Earth Sciences Commons^™

General Brochure, University Of North Dakota. Energy And Environmental Research Center

EERC Brochures and Fact Sheets

Brochure about the Energy & Environmental Research Center, including its philosophy, program areas, and Centers of Excellence. [This item is an outdated or superseded version and retained for historical purposes only. It may no longer reflect current information, policies, or practices.]

A North Dakota Geology Field Trip Primer, Joseph H. Hartman

Geology and Geological Engineering Faculty Publications

The rocks containing vertebrate fossils in North Dakota represent an important archive of biological and geological events that took place from around 80 million years ago to the present (Figure 1). Although the record is not complete through this interval of time, significant exposures provide important sections of Earth’s geologic history (Figure 2). We continue to understand better how seas moved back and forth across North Dakota and the life that persisted in these seas and adjacent estuaries. The terrestrial habitats and river drainages that are recorded in nonmarine strata contain important insights into the patterns of dinosaur diversity up …

General Brochure, University Of North Dakota. Energy And Environmental Research Center

EERC Brochures and Fact Sheets

Brochure about the Energy & Environmental Research Center, including its philosophy, program areas, and Centers of Excellence. [This item is an outdated or superseded version and retained for historical purposes only. It may no longer reflect current information, policies, or practices].

A Boundary Element Method For Thermo-Poroelasticity With Applications In Rock Mechanics, Qiang Zhang

Theses and Dissertations

Coupled thermal and poromechanical processes play an important role in many geomechanics problems, such as borehole stability analysis and studies of initiation and propagation of hydraulic fractures. Thermal effects, as well as hydraulic effects, can greatly change the stresses and pore pressure fields around an underground opening. This is due to the fact that thermal loading induces a volumetric deformation because of thermal expansion/contraction of both the pore fluid and the rock solid. Volumetric expansion can result in significant pressurization of the pore fluid. In order to take into account the influence of temperature gradients on pore pressure and stresses, …

Modeling The Hydrogeochemistry Of Denitrification In The Elk Valley Aquifer, Paul A. Skubinna

Theses and Dissertations

Nitrate (NO₃¯) in groundwater has become an important tissue in the last few decades. It is known to cause methemoglobinemia, commonly known as “blue baby syndrome,” and is suspected of being a carcinogen. The most common sources for dissolved NO₃¯ in shallow groundwater include excessive application of nitrogenous fertilizers, misuse of septic systems, improper disposal of domestic wastewater or sludge, and livestock waste.

Denitrification is the most effective sink for NO₃¯. The Elk Valley aquifer (EVA) of eastern North Dakota is known to support denitrification. The objective of this study was to gain a better understanding of the geochemical processes …

Discontinuities In The Icebox Formation (Ordovician), Williston Basin, North Dakota And Montana, Aaron J. Ulishney

Theses and Dissertations

The Ordovician Winnipeg Group is composed of three formations; in ascending order, the Black Island Formation, the Icebox Formation, and the Roughlock Formation. The Icebox Formation is largely composed of shale. This work shows that discontinuities and coarser facies exist within the Icebox Formation and that they are traceable throughout the subsurface of North Dakota and eastern Montana. This work also illustrates possible sea-level changes during the deposition of the Icebox Formation along with probable source areas providing detrital sediments into the study area.

Gamma-ray wireline logs were used to distinguish the formations of the Winnipeg Group from each other, …

Design And Evaluation Of A Modified In Situ Mesocosm To Study Denitrification In The Karlsruhe Aquifer, Jason M. Warne

Theses and Dissertations

To simplify the in situ mesocosm (ISM) design given in Schlag (1999), a modified ISM was designed and built in which a 6-inch long sand point replaces three 16-inch diameter screens. The modified design also includes an optional submersible pump mounted on top of the ISM chamber, making it capable of applications at depths greater than those attainable using a peristaltic pump from the ground surface. Two ISMs, one the original design (0-ISM) and the other the modified design (M-ISM) with an optional submersible pump, were installed in the Karlsruhe aquifer, near Minot, ND, in late June, 2003. Tracer tests …

Development Of A Regional Curve To Relate Discharge And Drainage Area To Hydraulic Geometry For The Red River Of The North Basin, Melanie H. Johnson

Theses and Dissertations

Restoration of riparian corridors and stream channels is important for many reasons, including preserving water quality, maintaining channel stability and controlling floods. Regional hydraulic geometry curves allow estimation of stable hydraulic geometry relationships that are necessary to engineer successful restoration projects. These curves can also be used to approximate discharge data for ungaged streams with lmown hydraulic geometry and drainage area. Hydraulic geometry data were collected in the field for twenty-five stream gage sites in the Red River of the North Basin. Recurrence intervals for bankfull ranged from 1.2 to 1.6 years, with an average recurrence interval of 1.4. Discharge …

Effect Of Geochemical Processes And Environment On The Spatial Pattern Of Selenium In Soil, Surface Water, And Groundwater At The Hovland Ranch, Central South Dakota, Salah U. Sharif

Theses and Dissertations

The objective of this paper is to test and review some of the published hypotheses as that may relate to selenium geochemistry in soil and water system at the Hovland Ranch, Haakon County, South Dakota. Representative samples were collected from soil, water, and soil moisture in the field. Preparation of samples and chemical analysis were done in the Water Quality Laboratory, Dept. of Geology and Geological Engineering, University of North Dakota and Human Nutrition Research Center Lab, USDA/ARS, Grand Forks, North Dakota. The analysis results were statistically analyzed to find correlation between the occurrence of selenium and other associated chemical …

A High Resolution Gravity Survey Of The Lake St. Martin Impact Structure, Manitoba, Canada, Christina Davids

Theses and Dissertations

There are roughly 160 known impact craters listed in the Cratering Database (Earth Impact Database, 2002) of these approximately 20% are buried structures. Geophysical methods of investigation are used to study buried impact structures and add to the growing knowledge base of crater properties. Approximately three to five craters are discovered each year, some of which may be identified through gravity anomalies. A high-resolution gravity survey of the Lake St. Martin impact structure, southern Manitoba, Canada, was conducted to further interpret the structure's gravity anomaly. Previous studies have suggested two different crater diameters for Lake St. Martin, one of 23-km …

Eerc Program Areas, University Of North Dakota. Energy And Environmental Research Center

EERC Brochures and Fact Sheets

Brochure on the Energy & Environmental Research Center's (EERC's) program areas. Program areas include alternative and renewable fuels, pollution prevention, environmental cleanup, water management, waste utilization, and power systems. [This item is an outdated or superseded version and retained for historical purposes only. It may no longer reflect current information, policies, or practices.]

Laboratory Denitrification Using Sediments From The Elk Valley Aquifer, Alison E. Kammer

Theses and Dissertations

An experiment was conducted to determine if a decrease in the content of sulfides related to denitrification could be measured in the laboratory using sediments of the Elk Valley Aquifer in eastern North Dakota. The experiment entailed analyzing sediments for sulfides and solid organic carbon and isolating them in sample containers with a nitrate solution to determine if a measurable decrease in these components could be observed.

Previous denitrification studies in the Elk Valley Aquifer showed an increase in sulfate in conjunction with a decrease in the concentration of nitrate. Sulfate is a by product of autotrophic denitrification where sulfide …

Lithospheric Flexure Of The Devils Lake Basin, North Dakota, Erica M. Peterson

Theses and Dissertations

Devils Lake is the largest lake in a chain of approximately 20 interconnected lakes in east central North Dakota. The Devils Lake drainage basin of approximately 8,600 km2, lies in a bowl sculpted by glaciation; thus it is closed and receives and loses water only through precipitation and evapotranspiration. Since 1940, the lake level has risen 14.4 m due to increased precipitation. Geological data show that in the past 10,000 years the lake has alternately dried up and filled due to climate fluctuations (Murphy et al., 1997). During this time it has reached its spill elevation of 444. 7 m …

Flow Through Well Screens As A Function Of Pump Intake Location, Kristjan F. Bekker

Theses and Dissertations

Greater well efficiency and lower production costs may result from a knowledge of water flow through well screens. Current practice generally locates the intake of a pump in the cased section of the well above the screen. This work shows that placing the pump within the screen will increase well efficiency and therefore lower energy cost. This work also shows a correlation of increased well efficiency with respect to larger sand size, larger screen slot size, and lower flow rates.

A semicircular model based on the radial symmetry of a well and screen was used to simulate water flow from …

Origins And Characteristics Of The Basin-Centered Continuous-Reservoir Unconventional Oil-Resource Base Of The Bakken Source System, Williston Basin, Leigh C. Price

Leigh Price Papers

This paper contains valuable, comprehensive information about the potential oil resources in the Bakken Formation within the Williston Basin of eastern Montana and western North Dakota. The paper represents work as it stood at the time of Leigh Price’s death.

Air-Ground Temperature Exchange, William L. Schmidt

Theses and Dissertations

Most borehole paleoclimate studies have been based on the assumption that the exchange of temperature between the air and ground surface remains constant. However, secular changes in boundary-layer factors can generate anomalous ground temperatures. This dissertation is an investigation of factors that cause separation of air and ground temperatures on a seasonal to inter-annual time scale, including snow cover duration, latent energy of ground freezing, daily sunlight, precipitation, and vegetation.

Continual records of surface air and near-surface ground temperatures from five sites in North Dakota show similar trends in seasonal air-ground temperature separation. Statistical regressions of mean annual ground temperatures …

Small-Scale Variability Of Groundwater-Lake Interaction At Shingobee Lake, Minnesota, Hans F. Kishel

Theses and Dissertations

Groundwater discharge is an important contributor to the water budget of a lake. The variability of hydraulic parameters of lake and groundwater systems causes difficulties in estimating the contribution of groundwater to a lake water budget. This study attempts to show that amount of variability for a small portion of the lake and shore (8 x 15 meter section, starting approximately five meters from shore and extending nine meters into the lake).

Piezometers were installed at a depth of one half and one meter in nests at 70 locations in the rectangular study site. Water levels were collected from the …

Characterization Of Hyporheic Zone Processes Of A Northern Prairie Stream, David B. Rush

Theses and Dissertations

A hyporheic zone occurs beneath and adjacent to streams where surface water and groundwater mix. This zone is known to be a reservoir for solutes and a habitat for interstitial organisms. Hyporheic zone boundaries in the Tongue River, North Dakota, were investigated through examination of the physicochemical and biological gradients present in the stream channel and bank sediments. The effects of cattle grazing at the streamside interface of the riparian zone were also examined at two locations to determine land use impacts on the hyporheic zone.

Electrical conductivity (EC) and ammonium gradients were observed beneath the stream channel via nests …

General Brochure, University Of North Dakota. Energy And Environmental Research Center

EERC Brochures and Fact Sheets

Brochure including information and statistics about the Energy & Environmental Research Center (EERC). [This item is an outdated or superseded version and retained for historical purposes only. It may no longer reflect current information, policies, or practices.]

Description And Taphonomy Of A Turtle Assemblage (Chelonia: Trionychidae) In The Sentinel Butte Formation (Paleocene), Billings County, North Dakota, Glenn B. Kays

Theses and Dissertations

Soft-shelled turtle fossils (Family: Trionychidae) are common in Late Mesozoic and Early Cenozoic freshwater terrestrial deposits throughout western North America. Taxonomy of the Trionychidae is confusing for two reasons: 1) there are differences of opinion as to which characters are important in defining the lower systematic groups; 2) trionychid fossil material is often incomplete and fragmentary and has been used as the basis for numerous taxonomic descriptions.

The Ash Coulee Quarry is a fossil turtle assemblage located within the lower portion of the Sentinel Butte Formation (Paleocene) in Billings County, North Dakota. This quarry has produced at least 40 individual …

In-Situ Measurement Of Denitrification In The Elk Valley Aquifer, Allen Schlag

Theses and Dissertations

Groundwater serves more than half of North Dakota's population as a drinking water source. Nitrate (NO₃¯) is a common groundwater contaminant associated with fertilizers, septic systems and livestock waste in shallow unconfined aquifers. As a suspected carcinogen and cause of potentially lethal methemoglobinemia in infants, the natural attenuation of NO₃¯ by denitrification can be an important process in keeping groundwater as a reliable source of clean drinking water for North Dakota. Organic carbon is often considered the most important electron donor for the chemical reduction of NO₃¯ into harmless nitrogen gas. However, several studies have shown that inorganic electron donors …

Determining Capture Zones For Three-Dimensional, Heterogeneous, Anisotropic Aquifers By Monte Carlo Analysis, Jon Paul Jones

Theses and Dissertations

Most methods of delineating capture zones for pump-and-treat remedial design and wellhead protection assume a two-dimensional, homogeneous aquifer. Aquifers, however, are three-dimensional and heterogeneous, thereby introducing uncertainty in capture zone analysis. This study used a Monte Carlo analysis of three sets of statistical parameters defining aquifer heterogeneity. Each set had a different variance for the mean natural log hydraulic conductivity, which varied among the sets by a factor of four. The ensemble means of the capture zones for each set were estimated from 10 randomly generated fields with 12 layers each which were superimposed on each other for a total …

Effects Of Physical And Chemical Properties Of Bright And Dull Coal Lithotypes On The Formation Of Char Particles, Chad G. Tomforde

Theses and Dissertations

The Energy and Environmental Research Center is working with EPRI and a consortium of companies in partnership with DOE to determine factors causing sticky ash to blind or bridge hot-gas cleanup filters. In this study, bright and dull lithotypes were separated from bituminous, subbituminous and lignitic coals to determine physical and chemical properties that may lead to the formation of different charforms, and consequently, fine and sticky ash that is problematic in coal-fired combustion systems.

Proximate and ultimate, maceral, and energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence (EDXRF) analyses were used to characterize each lithotype. A bench-scale pressurized fluidized-bed reactor (PFBR) was used …

A Methodology For Studying Denitrification By Recently Formed Sulfides, Bethany A. Bolles

Theses and Dissertations

Nitrate (N03) contamination due to anthropogenic sources is a serious and widespread health problem. In many groundwater systems, N03-can be reduced to a harmless gas, N2, through the bacterially mediated process of denitrification. During this process, bacteria gain energy by transferring electrons from an "electron donor" to nitrate, the "electron acceptor". It is typically believed that organic carbon is the most important electron donor in the denitrification process; however, increasing amounts of research suggest the importance of inorganic electron donors. The most extensive studies involving the reduction ofN03- by inorganic species have focused on pyrite (FeS2) and Fe(II). Few studies …

Paleosols As Holocene Proxy Climate Indicators, Mclean County, North Dakota, Deborah L. Beck

Theses and Dissertations

An exposure with 15 buried A-horizons near Douglas Creek, Lake Sakakawea, central North Dakota, has provided an excellent opportunity for paleoclimate reconstruction. Analyses included texture, stable carbon, radiocarbon, pollen, and phytoliths. The variations in these properties between individual soil horizons served to reconstruct the former environments of each soil horizon.

The paleosols were developed in a sequence of deposits in a mile-long tributary to the Missouri River. The soils are in a shallow valley fill exposed by wave action along the north shore of Lake Sakakawea. The 1996 exposure was up to 4m high and 51.5m wide. There were up …

Chemistry And Environmental Implications Of Thio-Red And 2,4,6-Trimercaptotriazine Compounds, Kevin R. Henke

Theses and Dissertations

Many compounds, including Thio-Red® and 2,4,6-trimercaptotriazine, trisodium salt (TMT-55), have been marketed to precipitate mercury and other heavy metals from water, including contaminated ground waters. For the products to be effective, information is needed on the chemistry of the products, how they precipitate metals from aqueous solutions, and the chemistries and stabilities of the precipitates.

CS32-, HS-, and S2- are the dominant sulfur species in Thio-Red®. They precipitate heavy metals from water as sulfides (e.g., HgS, PbS, and ZnS). Thio-Red® also contains traces of poisonous carbon disulfide (CS2). Additional CS2 could form from reactions between dissolved heavy metals and CS32-. …

Knickpoint Analysis Of Streams In North Dakota, South Dakota, And Nebraska, Trent D. Hubbard

Theses and Dissertations

Analysis of stream profiles, seismic reflection studies, engineering studies, and historical earthquakes indicates uplift in south-central South Dakota and north-central Nebraska over the last 5-10 ma. The purpose of this study was to determine if this uplift could be detected by constructing topographic profiles along, and in close proximity to several streams in this region. The Cannonball River, ND, was used to compare the streams in South Dakota and Nebraska to a stream beyond the affected area.

Data for the profiles were collected from 7 .5 minute topographic maps as well as GPS surveys. Abrupt changes in slope (irregularities) were …

The Depositional Environment Of The Kisbey Sandstone From The Madison Group (Mississippian), North-Central North Dakota, Gregory D. Waltz

Theses and Dissertations

The Kisbey Sandstone, also known as the K-2 marker, was studied to understand its depositional environment. It occurs within the Madison Group (Mississippian) of North Dakota. The Madison Group is a regressive, near-shore sequence. In descending order, this Group comprises the Charles, Mission Canyon, and Lodgepole Formations. The K-2 marker appears as well-log defined unit between the Charles and Mission Canyon Formations. Seven counties comprise the 7100 square mile study area. They include Rolette, Bottineau, Renville, McHenry, Ward, Burke, Mountrail Counties, and the southern most adjacent townships in Canada.

For this study, 1677 well-logs were examined. These data were analyzed …

The Effects Of Mass Extinction On Escalation Of The Naticid Gastropod Predator-Prey System At The Eocene-Oligocene, Vicky D. Melland

Theses and Dissertations

In 1987, Vermeij proposed the hypothesis of escalation, which states that biological hazards, such as predation, have increased through the Phanerozoic. This hypothesis has been extremely controversial due to the fact that it assumes that biotic factors, such as predation, have had an important role in evolution. Several studies have focused on the validity of the hypothesis of escalation. Kelley and Hansen (1996) offered a modified exposition of the escalation hypothesis. The Kelley-Hansen hypothesis states that escalation cycles are punctuated by periods of mass extinction. The periods of mass extinction would preferentially eliminate the highly escalated prey and, therefore, a …

Hydrogeology And Recharge Of The Split Rock Creek Aquifer, Southeastern South Dakota, Stan F. Pence

Theses and Dissertations

The rapid growth of the city of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, has created a great demand for additional sources of ground water. Due to limited information on the buried, confined Split Rock Creek aquifer near Sioux Falls, a detailed hydrogeologic assessment of the aquifer was conducted to determine the mechanism of recharge to the aquifer.

A four-fold plan was earned out to gather the necessary data. . This plan involved determining the general hydrostratigraphy of the study area by reviewing available data and by drilling test holes where data were limited, collecting water-level data over an extended period, collecting water …