Earth Sciences Commons^™

Final Oil And Gas Leasing Environmental Impact Statement [Microform] : Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre And Gunnison National Forests V1, United States Forest Service

Environmental Assessments (NV)

No abstract provided.

Final Oil And Gas Leasing Environmental Impact Statement [Microform] : Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre And Gunnison National Forests V2, United States Forest Service

Environmental Assessments (NV)

No abstract provided.

Quaternary Geology And Neotectonics Of Southern Star Valley And The Southwest Flank Of The Salt River Range, Western Wyoming, Gregory A. Warren

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Southern Star Valley is a structural and physiographic basin bounded on the east by the southern Star Valley fault, an active normal fault associated with Basin and Range extension. The southern Star Valley fault separates southern Star Valley from the Salt River Range and forms a dramatic north-south trending topographic escarpment. Statistical analysis of relative-age dating (RD) parameters taken from glacial deposits in the Salt River Range defined distinctive age groups for the deposits, and comparison of RD data allowed correlations with late Pleistocene and Holocene glacial deposits elsewhere in the Rocky Mountains. However, the sedimentary lithologies in the glacial …

The Paleoecology And Geomorphology Of Holocene Deposits Of The Southern Malad River, Box Elder County, Utah, Ann Schaffer Elder

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Widespread Lake Bonneville sediments have been modified by river aggradation and degradation associated with Holocene fluctuations in the Great Salt Lake. Exposures of exceptionally abundant and well-preserved molluscan deposits in the Bear River Valley, Utah, allow detailed paleoenvironmental reconstruction of Holocene environments. The exposed basal unit consists of largely unfossiliferous deltaic silts and clays deposited during Lake Bonneville time (roughly 11,000 - 13,000 yr B. P.). An unconformity representing at least 2000 yr separates the deltaic material from overlying highly fossiliferous stream sands. Eight species of molluscs, comprising a single community, occupied this low energy stream environment at 7690 ± …

Soil Heterogeneity And Its Exploitation By Plants, Robert B. Jackson

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

In this dissertation I first examine the ability of individual plants in the field to garner localized soil nutrients. I then measure actual soil variability around perennial plants and use various statistics to quantify the scale and degree of that variability.

Soil patches on opposite sides of Pseudoroegneria spicata tussocks were treated with distilled water or a nutrient solution containing N, P, or K in three field experiments. When P was augmented in the enriched soil patches, rates of P uptake increased significantly for roots from enriched patches compared with roots in control patches. Rates of ammonium and potassium uptake …

Sedimentology And Community Structure Of Reefs Of The Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico, Matthew J. Novak

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Holocene carbonate sediments from Mexican reefs in the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico display variations in constituent composition, texture and mineralogy which are related to their locations on the reefs. Samples were collected at barrier reef environments at Akumal and Chemuyil, on the northeast coast of the Yucatan Peninsula; at the oceanic atoll of Chinchorro, off the southeast coast of the peninsula; and at the shelf atoll of Alacranes, in the Gulf of Mexico. Samples were collected through a depth range of 0-40 m, which encompasses back reef, shallow fore reef, and deeper fore reef environments.

Constituent-particle analysis of reef …

Spatial And Temporal Variations Of The Pilot Valley Playa Interpreted From Remotely Sensed Images, Llyn Doremus

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

In the Basin and Range Province, the geologic regime of the Pilot Valley, linear trending block faults have isolated many valleys both topographically and hydrologically. Discharge from these arid, closed basins occurs only as evaporation. Minerals dissolved in discharging fluid are precipitated at the valley floor as the liquid evaporates. The resulting salt flats and high density brines are known as playas.

The Pilot Valley Playa surface was sampled concurrently with the recording of a Thematic Mapper remotely sensed image to define the surface conditions that correspond to image data. An association was found between the band 7 (infrared wavelength …

Effects Of Polyacrylamide On Rangeland Soils And Plants, Saud Leily R. Al-Rowaily

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The objectives of this study were to determine the effects of two forms of polyacrylamide (PAM) conditioners (Cross-linked and Non-cross-linked PAM) on evaporation, saturated hydraulic conductivity, water retention, crust and crack formation of soils, seed germination, and seedling and tubeling growth.

The two PAM conditioners, 0.2% concentration by weight, were mixed with seven soils of different textures (sandy loam, silt, silty clay loam, silt loam, fine sand, medium sand, and coarse sand) to investigate the effects on evaporation, saturated hydraulic conductivity, and water retention. Soil samples of different textures were brought to field capacity and placed in a growth chamber …

Agriculture Irrigation And Water Use, Rajinder S. Bajwa, William M. Crosswhite, John E. Hostetler, Olivia W. Wright, United States Department Of Agriculture, Economic Research Service

All U.S. Government Documents (Utah Regional Depository)

The 17 Western States, plus Arkansas, Florida, and Louisiana, account for 91 percent of all U.S. irrigated acreage, with the Western States alone contributing over 85 percent. This report integrates data on the distribution, characteristics, uses, and management of water resources from a wide variety of data sources. The report includes charts and tables on water use in irrigation; farm data comparing selected characteristics of irrigated and nonirrigated farms; and data on water application systems, sources of water, pump energy expenses by energy type, values of irrigated and nonirrigated land, and cash rents.

Effects Of Seeder Design And Seed Placement On Seedling Size And Cull Rates At Western Forest Nurseries, United States Department Of Agriculture, Forest Service

Forestry

Nursery plots sown with the Summit Precision Seeder and the Oyjord Seeder were compared with plots oversown and hand thinned to desired spacings. We studied 26 seedlots of nine conifer species at five Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, nurseries. Results varied with nursery, species, and seed characteristics. Thinned plots produced less clumping and fewer gaps between seedlings, but showed little or no difference in seedling size, nor in the number of acceptable seedlings.

A Partial Glossary Of Elk Management Terms, United States Department Of Agriculture, Forest Service

Forestry

This glossary helps define terms that have been misused during forest planning. Terms that were developed from research on the influences of timber sales and roads during the summer months have been used inappropriately when referring to winter range, hunting seasons, and other conditions. The glossary is based on the results of an "Elk Management Terminology Workshop" held at the University of Montana's Lubrecht Experimental Forest on April 3-4, 1990.

Plant Community Diversity After Herbicide Control Of Spotted Knapweed, United States Department Of Agriculture, Forest Service

Herbicides and Pesticides

Herbicides were applied to four west-central Montana sites with light to moderate spotted knapweed (Centaurea maculosa Lam.) infestations. Althought knapweed suppression was high, 2 years after the spraying the communities were not converted to grass monocultures. No large declines in plant diversity were caused by the herbicides, and small depressions were probably transitory. By the third year, diversity had increased.

Origins Of Low-Angle Normal Faults Along The West Side Of The Bear River Range In Northern Utah, Jon E. Brummer

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This paper presents new interpretations of two normal-slip, low-angle faults near Smithfield and Richmond, Utah. The faults have previously been interpreted as landslides, gravity slides, slide blocks, and depositional contacts. Recent work in the Basin and Range province allows new interpretations concerning the origins of the low­-angle faults.

Working hypotheses used to interpret origins of the faults are classified as folded thrust fault, rotated high-angle normal fault, gravity slide, listric normal fault, and low-angle normal fault. Among these general categories are several subhypotheses. The evaluation of each hypothesis includes a description of the geologic requirements of the hypothesis, a comparison …

Elemental Relationships In Rock Varnish As Seen With Scanning Electron Microscopy And Energy Dispersive X-Ray Elemental Line Profiling, Robert Raymond Jr., Steven L. Reneau, Charles D. Harrington

Scanning Microscopy

The heterogeneous nature of rock varnish requires a thorough understanding of elemental and mineralogic compositions before chemical variability of rock varnish may be confidently related to varnish age or to past geochemical environments. Elemental relationships in rock varnish were examined using scanning electron microscopy in conjunction with an elemental line profiling routine using semi-quantitative, energy-dispersive x-ray analysis. Results of our analyses suggest: 1) variations in cation concentrations used in varnish cation-ratio dating relate more specifically to variations in detritus concentration within the varnish than to element mobility as defined by weathering indices; 2) Mn:Fe ratios may be a poor indicator …

Scanning Electron Microscopic Analysis Of Rock Varnish Chemistry For Cation-Ratio Dating: An Examination Of Electron Beam Penetration Depths, Steven L. Reneau, Roland C. Hagan, Charles D. Harrington, Robert Raymond Jr.

Scanning Microscopy

Rock varnish is a microns-thick manganese- and iron-rich coating that forms on exposed rock surfaces in arid and semi-arid environments, and empirical correlations of the varnish cation ratio (K+Ca):Ti with age have been used to estimate ages of geomorphic surfaces. One method of obtaining varnish chemistry for cation-ratio dating involves scanning electron microscope (SEM) energy dispersive x-ray (EDX) analysis of natural varnish surfaces. The chemical analyses of rock varnish with SEM/EDX utilize a sequence of accelerating voltages to vary penetration depths into the sample. Using elemental x-ray maps of natural varnish surfaces obtained by SEM/EDX analysis, penetration into the substrate …

Barium Concentration In Rock Varnish: Implications For Calibrated Rock Varnish Dating Curves, C. D. Harrington, D. J. Krier, R. Raymond Jr., S. L. Reneau

Scanning Microscopy

Cation-ratio dating of rock varnish is a recently developed technique for obtaining surface exposure ages of a wide variety of geomorphic surfaces. As originally proposed, the technique utilizes a ratio among minor cations [(K+Ca)/Ti] in rock varnish. Although this varnish cation ratio is related to the Ti concentration, it can also be affected by the presence of Ba that may be partially included in the analyzed concentration of Ti. Barium is a minor constituent found in virtually all rock varnishes sampled from the Lake Mead area, Las Vegas Valley, and the Crater Flat region of southern Nevada. Barium is heterogeneously …

Wyoming Statewide Wilderness Study Report, Wilderness Study Area Specific Recommendations, Volume Ii, United States Bureau Of Land Management

All U.S. Government Documents (Utah Regional Depository)

The WSA was studied under section 603 of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (FLPMA) and was included in the Grass Creek/Cody Wilderness Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) filed in August 1990. There were two alternatives analyzed in the EIS, No Wilderness and All Wilderness. The All Wilderness Alternative is the recommendation of this report.

Flood Insurance Study, City Of Bountiful, Utah, Davis County, Federal Emergency Management Agency

All U.S. Government Documents (Utah Regional Depository)

This Flood Insurance Study revises and updates a previous Flood Insurance Study/Flood Insurance Rate map for City of Bountiful, Davis County, Utah. This information will be used by the City of Bountiful to update existing floodplain regulations as part of the Regular Phase of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). The information will also be used by local and regional planners to further promote sound land use and floodplain development.

Surficial Geologic Map Of The Oak City Area, Millard County, Utah, United States Geological Survey

All U.S. Government Documents (Utah Regional Depository)

This map is preliminary and has not been reviewed for conformity with U.S. Geological Survey editorial standards and stratigraphic nomenclature.

Constraints On Unroofing Rates In The High Himalaya, Eastern Nepal, Mary S. Hubbard, L. H. Royden, K. V. Hodges

Geosciences Faculty Publications

Thermobarometric data for samples across the Main Central thrust zone in eastern Nepal show an inversion in temperature but not in pressure. These data have been interpreted to represent a portion of the paleogeotherm at the time of Main Central thrust deformation. A 40Ar/39Ar age on hornblende (closure temperature (Tc)=500±50°C) constrains the timing of this deformation to be ∼21±0.2 Ma. The 40Ar/39Ar ages of other minerals (muscovite, Tc=350°C, age (t)=12.0±0.2 Ma; K-feldspar, Tc=220°C, t=8.0±0.2 Ma) from the same location further constrain the cooling history of this region. Together the geochronologic and thermobarometric data yield an average unroofing rate of 1.2±0.6 …

Hydrogeology Of Thrust Faults And Crystalline Thrust Sheets: Results Of Combined Field And Modeling Studies, Craig B. Forster, James P. Evans

Geosciences Faculty Publications

Field, laboratory, and modeling studies of faulted rock yield insight into the hydraulic character of thrust faults. Late‐stage faults comprise foliated and subparallel faults, with clay‐rich gouge and fracture zones, that yield interpenetrating layers of low‐permeability gouge and higher‐permeability damage zones. Laboratory testing suggests a permeability contrast of two orders of magnitude between gouge and damage zones. Layers of differing permeability lead to overall permeability anisotropy with maximum permeability within the plane of the fault and minimum permeability perpendicular to the fault plane. Numerical modeling of regional‐scale fluid flow and heat transport illustrates the impact of fault zone hydrogeology on …

Mars And Beyond: The Solar System Beckons, Frank J. Redd

Faculty Honor Lectures

To space zealots, 1989 was the year the drought ended. The space shuttle was operational again; Voyager's grand reconnaissance of the Solar System climaxed with the glorious encounter with the planet Neptune and its startling moon, Triton; the launches of the Magellan spacecraft to Venus and the Gallileo to Jupiter broke a decade long hiatus in the launch of U.S. planetary missions; and, for the first time in over twenty years, a U.S. president announced a daring new initiative in human exploration with the goal of first returning humans to the Moon, then going on to Mars.

Laramide Deformation In Precambrian Granitic Rocks, Northeastern Wind River Range, Wyoming, Mark A. Dubois

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Fractures and faults in the Jakey's Fork area, northeastern Wind River Range, Wyoming, caused by brittle Laramide deformation in the Precambrian granitic basement have been studied in detail at airphoto, outcrop, and thin-section scales. The study area is bounded on the south by the approximately east-west and vertical Jakey's Fork Fault and on the east by the approximately northwest-southeast and vertical Ross Lakes Fault. Both were active during Laramide deformation. Four distinct structural domains, defined by fracture pat terns and proximity to the two major faults nave emerged in this study. The areas are: 1) Along Ross Lakes Fault granite …

Sage Grouse Status And Recovery Plan For Strawberry Valley, Utah, United States Department Of Agriculture, Forest Service

Wildlife Conservation and Management

Since 1939, an estimated 3,000 sage grouse in Strawberry Valley, UT, have declined to some 180 birds, mainly because of reservoir construction and eradication of big sagebrush to promote livestock forage. A 4-year study of numbers and movements of radio-tagged grouse has provided the basis for a recovery program calling for rejuvenation of big sagebrush and forbs important to grouse, replacement of mating grounds lost to human activities, consideration of sage grouse biology in management decisions, and formation of a sage grouse recovery team.

Flood Insurance Study Morgan County, Utah, Unincorporated Areas, Federal Emergency Management Agency

All U.S. Government Documents (Utah Regional Depository)

This Flood Insurance Study investigates the existence and severity of flood hazards in the unincorporated areas of Morgan County, Utah, and aids in the administration of the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 and the Flood Disaster Protection Act of 1973. This study has developed flood risk data for various areas of the community that will be used to establish actuarial flood insurance rates and assist the community in its efforts to promote sound floodplain management. Minimum floodplain managment requirements for participation in the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) are set forth in the Code of Federal Regulations at 44 …

Mineral Resources Of The Mill Creek Canyon Wilderness Study Area, Grand County, Utah, United States Geological Survey

All U.S. Government Documents (Utah Regional Depository)

At the request of the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, approximately 9,780 acres of the Mill Creek Canyon Wilderness Study Area (UT-060-139A) was evaluated for identified mineral resources (known) and mineral resource potential (undiscovered). In this report, the area studied is referred to as the "wilderness study area" or "the study area." Field work was conducted in 1988 to assess the mineral resources and resource potential of the area. No mineral resources were identified in the Mill Creek Canyon Wilderness Study Area. Placer gold is present in the eastern part of the study area but not in sufficient quantity to …

Mineral Resources Of The Marble Canyon Wilderness Study Area, White Pine County, Nevada, And Millard County, Utah, United States Geological Survey

All U.S. Government Documents (Utah Regional Depository)

The 19,150-acre Marble Canyon Wilderness Study Area (NV-040-086) was evaluated for mineral resources (known) and mineral resource potential (undiscovered), and field work was conducted in 1987. The acreage includes 6,435 acres that is now designated as part of the Mount Moriah Wilderness under the Nevada Wilderness Protection Act of 1989 (S. 974), most but not all of which is included in 8,300 acres for which the U.S. Bureau of Land Management requested a mineral survey. In this report, the "wilderness study area," or simply "the study area" refers to the entire 19,150-acre tract.

Preliminary Geologic Map Of The Kanab 30 By 60 Minute Quadrangle, Utah-Arizona, United States Geological Survey

All U.S. Government Documents (Utah Regional Depository)

This map is preliminary and has not been reviewed for conformity with U.S. Geological Survey editorial standards and stratigraphic nomenclature.

Predicting Equilibrium Moisture Content Of Some Foliar Forest Litter In The Northern Rocky Mountains, United States Department Of Agriculture, Forest Service

Forestry

Forest foliage that comprises much of the forest floor litter has higher equilibrium moisture content, EMC, than woody components. The EMC's at 300 degrees K were found to increase as follows: grasses < fir-spruce needles < pine-cedar needles < aspen leaves-larch needles. Equations that express Gibbs free energy associated with moisture content were used to develop regression equations that predict the EMC's from temperature and relative humidity, RH, for temperatures between 278 degrees K (40 degrees F) and 322 degrees K (120 degrees F) and RH's between 10 and 90 percent.

Incidence Of Compression Wood And Stem Eccentricity In Lodgepole Pine Of North America, United States Department Of Agriculture, Forest Service

Forestry

Trees 76 mm d.b.h. had higher stem-average percentage of compression wood than those 152 mm or 228 mm d.b.h. Latifolia had less compression wood (5.5 percent) than murrayana (7.7 percent). In both varieties, stem sections from 45° through 50° latitude were proportionally more free of compression wood than sections from other latitudes. Transverse stem sections typically displayed a main body of compression wood opposite an eccentrically located pith. Percentage of compression wood tended to be higher in stems that were out of round and close to ground level, and if pith was eccentric, specific gravity high, and moisture content low. …