Earth Sciences Commons^™

Glacial Stratigraphy And Surficial Geology Of The Decatur, Lawrence, And Paw Paw U.S.G.S.7.5 Minute Quadrangles In Van Buren County, Michigan, Brian Bird

Masters Theses

The modern day landscape of Van Buren County Michigan was created by the advance and retreat of glaciers from about 13,000 to 20,000 years ago. The Lake Michigan Lobe of the Laurentide Ice Sheet sculpted southwest Michigan most recently. The sediments deposited by the glacier include diamicton, outwash sediments, and lacustrine deposits. The build up of sediment by the glaciers led to the construction of particular features such as moraines, till plains, and outwash fans. The huge amount of meltwater from the glaciers led to the erosion of channels throughout the area. In the area of this investigation the Ganges …

Sulfide Mineralization In Deep-Water Marine Sediments Related To Methane Transport, Methane Consumption, And Methane Gas Hydrates, Matthew K. Thompson, Walter S. Borowski, Charles K. Paull, William Ussler Iii

EKU Faculty and Staff Scholarship

Patterns of sulfide sulfur concentration and sulfur isotopic composition (d³⁴ S) are perhaps related to upward methane transport, especially in sediments underlain by methane gas hydrate deposits. Increased methane delivery augments the effect of anaerobic methane oxidation (AMO) occurring at the sulfate-methane interface (SMI). Sulfate and methane co-consumption results in production of dissolved sulfide at the interface that is eventually sequestered within sulfide minerals (elemental sulfur, iron monosulfide, pyrite).

We examine the sediments of two piston cores collected over the Blake Ridge gas hydrate deposits (offshore southeastern United States) by extracting total sedimentary sulfide using chromium reduction. We use …

Correlation And Causes Of Fifth Order Cycles Within The Upper Cretaceous Eagle Formation, Bighorn Basin Of Wyoming, Kimberly Ann Johnson

OES Theses and Dissertations

Cyclic stratification was examined in the Upper Cretaceous (Santonian-Campanian) section (Eagle Formation) within the Bighorn Basin of Wyoming. Of particular concern was the 10³ to 10⁴ year band, which in marine settings has been attributed to orbital forcing (Milankovitch cyclicity). A series of 19 sections were measured through the Virgelle Member of the Eagle Formation. Most were measured on the “J”-shaped escarpment that constitutes the nose and north flank of the Thermopolis anticline. Several others were measured at sites up to 30 km to the northwest along paleo-shoreline. In the study, detailed thickness data of all sections and …

Evidence Of Holocene Climate Change In A Nebraska Sandhills Wetland, Barbara Nicholson, James B. Swinehart

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences (through 2013)

The Nebraska Sandhills consist of 50,000 km² of dunes, currently stabilized by vegetation. Radiocarbon dates of paleosols, blocked paleovalleys, and sand beds found in interdunal wetlands suggest that the Holocene had significant periods of dune reactivation. A paleoecological investigation was conducted in Jumbo Valley, NE, in an interdunal wetland known to contain sand layers interbedded with peat. The sedimentary record in two cores is continuous, except for some loss due to surficial burns. Macrofossils indicate that the late Pleistocene was cool and wet, with current vegetation establishing around 12,000 years ago. Sand and bulk density profiles reveal significant periods …

Geology Of The Tierras Blancas Area In The Southeastern Acambay Graben, Central Mexico, Lonnie T. Mercer

Theses and Dissertations

Pliocene-Pleistocene sediments in the southeastern Acambay graben, central Mexico have yielded mammal fossils, including Equus simplicidens, cf. Rhynchotherium, ?Camelops, Mammuthus sp., Bison sp., and Antilocapra sp. The fossiliferous sediments include a period of lacustrine sedimentation in the late Pliocene-early Pleistocene that interrupted fluvial and alluvial sedimentation during the early Pliocene and Pleistocene. The sediments deposited in this late Pliocene paleolake record a history of lake level fluctuations, shown by lithologic variations in lacustrine sediments and abundance of vertebrate burrows. Volcanic and tectonic events in the Acambay graben were the major controls on sedimentation during Pliocene-Pleistocene time. …

The Benthic Community Of The Eastern Us Continental Shelf: A Literature Synopsis Of Benthic Faunal Resources, R. Allen Brooks, Carla N. Purdy, Susan S. Bell, Kenneth J. Sulak

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

The existing scientific literature on offshore benthic assemblages (OBA) residing along the US East and Gulf of Mexico continental shelf was reviewed. Identification was made of any associations between the dominant OBA and particular sediment types and/or bathymetry. Of special interest was the evaluation of reported effects of sand dredge/mining activities on the dominant OBA and recognition of data deficiencies. One hundred and twenty-two references were selected and classified as to type of study with pertinent results extracted. Polychaetes were predominantly cited as the principal infaunal taxa present in studies from both the Gulf of Mexico and US Atlantic coast. …

Sequence Stratigraphy Of The Bridal Veil Falls Limestone, Carboniferous, Lower Oquirrh Group, On Cascade Mountain, Utah: A Standard Morrowan Cyclostratigraphy For The Oquirrh Basin, David Joseph Shoore

Theses and Dissertations

The Bridal Veil Falls Limestone (lowest 400 meters of the Permo-Carboniferous Oquirrh Group) is well exposed on the flanks of Cascade Mountain (Wasatch Front and adjacent mountain ranges) near Provo, Utah. Because of its excellent exposure and location in the heart of the Oquirrh depocenter, this area was selected to develop a sequence stratigraphic framework for Morrowan rocks that may be applied throughout the Oquirrh basin (NW Utah and southern Idaho) as well as the adjacent Ely and Bird Springs troughs. Eleven partial to complete sections of the Bridal Veil Falls Limestone were measured along the west and north flanks …

The Effects Of Fault-Induced Stress Anisotropy On Fracturing, Folding And Sill Emplacement: Insights From The Bowie Coal Mines, Southern Piceance Basin, Western Colorado., Eric Dean Robeck

Theses and Dissertations

The recognition of fault-perturbed stress fields is an important tool in areas of mineral or hydrocarbon exploration. The Bowie underground coal mines of western Colorado expose a reverse-reactivated growth fault that perturbed the stress field during cleat (fracture) formation, rotating cleat orientations up to 500 m on both sides of the fault. Two unusual fracture types are found only in coal adjacent to the fault: (1) concentric cleats, highly curved fractures that form blocks resembling balls or eggs and (2) horsetail cleats, striated surfaces that superficially resemble shattercones and result from shear failure in coal. Numerical models created with the …

Probabilistic Modeling Of Tephra Dispersal: Hazard Assessment Of A Multiphase Rhyolitic Eruption At Tarawera, New Zealand, Costanza Bonadonna, Charles B. Connor, B. F. Houghton, Laura Connor, Marc A. Byrne, A. Laing, T. K. Hincks

Geology Faculty Publications

The Tarawera Volcanic Complex comprises 11 rhyolite domes formed during five major eruptions between 17,000 B.C. and A.D. 1886, the first four of which were predominantly rhyolitic. The only historical event erupted about 2 km³ of basaltic tephra fall (A.D. 1886). The youngest rhyolitic event erupted a tephra fall volume more than 2 times larger and covered a wider area northwest and southeast of the volcano (∼A.D. 1315 Kaharoa eruption). We have used the Kaharoa scenario to assess the tephra fall hazard from a future rhyolitic eruption at Tarawera of a similar scale. The Plinian phase of this eruption …

A Uintan (Late Middle Eocene) Flora And Fauna From The Uinta Basin, Utah, Stephen Dee Sandau

Theses and Dissertations

Late Middle Eocene time marks one of the most dynamic periods of the Paleogene in the western interior of North America. Analysis of an extensive, new collection of plant, invertebrate, and vertebrae fossils from the Uinta Formation in the Uinta Basin, south of Myton, Utah, USA, provides evidence of environmental change. Paleobotanical specimens are preserved in late stage Uinta Lake sediments and coarse-grained fluvial sediments which are stratigraphically 650 to 660 m above the Green River Formation. Deposition rates estimates of 18 to 55 cm/kyr, for Uinta Lake sediments in the Uinta Basin suggest a period of 1.18 Ma to …

Evaluation Of Models And Data For Assessing Whooping Crane Habitat In The Central Platte River, Nebraska, Adrian H. Farmer, Brian S. Cade, James W. Terrell, Jim H. Henriksen, Jeffery T. Runge

United States Geological Survey: Water Reports and Publications

The primary objectives of this evaluation were to improve the performance of the Whooping Crane Habitat Suitability model (C4R) used by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) for defining the relationship between river discharge and habitat availability, and to assist the Service in implementing improved model(s) with existing hydraulic files. The C4R habitat model is applied at the scale of individual river cross-sections, but the model outputs are scaled-up to larger reaches of the river using a decision support “model” comprised of other data and procedures. Hence, the validity of the habitat model depends at least partially on how …

A Conceptual Model Of Groundwater Flow At The Midway, Utah Fish Hatchery As Constrained By Geochemical, Physical Hydrogeological, And Geophysical Methods, Camille Durrant

Theses and Dissertations

In addition to a loss of potential revenues from Utah's $393 million sport fishing industry, the state expends millions of dollars every year on costs associated with whirling disease mitigation and prevention. A state fish hatchery at Midway, Utah was closed when the shallow unconfined aquifer being used for fish culture by spring discharge was deemed to be contaminated by whirling disease. An alternative water source may exist in a confined aquifer below this contaminated unconfined aquifer. However, the complex hydrostratigraphy presents a challenge in determining if this source is a viable resource for fish culture. Geological, physical, chemical, geophysical, …

Yucca Mountain Saturated Zone Carbon-14, James Thomas, Drew Coleman, Raymond E. Keeler, Amy J. Smiecinski

Publications (YM)

This Scientific Investigation Plan (SIP) provides an overview of the work described in “Yucca Mountain Saturated Zone Carbon-14”, a proposal funded by the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Repository Development under the UCCSN/YMP Co-op in support of the Science and Technology Initiatives. The objective of this work is to provide improved estimates of the time required for ground water to travel from the site of the proposed high-level radioactive waste repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada, to the accessible environment.

Indicators Of Climate Change In The Northeast 2005, Adam Markham, Cameron P. Wake

The Sustainability Institute Publications

Climate changes. It always has and always will. What is unique in modern times is that human activities are now a significant factor causing climate to change. This is evident in the recent rise in key greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide (CO2), in the atmosphere, and in the recent increase in global temperatures in the lower atmosphere and in the surface ocean.

The evidence presented in this report clearly illustrates that climate in New England is also changing. Over the past 100 years, and especially the last 30 years, all of the climate change indicators for the region reveal …

Prevailing Weather Conditions During Summer Seasons Around Gangotri Glacier, Pratap Singh, Umesh K. Haritashya, K. S. Ramasastri, Naresh Kumar

Department of Earth, Environment and Sustainability Faculty Publications

Meteorological data collected near the snout of the Gangotri Glacier suggest that the study area receives less rainfall. The average seasonal rainfall is observed to be about 260 mm. The rainfall distribution does not show any monsoon impact. Amount of seasonal rainfall is highly variable (131.4-368.8 mm) from year to year, but, in general, August had the maximum rainfall. A verage daily maximum and minimum temperatures were 14.7 and 4.1°C respectively, whereas average mean temperature was 9.4°C. July was recorded as the warmest month. During daytime, wind speed was four times higher than that at night-time. The average daytime and …

Site Assessments, Martyn Keen

Natural resources published reports

The processes of collecting and recording site data as part of the preliminary tasks leading to a landscape or project design.

This standard applies to landscape and project designs for catchments of any size. Designs include: the installation of conservation earthworks; revegetation; land use planning; or implementation of erosion and sediment control practices. The design may also include any combination of the above

Roaded Catchments, Martyn Keen

Natural resources published reports

A roaded catchment is one of the water harvesting structures known collectively as improved catchments. It has a broad 'V' shaped cross section and a surface cover of clay. It is used to increase run-off yield and divert water to farm dams.

Relative Concentration Of Solid-Phase Sulfide Species In Marine Sediments Overlying Gas Hydrate Deposits: Recognition Of The Role Of Anaerobic Methane Oxidation In Authigenic Sulfide Formation, Matthew K. Thompson, Walter S. Borowski, Charles K. Paull, William Ussler Iii

EKU Faculty and Staff Scholarship

Sulfide mineralization in marine sediments occurs when dissolved sulfide, produced by sulfate reduction processes, combines with dissolved iron to form iron sulfide minerals. Sulfide can be produced by oxidation of organic matter or by anaerobic methane oxidation (AMO), which involves the co-consumption of sulfate and methane. The latter process seems especially important within gas hydrate terrains like that of theBlakeRidge(offshore southeasternUnited States), where appreciable amounts of methane diffuse upward to the base of the sulfate reduction zone, or sulfate-methane interface (SMI).

We examine the sediments of two piston cores collected over the Blake Ridge gas hydrate deposits by sequentially extracting …

Hydrogeophysical Investigation At Luxor, Southern Egypt, Ahmed Ismail, Neil Lennart Anderson, J. David Rogers

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Over the past 35 years, the exposed stone foundations of the ancient Egyptian monuments at Luxor have deteriorated at an alarmingly accelerated rate. Accelerated deterioration is attributable to three principal factors: 1) excavation and exposure of foundation stone; 2) construction of the Aswan High Dam; and 3) changes in the regional groundwater regime. In an effort to better elucidate the hydrostratigraphy in the Luxor study area that extends from the River Nile to the boundaries of the Nile Valley and covers about 70 km², a geophysical/hydrological investigation was conducted. Forty Schlumberger vertical electrical soundings (VES), two approximately 6 …

Women In Oceanography: Women Of The Academy And The Sea, Suzanne O'Connell, Mary Anne Holmes

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Faculty Publications

Women have played an active role in all areas of oceanography. Defining the number of women oceanographers is not an easy task because the discipline is so broad and the boundaries between subdisciplines are not always distinct.

Photo Highlights Of The 25th Kentucky Alfalfa Conference, Kentucky Alfalfa Conference

Kentucky Alfalfa and Stored Forage Conference

No abstract provided.

Photos Of The 25th Kentucky Alfalfa Conference Award Winners, Kentucky Alfalfa Conference

Kentucky Alfalfa and Stored Forage Conference

No abstract provided.

Alfalfa: The Queen Of Forage Crops, It Don't Get Any Better, Warren C. Thompson

Kentucky Alfalfa and Stored Forage Conference

For anyone who has grown or used alfalfa, there is no question but that alfalfa is the best forage crop they have dealt with. Perhaps that is one reason that we in professional agriculture have given so much special interest to the crop and why it is held in such high esteem and the position it demands in research and refinement investments over the years at the private and public sectors.

Alfalfa: Crop For The Future, N. P. Martin, R. D. Hatfield, D. R. Mertens, P. J. Weimer

Kentucky Alfalfa and Stored Forage Conference

Alfalfa use by dairy cattle has decreased in recent years because of excessive nonprotein nitrogen and low fiber digestibility. Ideal attributes for plant modification of alfalfa may include those that increase milk potential per acre and/or per ton, enhance digestible NDF, improve protein content and amino acid balance, improve agronomic traits for insect protection (safer forage supply), herbicide tolerance, virus resistance, drought tolerance, cold tolerance, improved mineral availability and enhanced yield. Progress in attaining these attributes will accelerate with the use of biotechnology. Livestock and hay enterprises will benefit from alfalfa that is less prone to contain mycotoxins or toxic …

History Of Roundup Ready Alfalfa, Mark Mccaslin

Kentucky Alfalfa and Stored Forage Conference

In late 1997 Forage Genetics International (FGI) and Monsanto began a joint project to develop Roundup Ready alfalfa. FGI collaborated with Montana State University to produce the first transgenic Roundup Ready alfalfa plants. The same CP4 glyphosate tolerance gene that has been effectively used in developing multiple other Roundup Ready crops, was successfully inserted into an elite FGI alfalfa plant in early 1998.

Alfalfa In Our Dairy Operation, Lee Robey

Kentucky Alfalfa and Stored Forage Conference

Welcome to Robey Farms. Our farm has been in our family for six generations. The farm was founded by my great grandfather, Herbert Robey, in 1899. Four generations live and are actively involved in the farm operation today. My mom and dad, Jane and D.L., my wife Denise and I, our oldest son Chris and his wife Jessica and three grandchildren, Jessalyn, Ethan, and Whitley, our middle son Adam and his wife Amanda, our youngest son Eli, who is a Sophomore at U.K. majoring in Ag. Economics, and my older brother Carr.

Growing Alfalfa For Wildlife, Don Ball

Kentucky Alfalfa and Stored Forage Conference

Alfalfa has long been recognized as a superb forage crop, which is why it is widely grown for dairy cattle, horses, sheep, and many other types of domesticated forage-consuming animals. Reasons for its popularity include wide adaptation, excellent nutritive value, good yield potential, perennial growth habit, a long growing season, and the fact that (in association with Rhizobium bacteria) it is a nitrogen-fixing legume that does not require periodic applications of nitrogen fertilizer.

Progress Towards Sclerotinia--Resistant Varieties, Paul C. Vincelli

Kentucky Alfalfa and Stored Forage Conference

Sclerotinia crown and stem rot (SCSR), caused by the fungus Sclerotinia trifoliorum, is one of the most important factors limiting the success of late-summer alfalfa seedings in the region. Infections of S. trifoliorum that progress into the crown of a fall-sown alfalfa plant can kill it during winter or spring green up. Stand losses by the following spring may be insignificant (1-3%) or nearly total, with 95-99% of the stand being dead (and often even rotted away and gone by spring green-up).

Alfalfa Hay For Horses (And Horse Owners!), Laurie Lawrence, Bryan Cassill

Kentucky Alfalfa and Stored Forage Conference

Alfalfa is one of the most common hays fed to horses in Kentucky. Other hays that are often used include timothy and orchardgrass. As a legume, alfalfa has many nutritional advantages over timothy or orchardgrass. Alfalfa hay contains more protein and calcium than grass hays and thus is an excellent source of these nutrients for broodmares and growing horses. Another legume that may be useful as a hay for horses is red clover. Nutritionally, red clover has many of the same advantages as alfalfa. However, red clover has some non-nutritional characteristics which have traditionally limited its popularity with horse owners. …

Advances In Alfalfa Seed Coating, Bill Talley

Kentucky Alfalfa and Stored Forage Conference

Seed coating for alfalfa has been available since the mid to late 70’s. Over the last 30 years, advances in the industry have made it the choice of many producers. The purpose of the coatings at that time was mainly to add weight to increase the ballistic properties and to be a carrier for the rhizobia. Through research and new technology, coatings have evolved and shown great agronomic benefits. Seed coating can provide an opportunity to supply effective quantities of needed materials to each seed, which can influence both the physical property, and the microenvironment of the seed. Coatings can …