Earth Sciences Commons^™

Hydrothermal Alteration Of Ash-Flow Tuffs In The Indian Peak District Of Southwestern Utah, Michael Allan Tolley

Masters Theses

"Careful petrographic study of the ash-flow tuffs in the Indian Peak District of southwestern Utah reveals hydrothermal alteration around the fluorite veins. The alteration minerals themselves and the intensity of alteration vary with distance from the veins. Primary plagioclase has altered to secondary feldspar, calcite, sericite, and traces of epidote and zoisite. Hornblende and biotite have altered to chlorite, calcite, and secondary iron oxide, and traces of epidote and zoisite. Diopside has changed to calcite and secondary iron oxide. An overall picture of the mining district shows that certain minerals increase and others decrease as one nears the veins. Hydrothermal …

Fossil Otoliths Of Some Lower Cenozoic Perciform Fishes Of The Gulf Coast, Mostafa Juma Salem

Masters Theses

"Nineteen perciform species from the lower Cenozoic and one Recent species are described, and included under eight genera. The main characters that were considered as generic are the outline of the sagitta and the structure of the sulcus. The other features of the otolith were regarded as secondary in importance. The characters that were believed to be valuable at specific level are almost the same as those for the genus but in more detail. These species are considered to be within the Suborder Percoidei. The fossil species of "Nemipterus" were put in the Family Nemipteridae as they resembled the Recent …

Dolomitized Pahasapa Limestone (Mississippian), Northeastern Sector Of The Black Hills, South Dakota, Petrography And Geological Setting, Abdullatif Najjar

Masters Theses

"The carbonates of the Mississippian Pahasapa Limestone in the northeastern sector of the Black Hills outcrops were examined in order to ascertain specific characters of the lithology in this area where the formation is predominantly a dolomite in contrast to adjacent areas where it is mainly a limestone. The Pahasapa seems to be uniform in thickness at the study areas and maintains a thickness of about 550 feet. Because of poor exposures, usually at the base or top, complete sections could not be measured. Much of the Pahasapa consists of coarsely crystalline dolomite containing varying proportions of crinoid plates, gastropods, …

Sediment Properties And Depositional Environment Of The Minnelusa Formation (Permo-Pennsylvanian), Northern Black Hills, South Dakota And Wyoming, El-Magtuf Taleb Taleb

Masters Theses

"Permo-Pennsylvanian sedimentary rocks of the Minnelusa Formation of the Black Hills uplift, South Dakota and Wyoming, can be divided into upper, middle and lower divisions on the basis of lithology. The upper portion of 150 to 200 feet consists of gray and yellow sandstone, with some carbonates and shales in some sections. The middle portion, about 200 to 220 feet thick consists of gray and red sandstone with carbonate members including the prominent dolomite member at the base; some of the carbonates are cherty. The lower portion, 20 to 60 feet thick, consists of pink sandstone, arenaceous dolomite and thin …

Trace Base Metals, Petrography, Rock Alteration Of The Productive Tres Hermanas Stock, Luna County, New Mexico, Peethambaram Doraibabu

Doctoral Dissertations

"Zinc, lead and minor copper-bearing manto-type and vein- type deposits occur in Paleozoic sedimentary rocks adjoining the Tres Hermanas quartz monzonite stock, Luna County, New Mexico. In an attempt to prove or disprove a possible genetic relationship between these mineral deposits and the stock, 99 half-mile or closer orthogonal grid samples from the stock and 22 soil samples from a connecting alluvial area to the north were analysed by atomic absorption technique for trace contents of zinc, lead and copper. Thirty-two of the rock samples were selected on a wider grid and petrographically studied and modal analyses calculated. Argillic, sericitic …

Distribution Of Trace Elements In Olivines And Proxenes - An Experimental Study, Melvin Leroy Bird

Doctoral Dissertations

"Olivine, pyroxene,and spinel were crystallized in the ternary system anorthite-forsterite-silica to which trace amounts of the transition metal ions Cr³⁺, Fe²⁺, Mn²⁺, Co²⁺, Ni²⁺, and Cu²⁺ had been added. The resulting concentrations of the transition metal ions in the liquid and crystalline phases were determined using the electron microprobe. The results, given as free energies and partition functions, indicate the order of substitution of the dipositive ions in all crystals to be Ni²⁺, Co²⁺, Mn²⁺, Cu²⁺, and Fe²⁺ according to the predictions of crystal field theory. The ion Cr³⁺ substituted in greater or lesser quantities depending on the crystalline phase. …

The Vibrational Modes Of Spheroidal Cavities In Elastic Solids, David Stewart

Doctoral Dissertations

"A general analysis of all possible cavity shapes is given with a discussion of the mathematical difficulties involved for the various cases. Special emphasis is given to cavity shapes describable in terms of the coordinate surfaces of coordinate systems separating the scalar wave equation. 112 such shapes are identified and discussed. Free boundary condition equations for spheres and spheroids are derived in complete generality in terms of potentials. The difference in the vibrations of a solid and those of a cavity of the same shape is discussed and made clear. The impossibility of deriving a frequency equation for uniform radial …

Linear Regression Models Of Sound Velocity In The North Atlantic Ocean Below A Critical Depth, Richard Roland Kunkel

Doctoral Dissertations

"Sound velocity models currently in use by the U. S. Navy require difficult data sampling at great expense. This study is to investigate the feasibility of a sound velocity model dependent only upon position that would be valid for a selected, reasonably large, near homogeneous area of the ocean. The most important position parameters are latitude, longitude, and depth. To accomplish this objective a critical depth of 2500 meters was established for an 8° by 20° rectangle of the Sargasso Sea which lies within the North Atlantic Ocean. The critical depth is defined as the depth at which the characteristics …

St. Louis Limestone, Stratigraphy And Petrography, Near Its Type Locality, Abd El-Aziz El-Hady A. Borahay

Masters Theses

"The St. Louis Limestone of the Upper Meramecian Series, Mississippian System, is typically lithographic, light-to light-olive gray in color, dense, and fractures conchoidally. It is brecciated, especially in the lower part, and contains some chert nodules. Oolites are present close to the top of the formation. The Salem-St. Louis contact is placed at the base of the lowest breccia zone and the top of Salem is characterized by crystalline quartz and abundance of chert nodules. The appearance of typical Ste. Genevieve oolites with sand-size quartz grains indicates the St. Louis-Ste. Genevieve contact. The St. Louis Limestone is characterized by dominance …

Evaluation And Application Of Dye Tracers In Karst Terrain For Determining Aquifer Characteristics, Milton Frank Bradley

Masters Theses

"As ground water becomes increasingly important as a source of water in the United States, reliable information on the hydrological characteristics of carbonate aquifers must be obtained in order to develop them intelligently. Various tracers have been used in the past to determine if two or more points are connected hydrologically. Today there exists a number of excellent dye tracers and tracer methods have been developed in unconsolidated and clastic aquifers for determining hydrological characteristics. This paper reviews the various dye tracers and methods which might be applied in a carbonate karst terrain using wells as injection and sampling points. …

Petrology And Diagenesis Of The Cyclic Maquoketa Formation (Upper Ordovician) Pike County, Missouri, Edwin Carl Kettenbrink Jr.

Masters Theses

"The Maquoketa Formation (Upper Ordovician-Cincinnatian Series) has been extensively studied for over one hundred years, but a petrographic study of its cyclic lithologies has been neglected. The following six distinct Maquoketa lithologies have been recognized in this study in Pike County, Missouri: 1) phosphatic biosparite, 2) phosphorite, 3) micrite-microsparite, 4) dolomitic shale, 5) dolomitic marlstone, and 6) dolomitic quartz siltstone. Three cycle types are present in the Maquoketa. They are expressed as thin beds (1-20 inches) of alternating micrite-shale, micrite-marlstone, and shale-siltstone. Contacts between different lithologies are sharp, indicating a primary sedimentological origin for the cycles. Precisely what mechanism was …

The Lund Ash-Flow Tuff, John Evans Kreider

Masters Theses

"The Lund Ash-flow Tuff is the uppermost member of the Needles Range Formation, located in southwestern Utah and eastern Nevada. This member can be correlated over an area of several thousand square miles. A detailed study of petrographic and physical features of the Lund show vertical and lateral variations in mineral content and welding intensity. Vertical differences are related to changes in the magma chamber during the Lund eruption interval. Several different ash-flows make up the Lund member. All mineral concentrations vary laterally, with concentration decreasing away from the center of the Lund field. Vertical and lateral variations in physical …

Textural Properties, Provenance, And Environments Of Formation Of The "Rimrock" Sandstone Of The Filled Sinkholes Northeast Of Rolla, Missouri, Upendra Jayantilal Parikh

Masters Theses

"Filled sinkholes have long been known to occur in the carbonate rocks of Missouri. A sandstone unit occurs in these sinkholes at their outer margin, forming a rim, and is called here the rimrock sandstone. Samples of rimrock sandstone, from an area northeast of Rolla, Missouri were studied. Grain size, heavy mineral and. thin section analyses of these samples were carried out. Size analysis data suggest that, texturally, the rimrock sandstone is similar to the St. Peter sandstone and that this formation could have supplied sands for the formation of rimrock. Field evidences suggest that continental conditions prevailed at the …

Upper Cretaceous And Lower Cenozoic Foraminifera Of Three Oil Wells In Northwestern Iraq, Farouk Sunallah Al-Omari

Doctoral Dissertations

"Seventy-five samples of well cuttings and cores from the Iraq Petroleum Company Butmah Well No. 9, Ain Zalah Well No. 16 and Ain Zalah Well No. 17, in northwestern Iraq at approximately 36° 37' north latitude and 42° 41' east longitude, have been examined in detail. The lithologic descriptive term "marl" is replaced by calcareous shale or argillaceous limestone, and the term "globigerinal limestone" is not considered applicable. The foraminiferal fauna from the upper part of the Shiranish Formation prove to be of Maestrichtian age. The Mesozoic-Cenozoic boundary is recognized on the basis of "smaller foraminiferal" faunal assemblages; it is …

Discrimination Of Signal And Noise Events On Seismic Recordings By Linear Threshold Estimation Theory, David Nuse Peacock

Doctoral Dissertations

"The object of this study is the investigation of a linear threshold element technique for identifying surface multiples on a single seismic trace. Traces of seismic events were generated which contained primaries, surface multiples, and various levels of Gaussian random noise. Since it was necessary to separate the events as much as possible, the traces were subjected to pulse-compression deconvolution processing prior to LTE analysis. Mean frequency, peak frequency, amplitude spectrum variance, periodicity, and polarity were employed as pattern parameters. A set of weights was found that would maximize the moment of inertia of the S line distribution of the …

A Geochemical Study Of The Maquoketa Formation In Pike County, Missouri, John Siegfried Trapp

Masters Theses

"Statistical interpretation of geochemical data was used to determine the environment of deposition of the Maquoketa Formation in Pike County, Missouri. A cyclic sequence was noted which can be best explained by cyclic climatic changes. During the study it was found that elemental relationships which would be expected in a freshly deposited sediment can be found in core samples. In samples from outcrops and quarry faces these relationships have been destroyed. As these elemental relationships reflect mineralogical relationships, serious doubts have arisen as to the validity of petrographic studies of samples taken from outcrops. This study indicates weathering may be …

A Theoretical Study On The Interpretation Of Resistivity Sounding Data Measured By The Wenner Electrode System, Siew Hung Chan

Doctoral Dissertations

"This thesis deals with a theoretical study on the interpretation of resistivity sounding data measured by the Wenner electrode system. The objectives of this investigation are twofold: (i) to derive from the apparent resistivity data some suitable functions from which the resistivity and thickness of each member of the sequence of layers composing the earth may be determined, and (ii) to devise suitable methods for analyzing the resulting functions. In this investigation it is shown that the solution of the boundary value problem associated with an n-layered earth model leads to an integral equation for the Wenner electrode system. This …

Stratigraphy And Economic Geology Of Uranium-Bearing Sediments In The Poison Spider District, Natrona County, Wyoming, Carlos Enrique Reijenstein D'Acierno

Masters Theses

"Geologic, stratigraphic, and mineralogic characteristics of the Eocene Wind River and Oligocene White River Formations were determined for the southern portion of the Poison Spider District, Natrona County, Wyoming. Sieve analysis and heavy mineral techniques were used to recognize stratigraphic units, determine their environment of deposition, obtain a better knowledge of the grain size distribution, and to identify a possible source area for the sediments. Particular emphasis was concentrated on the evaluation and interpretation of the available geophysical data (gamma ray and resistivity logs), and geological information which had led to the establishment of several relationships between the local geology …

Vertical And Lateral Variations In A Welded Tuff, Ted Richard Dinkel

Masters Theses

"During the Tertiary period, nuée ardente type eruptions spread large deposits of welded tuffs over southwestern Utah and southeastern Nevada. The Wah Wah Springs Tuff is a member of one of the most extensive of these units, the Needles Range Formation of Oligocene age. Its known outcrop area is estimated at 13,000 square miles. Relief was slight in the area during the time of eruption to enable the flows to spread over so large an area. In an effort to analyze the lateral and vertical continuity of the member, a petrographic study was undertaken. The average composition of the Wah …

Stratigraphy And Correlation Of Precambrian Volcanic Rocks, Eminence, Missouri, Henry Hugh Fisher

Masters Theses

"A portion of the Precambrian rocks located in the vicinity of Eminence, Missouri are studied and describes. These rocks are exposed as rhyolitic knobs protruding through hills of Ordovician sediments. The Precambrian rocks under study consist principally of rhyolite, with smaller amounts of tuff and creccis. The rhyolite is a potash rhyolite porphyry, both flow banded and unbanded, with phenocrysts of kaolinized orthoclase in a matrix of quartz and orthoclase. The tuffs contain devitrified glass shards and occasional ash balls such as those exhibited at Cott Mountain. A stratigraphic sequence was determined with the oldest rocks to the south at …

Trace Element Anomalies In The Igneous Wall Rocks Of Hydrothermal Veins In The Searchlight District, Nevada, Zuhair Al-Shaieb

Masters Theses

"Two hundred and fifty vein and wall rock samples were collected from Chief of the Hill and the Duplex Mines of Searchlight District, Nevada. The samples were collected along lines approximately normal to the veins. They were analyzed for lead, copper, zinc, silver, gold, arsenic, selenium, and molybdenum using neutron actication analysis and atomic absorption spectrophotometry. Gold, silver, copper, lead and zinc show well-developed anomalies in the wall rocks. In most cases, the concentration of these elements decreases gradually with increasing distance from the vein and reaches background values at a distance of 40-120 feet from the vein. Molybdenum and …

The Background Concentrations Of Copper, Lead, And Zinc In Streams Of The "New Lead Belt", Missouri, Nicholas Howard Tibbs

Masters Theses

"This study was initiated to determine the background concentrations of copper, lead, and zinc in the streams of the Viburnum Trend or New Lead Belt of southeast Missouri. Analytical methods were developed for atomic adsorption spectroscopy. These methods initially consisted of coextraction of cooper, lead, and zinc using the APDC/MIBK system, and finally of extraction of copper by APDC/MIBK and direct analysis of lead and zinc using the newly developed "Sampling Boat" technique. The data obtained from these analyses were arranged in histograms and critically analyzed. The background concentrations were established to be 4-6 ppb for all three elements. Methods …

A Five Parameter Study Of Spherical Transient Waves In A Generalized Voigt Model, Liang-Juan Tsay

Doctoral Dissertations

"Transient spherical waves in a generalized Voigt model were investigated in this study. Both Laplace and fourier transform solutions of the spherical wave equation for a generalized Voigt model were obtained by means of the correspondence principle. Laplace transform solutions were inverted numerically into the domain for the study of the characteristics of the wave forms, and Fourier transform solutions were utilized for the analysis of frequency dependency attenuation in the models. Generalized Voigt models A and B in which a dashpot is connected in series with spring and dashpot components were unable to represent a solid which would simulate …

Preface, Paul Dean Proctor

UMR Journal -- V. H. McNutt Colloquium Series

The distinguished authors of these tectonic studies, which span the United States from the Atlantic continental shelf margin to the Pacific coast, need no introduction to the geologic profession. Each was selected as a participant in the V. H. McNutt-Geology Department Colloquium because of his intimate knowledge and thorough research on the tectonic development of the area on which he reports. The authors publicly presented their papers during the Spring of 1966 on the campus of the University of Missouri at Rolla (formerly University of Missouri School of Mines and Metallurgy). The colloquium volume is unique in that such a …

The Atlantic Continental Margin, Bruce C. Heezen

UMR Journal -- V. H. McNutt Colloquium Series

Turbidity currents, surface, and subsurface currents carry detritus from the land across the continental shelf to the adjacent continental slope where slumps and turbidity currents transport the sediment downslope for hundreds of miles to greater depths, and deep geostrophic contour currents transport it thousands of miles down-current in a direction parallel to the bathymetric contours. The combined effect of these processes has been to create a wide, thick, geosynclinal apron of sediment at the base of the continental slope.

Subsidence of the continental shelf has continued since mid-Mesozoic, carrying down Lower Cretaceous reefal limestones to depths of 5,000 meters off …

Major Structures Of The Rocky Mountains Of Colorado And Utah, A. J. Eardley

UMR Journal -- V. H. McNutt Colloquium Series

This paper describes the major structures of Colorado and Utah and presents a theory of origin based on new knowledge of the layering and constitution of the upper mantle and lower crust. It proposes that the Ancestral Rockies and the more modem ones of Cretaceous and early Tertiary age of both the shelf of Colorado and eastern Utah and the miogeosyncline of western Utah are the result of vertical uplifts of the silicic crust. The uplifts are caused by the rise, from the upper mantle, of basalt in scattered places to the base of the silicic crust. This rise domed …

Tectonic Framework Of The Great Basin, Ralph J. Roberts

UMR Journal -- V. H. McNutt Colloquium Series

The Great Basin is bordered on the west by the Sierra Nevada and on the east by the Colorado Plateau and Rocky Mountains. These tectonically different provinces are genetically related; basin and range structure evolved as part of the tectonic development of western North America.

The Precambrian framework here is not well known, but northeasterly geosynclinal trends, east- west orogenic trends, and northwesterly fracture zones can be projected from the craton or inferred.

Sedimentation in the Cordilleran orthogeosyncline from Cambrian to Devonian time was characterized by an eastern miogeosynclinal (carbonate) and a western eugeosynclinal (siliceous and volcanic) assemblage. In latest …

Umr Journal: A Coast To Coast Tectonic Study Of The United States, University Of Missouri--Rolla

UMR Journal -- V. H. McNutt Colloquium Series

The UMR Journal publishes scholarly papers of scientific research and humanistic studies. These publications are distributed from Rolla, Missouri, as exchanges to scientific and humanistic institutions and libraries throughout the world.

Geologic Structure And History Of The Sierra Nevada, Paul C. Bateman

UMR Journal -- V. H. McNutt Colloquium Series

The Sierra Nevada is a huge block of the earth’s crust that has broken free on the east and has been tilted westward. It is composed chiefly of Mesozoic granitic rocks and Paleozoic and Mesozoic metamorphosed sedimentary and volcanic rocks. The granitic rocks constitute the Sierra Nevada batholith, which is part of a more or less continuous belt of plutonic rocks that extends northward from Baja California through the Sierra Nevada at a small angle to the axis of the range and into western Nevada. The batholith is localized in the axial region of a complexly faulted synclinorium. It is …

Profile Of The Folded Appalachians Of West Virginia, Byron N. Cooper

UMR Journal -- V. H. McNutt Colloquium Series

The Appalachian folded belt of southwestern Virginia exemplifies most of the structural and stratigraphic features that are considered typical of the Appalachians as a whole. The folded belt which is only 36 miles wide along the valley course of New River is generally well-defined on the southeast by the western foothills of the Blue Ridge and on the northwest side by a sharp structural front beyond which the beds are relatively gently folded.

Despite the fact that Paleozoic shelf successions of the Central Interior region are known to have controlled the thickness and facies of sedimentary formations within them and …