more tectonic plates collide, and the denser “subducting slab” is pushed beneath the less dense overriding plate. As the slab descends, it devolatilizes under higher temperatures and pressures, allowing dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) and redox active volatile rich fluids to cycle between the upper crust and Earth’s mantle. These fluids migrate through cracks and fissures in the upper mantle and crust, fueling chemolithoautotrophy-based microbial ecosystems in the subsurface before they are expelled on the surface in the form of hydrothermal seeps and springs. Chemolithoautotrophic ecosystems, such as those in the Costa Rican …

Lidar Monitoring Of Annual And Storm-Driven Episodic Erosion At Rainsford Island, Alan H. Bartels

Graduate Masters Theses

Boston Harbor and its thirty-four islands are subject to erosion, driven by rain, winds, and waves. Climate change threatens to increase erosion over time as sea levels rise and the frequency and intensity of storms increase. Understanding the dynamics of coastal erosion is key to guiding the design of coastal shoreline protections, the research of which a goal of Stone Living Laboratory at the University of Massachusetts Boston. To better understand the impact of both annual weather and episodic severe storms, the high-resolution Riegl VZ400i LiDAR was deployed four times over 14 months from July 22, 2021 to October 19, …

Spatial Variations In Ancient Meteoric Water: An Investigation Of The Rattlesnake Tuff, Julian Michael Cohen

Dissertations and Theses

Volcanic glass has been used extensively as a paleoclimate proxy. Deuterium (2H) concentrations in glass have been found to be stable over geologic timescales, making δD a reliable proxy for ancient water chemistry. However, continued work revolves around better understanding how different factors affect preserved water in ash. Here, I analyze δD in the Rattlesnake Tuff (RST), a widespread ca. 7 Ma ashflow tuff, and create an isoscape to assess variations in δD across Oregon during that time. Additionally, I examine compositional data from glass shards to explore the relationship between δD and shard composition. The RST exhibits well defined …

Understanding The Connection Between Gypsum Blooms And Human Health At The Salton Sea, Isabel Ichiyama

Undergraduate Honors Theses

The Salton Sea is a closed hypersaline lake in Southern California that has been receiving little input over the past few decades, leading to desiccation that is rapidly increasing every year. This large-scale evaporation of the sea has led to increased dissolved solutes, high salinity, and gypsum blooms. Gypsum blooms, the precipitation of gypsum (CaSO42H2O) in the sea, have been a prominent facet of the sea and their distribution is well known. However, much of their chemistry and potential health hazards are still undetermined. Potential health effects from gypsum salt, an atmospheric dust particle present at the sea, have known …

Bulk Hydrogen Isotopes In Ordinary Chondrites, Michael J. Cato

Earth and Planetary Sciences ETDs

Bulk hydrogen isotopes in nominally anhydrous meteorites are a key component in our understanding of the distribution of hydrogen in our solar system, including the provenance of water on the Earth. Here, we develop a step-heated continuous-flow method to measure the bulk hydrogen isotopes in nominally anhydrous rocks and use this method to significantly increase the dataset of bulk hydrogen isotopes in ordinary chondrites, nearly doubling the number of equilibrated members. We found that as thermal alteration increases from petrologic type 3.0 to 4, there is a correlated decrease in both hydrogen content and isotope ratio, followed by no significant …

Evaluating The Relationship Between Methane Seeps And Seafloor Geomorphology On The Northern Us Atlantic Margin, Gabriel Hernandez

Theses and Dissertations

Methane seeps are a transport pathway for carbon from seafloor sediments to the marine environment with important implications for global biogeochemical cycling. Accordingly, there is substantial interest in better understanding the processes that control seep location and predicting the distribution of seeps with existing seafloor datasets. Visual evaluation of methane seeps, in multibeam sonar water column data, suggests a spatial relationship between seeps and specific seafloor morphologic features such as ridge crests. In this thesis, seafloor geomorphology at 1996 seep detection sites on the US Atlantic margin was quantitatively characterized by geomorphologic phonotype, bathymetric position index, slope, rugosity, and aspect …

Quantifying Heterogeneity Along A Hillslope Using Seismic Refraction, Structure From Motion, And X-Ray Fluorescence In The Piedmont, South Carolina, Leah Topping

All Theses

The critical zone (CZ) is the life sustaining outer layer of the earth that spans from the top of unweathered bedrock to the tops of the trees. This dynamic zone is always evolving because a variety of chemical, physical, and biological processes transform bedrock into regolith, creating a spatially heterogeneous CZ architecture. This study aims to investigate the relationships between regolith thickness, seismic velocities, and chemical profiles as a function of slope position and it is hypothesized bedrock composition, fracture density, and foliation are the key factors controlling the physical heterogeneity in the top 1-2 meters of the CZ. To …

Glass: The Material That Defines Us, Madisyn Rex

Honors Projects

This Honors Project is an exploration of the intersections between glass science, geology, glass art, and my own personal experience with glass.

Exploring The Current Training Of Undergraduate Geology Students And Teaching Spatial Skills To Improve Student Outcomes, Ann Marie Klyce

Theses and Dissertations

Spatial skills, which represent the ability to mentally manipulate objects (Schneider & McGrew, 2012; Atit et al., 2020) have been shown to be correlated with entrance, persistence and success in STEM (Shea et al., 2001; Wai et al., 2009). Specifically, these skills have been shown to be necessary to geologists and geoscientists (Hegarty, 2014; Gagnier et al., 2016). While we recognize the importance of these skills, explicit training in them is rarely offered (NRC 2006). Consequently, cognitive scientists and discipline based education researchers have begun concerted efforts to offer training in spatial skills to improve student outcomes (e.g. Uttal et …

Relationships Between Deformation, Magmatism, And Sedimentary Geology Along The Mongol-Okhotsk Suture Zone: Ulz Gol Region, Mongolia, Jarret William Pidgeon

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

The Mongol-Okhotsk Suture Zone (MOSZ) is a continental-scale structure that signifies the closure of a Paleozoic ocean basin. Though suturing of the Siberian Craton and southern Mongolian terranes is thought to have occurred in the Mesozoic Era, the exact timing and mechanisms remain debated. This prolonged period of orogenic activity is believed to be responsible for forming much of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt (CAOB) that encompasses essentially all of Mongolia, part of China, Siberia, and Kazakhstan. Also permeated throughout the CAOB are intra-continental, post-suturing structures. In the Late Jurassic–Early Cretaceous, a significant, crustal-scale extensional episode affected central and eastern …

Integrating Lidar, Aeromagnetic, And Geological Field Data To Identify Structural-Lithologic Elements Within The Archean Carney Lake Gneiss Complex, Ian M. Gannon

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

The Archean Carney Lake Gneiss Complex (CLGC) is a suite of rocks on the southern margin of the Superior Province and within the Minnesota River Valley subprovince. It is one of many gneissic domes in Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota whose complex geology is poorly understood due to a previous lack of economic interest in gneissic terranes and significant challenges to their investigation. As a consequence, the CLGC and other gneissic domes in the region are represented on geologic maps as undifferentiated masses surrounded by better defined and understood Paleoproterozoic supracrustal rocks and igneous intrusions. Within the last ten years, however, …

U-Pb Zircon Geochronology And Structure Of Regional Blueschist Units In The Easton Metamorphic Suite, Northwest Cascades, Wa, Katherine Lang

WWU Graduate School Collection

The Easton metamorphic suite of the Northwest Cascades Thrust System (NWCS) is a well-preserved subduction accretion complex in Washington State. The regional blueschist units of the Easton metamorphic suite include the Mt. Josephine semi-schist, Darrington Phyllite, and Shuksan greenschist/blueschist and all are interpreted to have accreted after the onset of Jurassic subduction beneath North America. This study uses zircon U-Pb geochronology, structure, and field observations to test the regional correlations between units in the Easton metamorphic suite and address models for the timing of subduction accretion along the North American margin in the Late Jurassic – Early Cretaceous. The results …

Using Soil And Forest Type To Map Bedrock In Nemo, South Dakota, Madison R. Isaac

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Bedrock mapping can be used to locate economic deposits, assess natural disaster (e.g., mass wasting) risk, and decipher the geologic history of a region. This study examines a site at Nemo, South Dakota to assess whether two contrasting types of bedrock produce different soil that result in different types of forest cover. Although bedrock varied, other soil forming factors were uniform. Within an approximately 1 km² area, quartzite and metagabbro bedrock, ponderosa pine and quaking aspen forests were mapped. The soil above the quartzite bedrock is thinner and sandier and is dominated by ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa). …

Paleoseismic Investigation Of Rupture On The Dead Coyote Fault In The Kittitas Valley, Washington, Garet Huddleston

All Master's Theses

Recently discovered fault scarps along the Dead Coyote Fault (DCF) in the northern Kittitas Valley (KV) of central Washington suggests active faulting in the late Quaternary, but constraints on the timing and potential magnitude of earthquakes along the fault zone are limited. The KV lies at the northwestern edge of the Yakima Fold and Thrust Belt (YFTB), a low-strain region where individual structures are capable of producing M~7 earthquakes.

This investigation uses surficial geologic mapping and topographic analysis of the DCF scarps, ground penetrating radar transects, and paleoseismic trenching to determine the rupture history of the DCF. The trench was …

Petrological And Geochemical Evaluation Of Rare-Earth Element Potential In The Sparta Granite Complex, Max J. Eshbaugh

Honors College Theses

Rare earth elements (REEs) are important resources with applications in the electronics, renewable energy, and automotive industries. REEs may be concentrated in the residual weathered portion of igneous parent rocks, typically granites. These residual deposits are mined in southeast Asia, but analogous climatic and geologic conditions suggest the existence of economically viable REE residual deposits in the southeastern United States (U.S.). The Sparta Granite Complex in east-central Georgia is a granitoid complex emplaced at the end of the Alleghanian orogeny, forming a suture between the Savannah River and Milledgeville terranes. Petrologic and geochemical assessments of the Sparta Granite and overlying …

Continental Saline Environments Interpreted From Bedded Gypsum Of The Triassic Red Peak Formation (Chugwater Group), Northcentral Wyoming, Maya Yamei Bradford

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Bedded evaporites and associated red bed siliciclastics record saline lake and groundwater systems from Permo-Triassic Pangea. A major component of these red bed and evaporite systems is bedded gypsum. However, little attention has been paid to the textures of ancient gypsum. Observations of gypsum textures can refine interpretations of depositional environment and diagenetic history. This project describes textures of bedded gypsum from an outcrop of the Triassic Red Peak Formation (Chugwater Group) near Greybull, Wyoming.

This thesis uses fieldwork, petrography, and x-ray diffraction to describe an outcrop of the upper Red Peak Formation, with a focus on textures of bedded …

Geologic Mapping Of The Sparta 7.5-Minute Quadrangle In Northern Mississippi Via Remote Sensing, Traditional Geologic Survey, And Applied Geospatial Information Systems Methods, Rayford Dean Parnell

Theses and Dissertations

Traditional geologic mapping involves substantial time and labor in the field as geologic contacts are manually examined and interpreted. The processes of mapping geologic contacts can be condensed into a quicker and less laborious process using advances in remote sensing and GIS (geospatial information systems), including increased resolution and computerized data management and interpretation. Application of these advances reduces the costs and time of geologic mapping. The Sparta 7.5-minute quadrangle provides a mostly unaltered view of regional Paleocene and Upper Cretaceous geology due to its rural locale, lack of development, and stream topography. Recently LiDAR (Light Detection And Ranging) survey …

Surficial Geologic Mapping Of The Starkville 7.5-Minute United States Geological Survey Quadrangle 33088d-7 In Oktibbeha County, Mississippi, Jonathan Leard

Theses and Dissertations

The Starkville Quadrangle is a hotspot for geological research. The Late Cretaceous is represented by the Demopolis Formation in the northeast corner of the quadrangle, followed by the Ripley Formation, and the Prairie Bluff Formation. The K-Pg boundary is exposed in the quadrangle, and the remarkable paleontology is of global importance. The Clayton Formation is the first Paleocene unit. Where the Clayton Formation channel sands are in contact with the underlying Prairie Bluff Formation, springs occur. Springs were a rare source of water in the Black Prairie and spurred the settlement of the area over 10,000 years ago. The Paleocene …

Size, Timing, And Landscape Impacts Of Glacial Lake Outburst Floods In The Channeled Scabland Of Eastern Washington, Usa, Karin E. Lehnigk

Doctoral Dissertations

Extreme floods have dramatically altered landscapes on Earth and Mars through bedrock erosion, sediment deposition, and canyon formation. The Channeled Scabland of the Columbia Plateau in eastern Washington, USA, is perhaps the most striking example of such a landscape, where outburst floods from an ice-dammed glacial Lake Missoula eroded immense canyons and transported large volumes of sediment during the late Pleistocene. Despite advances in numerical modeling and geochemical exposure dating methods, it has remained a challenge to untangle the complex interactions between floodwater, bedrock, and glacial ice to link the size of a flood with its impact on the landscape. …

Structural Interpretation Of An Alkaline-Carbonatite Complex Using Gravity And Magnetic Methods At Magnet Cove, Arkansas, Chelsea Morgan Amaral

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Magnet Cove alkaline-carbonatite complex in the Ouachita Mountains of south-central Arkansas could be a valuable resource for rare earth elements, though it has not yet been thoroughly studied using geophysical methods, and existing geophysical models simplify its diverse nature. Prior to this study, the subsurface structure and extent of the Magnet Cove complex was poorly understood and, in general, the process of emplacement of alkaline carbonatite complexes worldwide is also not fully understood. The Magnet Cove complex hosts an extensive variety of rare rock types and mineral resources that contrast significantly to the sedimentary rocks into which they have …

Reconstructing Historical Earthquake-Induced Tsunamis: Case Study Of 1820 Event Near South Sulawesi, Indonesia, Taylor Jole Paskett

Theses and Dissertations

We build on the method introduced by Ringer, et al., applying it to an 1820 event that happened near South Sulawesi, Indonesia. We utilize other statistical models to aid our Metropolis-Hastings sampler, including a Gaussian process which informs the prior. We apply the method to multiple possible fault zones to determine which fault is the most likely source of the earthquake and tsunami. After collecting nearly 80,000 samples, we find that between the two most likely fault zones, the Walanae fault zone matches the anecdotal accounts much better than Flores. However, to support the anecdotal data, both samplers tend toward …

Emplacement Of The Dadeville Complex Of The Southernmost Inner Piedmont Within The 7.5 Min. Cusseta Quadrangle, Chambers County, Alabama: Channel Flow, Klippe Kinematics, Or Orogen Parallel Translation, Timothy Black

Master's Theses

The Appalachian Mountains have a complex geologic history spanning three orogenic periods, the Taconic, the Acadian/Neoacadian, and Alleghanian orogenies. The Inner Piedmont of the Appalachian Mountains within Alabama contains two distinct lithologic complexes, the Dadeville Complex, and the Opelika Complex separated by the Stonewall Line. These complexes were formed during an arc-back arc fringing system during the Taconic orogeny and emplaced and recorded peak metamorphism during the Acadian orogeny.

The Dadeville Complex is an allochthonous arc terrain built on extended Laurentian crust. The mode of transportation and accretion after formation is not well understood, which has implications for the role …

Echoed Sites And The Unknowable Object, Joseph Canizales

MFA in Visual Art

This thesis will discuss the expanded field of sculpture, simulacra, digital technology, and two terms I’ve devised: the unknowable object, and echoed sites. Within these two terms, I’m concerned with the complicated relationship between humans and geology and how we extract material from the ground without reflecting on the geologic history of the site. In echoed sites I create sculptures with and without a geologic site or object, by way of digital technology. These forms display two states paradoxically in balance, where what’s presented leaves more questions than answers. Thus, as part of echoed sites, exists the unknowable object. …

Understanding Hydrogen Variations In Silicate Glasses As A Result Of Degassing: Fire-Fountaining On The Moon And Earth, Erin M. Recchuiti

Masters Theses

Volatiles, particularly hydrogen, play a key role in volcanic eruptions, especially explosive eruptions like fire-fountaining [e.g., Saal et al. 2002; Dixon 1997; Arndt & von Engelhardt 1987; Yoder 1976]. Discerning volatile abundance and behavior during ascent and eruption can aid in understanding the source melt and primary volatile content of planetary interiors. Volcanic glasses are samples closest to the primary melt, as they quench quickly enough to limit fractionation or crystallization. This is paramount for volatile studies, especially pertaining to water as its constituents are oxygen and hydrogen. Hydrogen is the most volatile element and one of the first to …

Texture And Composition Of An Arid-Climate Weathering Profile And The Link Between Bedrock And Derived Sediment Composition, Kristan Leigh Watkins

Masters Theses

Multiple compositional aspects of Holocene, terrigenous-clastic sediment differ from its source, the underlying Cretaceous Stepladder granodiorite (Mojave Desert, California). Different processes can cause sediments to change in composition from source, including chemical weathering, hydrodynamic sorting during transport, and diagenesis. Sorting and physical processes have previously suggested. To assess the relative contributions of these processes to understand provenance reconstruction, the textures and compositions of an exposed Holocene saprolite weathering profile, grus, and granodiorite bedrock were studied. Fracture density in the weathering profile decreased from ~10% at the top to ~2% at the bottom of the profile in contact with the bedrock. …

Sediment Buffering And Recycling On An Annual To Centennial Scale Along The Mississippi River, Nikki E. Neubeck

LSU Master's Theses

Although the Mississippi River and its tributaries have been investigated for many years, the alteration of the river through dams, levees, and diversions has affected how sediment is transported from source to sink (>10³ y). Previous provenance research using detrital zircon U-Pb dating indicates a slow transport time from source-to-sink, but recent anthropogenic alterations of the river may potentially diminish the transportation time of heavy minerals due to an increase in flow efficiency. The objective of this study is to analyze the degree of buffering and recycling of Mississippi River sediment over a range of short time scales, …