Earth Sciences Commons^™

Stratovolcano Growth By Co-Eruptive Intrusion: The 2008 Eruption Of Tungurahua Ecuador, J. Biggs, P. Mothes, M. Ruiz, F. Amelung, Timothy H. Dixon, S. Baker, S-H. Hong

School of Geosciences Faculty and Staff Publications

Volcanic edifices are constructed by a combination of erupted material and internal growth. We use the L-band satellite ALOS to produce InSAR measurements at Tungurahua Volcano, Ecuador. We find a maximum of 17.5 cm of uplift on the upper western flank between December 2007 and March 2008, coincident with an eruption in February 2008. The deformation can be modeled using an ellipsoidal or sill-like source within the edifice. The models require an elongated aspect ratio with a length of 4–6 km. The intruded volume of 1.2 × 10⁶ m³ is roughly equivalent to the bulk erupted volume of …

Mixing By Shear Instability At High Reynolds Number, W. R. Geyer, A. C. Lavery, M. E. Scully, J. H. Trowbridge

CCPO Publications

Shear instability is the dominant mechanism for converting fluid motion to mixing in the stratified ocean and atmosphere. The transition to turbulence has been well characterized in laboratory settings and numerical simulations at moderate Reynolds number-it involves "rolling up", i.e., overturning of the density structure within the cores of the instabilities. In contrast, measurements in an energetic estuarine shear zone reveal that the mixing induced by shear instability at high Reynolds number does not primarily occur by overturning in the cores; rather it results from secondary shear instabilities within the zones of intensified shear separating the cores. This regime is …

The Presidential Range: Its Geologic And Tectonic History, J. Dykstra Eusden

Faculty Books

The complete hiker’s guide and map to the bedrock geology of the Presidential Range, New Hampshire —

This guide and its accompanying geologic map describe the bedrock geology and plate tectonic history of the Presidential Range, the highest peaks in the northeastern United States. The color illustrations and writing style make this accessible to all enthusiasts of the mountains. The map (21.5 x 28) shows the bedrock geology and highlights locations where hikers may view key exposures of bedrock in the field.

Climate Cyclicity And The Economic Vitality Of The Northern Great Plains, University Of North Dakota. Energy And Environmental Research Center

EERC Brochures and Fact Sheets

Northern Great Plains Water Consortium fact sheet on climate fluctuations and economic vitality within the northern Great Plains, including discussions on floods and the Waffle flood mitigation concept. [This item is an outdated or superseded version and retained for historical purposes only. It may no longer reflect current information, policies, or practices.]

Apparent Seasonal Cycle In Isotopic Discrimination Of Carbon In The Atmosphere And Biosphere Due To Vapor Pressure Deficit, Ashley P. Ballantyne, J. B. Miller, P. P. Tans

Ecosystem and Conservation Sciences Faculty Publications

We explore seasonal variability in isotopic fractionation by analyzing observational data from the atmosphere and the biosphere, as well as simulated data from a global model. Using simulated values of atmospheric CO₂ and its carbon isotopic composition, we evaluated different methods for specifying background concentrations when calculating the isotopic signature of source CO₂ (δ_s) to the atmosphere. Based on this evaluation, we determined that free troposphere measurements should be used when available as a background reference when calculating δ_s from boundary layer observations. We then estimate the seasonal distribution of δ_s from monthly …

Fluvial Architecture And Geometry Of The Mungaroo Formation Of Rankin Trend On The Northwest Shelf Of Australia, Scott Bradley Stoner

Earth & Environmental Sciences Theses - Archive

The Northwest Shelf of Australia contains many producing world class gas reservoirs with large areas remaining unexplored. The fluvio-deltaic Mungaroo Formation of Rankin Trend on the Northwest Shelf is the site of many producing fields on the Northwest Shelf and data collected from these sites is invaluable in understanding the architecture and geometry of the fluvial strata that house these reservoirs. The Mungaroo Formation contains alternating sections of low accommodation amalgamated sand bodies, and high accommodation shale prone sections that record architecturally complex floodplain deposits. The study sections were broken down into eight architectural elements; thalweg fill, unit bar, abandonment …

Breathing Like A Fish, Petros J. Katsioloudis

STEMPS Faculty Publications

The article offers information on industrial oxygen rebreathers, an underwater breathing equipment used by divers. It states that rebreather is an electromechanical device that supply breathing gas through infusion of oxygen and reprocessing of carbon dioxide by using a chemical scrubber. It mentions that most rebreathers comprise of breathing loop, breathing lungs, and a canister where the scrubber is placed with the partial pressure (pO₂) sensors and interface devices like heads-up display (HUD) to show pO₂ levels. It also discusses types of rebreathers such as the oxygen rebreather, the oldest rebreather mainly used by navy diver, and …

Geophysical Investigation Of Paleoseismological Features In Eastern Arkansas, Usa, Okba Raad Al-Qadhi

Theses and Dissertations

Satellite images and field surveys reveal the existence of several liquefaction features in east central Arkansas on an area that is not known to have experienced major earthquakes in the past. The research of this dissertation is part of a long term comprehensive program to study and assess the seismic risk in the central United States. This research successfully showed that geophysical methods are effective and more economical than traditional drilling and trenching methods. Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) and Capacitively Coupled Resistivity (CCR) techniques were comprehensively implemented at over 36 sites in the study area near Marianna, Arkansas, United States. …

An Analysis Of Anchitherine Equids Across The Eocene–Oligocene Boundary In The White River Group Of The Western Great Plains, David M. Masciale

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Anchitherine horses are a subfamily of equids that are abundantly represented in the late Eocene and early Oligocene of North America. This group has been heavily studied in the past, but important questions still remain. Some studies have focused on the Eocene-Oligocene boundary and have used these equids along with other taxa to study mammalian diet and climate change through this interval. I reexamine two anchitherine genera, Mesohippus and Miohippus, from stratigraphic sequences of the White River Group in western Nebraska and southwestern South Dakota. These sequences span the Chadronian (late Eocene), Orellan (early Oligocene), and Whitneyan (early Oligocene) …

Late Devonian Spermatophyte Diversity And Paleoecology At Red Hill, North-Central Pennsylvania, U.S.A., Walter L. Cressler Iii, Cyrille Prestianni, Ben A. Lepage

Earth & Space Sciences Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Terrestrialization In The Late Devonian: A Palaeoecological Overview Of The Red Hill Site, Pennsylvania, Usa, Walter L. Cressler Iii, Edward B. Daeschler, Rudy Slingerland, Daniel A. Peterson

Earth & Space Sciences Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Paleogeographic, Paleoceanographic, And Tectonic Controls On Early Late Ordovician Graptolite Diversity Patterns, Daniel Goldman, Shuang-Ye Wu

Department of Earth, Environment and Sustainability Faculty Publications

The Katian Age (early Late Ordovician) was a time of significant decline in marine biodiversity, but whether this decline was a real phenomenon or an artifact of the relatively few studies devoted to this interval requires further research. We examined the pattern of graptolite faunal changes across the boundary between the Climacograptus bicornis and Diplacanthograptus caudatus graptolite zones in North America and on several other continents.

A sharp decline in species diversity occurs in the Appalachian Basin. Scores for normalized diversity dropped from 20 in the C. bicornis Zone to 7 in the D. caudatus Zone. Only 11% of the …

Mineral And Whole-Rock Geochemistry Of The Kestanbol Granitoid (Ezine-Çanakkale) And Its Mafic Microgranular Enclaves In Northwestern Anatolia: Evidence Of Felsic And Mafic Magma Interaction, Sabah Yilmaz Şahi̇n, Yüksel Örgün, Yildirim Güngör, A. Feti̇ Göker, A. Haydar Gülteki̇n, Zeki̇ye Karacik

Turkish Journal of Earth Sciences

The Miocene Kestanbol granitoid, in Ezine-Çanakkale, Turkey, is one of post-collision granitoids of western Anatolia, which have been related to the the late Cretaceous collision between the Anatolide-Tauride platform and the Pontides. Magmatism began during the early Miocene, with coeval alkaline to calc-alkaline plutonism and volcanism, controlled by the regional tectonic evolution. The Kestanbol pluton intruded regionally metamorphosed basement rocks. Volcanic and volcano-clastic sedimentary rocks overlie the pluton, which is bounded in the west and east by major faults. The pluton is frequently cut by felsic and mafic dykes and includes mafic microgranular enclaves (MMEs) that are mixing products of …

The Impact Of Tsunamis On The Island Of Majorca Induced By North Argelian Seismic Sources, José A. Álvarez-Gómez, Maitane Olabarrieta, Mauricio González, Luís Otero, Emilio Carreño, José M. Martínez-Solares

Turkish Journal of Earth Sciences

The north of Algeria is the main earthquake-related tsunami generation zone that threatens the Balearic Islands. In this work we review the major seismic series of the area -the 1980 El Asnam and the 2003 Boumerdes-Zemmouri earthquakes– in order to obtain a probable worst characteristic earthquake rupture. We estimate rupture dimensions of 55 km x 16 km, reaching the fault plane a depth of 13 km. The dip and rake have been taken as constants, with values of 50° and 90° respectively, while the strike is adjusted to the local tectonic structure. With these characteristics a magnitude M_w= 7.3 earthquake …

Thermal Evolution Of The Permo−Triassic Karakaya Subduction-Accretion Complex Between The Biga Peninsula And The Tokat Massif (Anatolia), Ilaria Federici, William Cavazza, Aral Okay, Olivier Beyssac, Massimiliano Zattin, Sveva Corrado, Francesco Dellisanti

Turkish Journal of Earth Sciences

The results of the combined application of a series of analytical methods (clay mineralogy, vitrinite reflectance, Raman microspectroscopy) placed tight constraints on the thermal evolution of the Karakaya Complex of northern Anatolia, a mostly Permo-Triassic subduction-accretion complex resulting from the progressive closure of the Palaeotethys. The thermal evolution of the Karakaya Complex is the result of Permian-Triassic subduction-accretion processes, and was not significantly affected by later Alpine-age tectonism, as shown by Liassic shallow-water siliciclastic and carbonate deposits overlying unconformably the Karakaya Complex which did not undergo any significant burial. The Lower Karakaya Complex, comprising metabasite and subordinate marble and phyllite, …

Mathesia Mainelli (Hippuritoidea, Monopleuridae) From The Late Aptian−Albian Of The Mediterranean Region: A Revision, Jean-Pierre Masse, Mükerrem Fenerci̇-Masse

Turkish Journal of Earth Sciences

Agria darderi Astre and Mathesia terticolloquiirudistarum Mainelli represent a single taxonomic entity: Mathesia darderi (Astre). Mathesia is characterized by an erect posterior myophoral plate and an anterior myophoral crest in the LV, the RV myophores being on the shell wall. A peculiar shell structure is observed in the RV: the junction between the outer calcitic shell layer and the inner formerly aragonitic shell layer is scalloped or festooned and usually includes longitudinal tubes. The overall morphological traits and myocardinal organisation of Mathesia are similar to those of Debrunia, although the latter lacks the scalloped or tubular inner shell features of …

Taxonomy Of Rudists From The Campanian Transgressive Sediments Of Brašljevica, Donje Orešje And Sv. Martin, Northern Croatia, Alan Moro, Vlasta Cosovic, Josip Benic, Jasmina Dokmanovic

Turkish Journal of Earth Sciences

Rudists are common fossils in transgressive Upper Cretaceous deposits in three localities placed in northwestern part of Croatia. Their appearances coincide with the beginning of a transgressive sequence through floatstones-thickets. Within the rudist community, Vaccinites Fischer 1887, Hippurites Lamarck 1801 and Hippuritella Douvillé 1908 could be differentiated according to their general or generic morphological elements. The age of deposits was obtained from the Sr-isotope composition of the rudist shells as well as the micro- and nannofossil community from sediments overlying the rudists-bearing sediments at the Donje Oresje and Brasljevica localities. According to this data the age of the transgressive sediments …

Morphology, Taxonomy And Lifestyle Of The Maastrichtian Rudist Bivalve Thyrastylon, Simon Francis Mitchell

Turkish Journal of Earth Sciences

The rudist bivalve Thyrastylon is redescribed based on extensive material collected from Jamaica. The new material shows that the left valve contains slits, and that this is the diagnostic feature of the genus. The genus is redefined as follows: a radiolitid rudist with no ligamental infold, stretched cellular microstructure and compact layers in the outer layer of the right valve; the radial bands are partially infolded into the shell layer of the right valve; the left valve has oscules developed above the radial bands and has concentric, slit-like pores that penetrate the shell and open out onto the inner part …

Campanian-Maastrichtian Pseudosabinia From Turkey: Descriptions And Taxonomic Problems, Saci̇t Özer

Turkish Journal of Earth Sciences

Specimens of taxa assigned to Pseudosabinia Morris & Skelton, collected from the Campanian-Maastrichtian sequences of different regions of Turkey such as the Kocaeli Peninsula, Amasya, Bayburt (Pontides), Sivas, Malatya, Elazığ (eastern Anatolian platform) and Kahta-Adıyaman and Yaylaçiftliği-Antakya (northernmost part of the Arabian platform), are determined and the taxonomic statuses of the species are discussed. Pseudosabinia klinghardti (Böhm) uniquely presents all the characteristic features of the genus. Other species and subspecies assigned to the genus 'Pseudosabinia' rtanjica (Pejovic), 'Pseudosabinia' serbica (Kühn & Pejovic), 'Pseudosabinia' rtanjica triangularis (Karacabey) and 'Pseudosabinia' rtanjica tunisiensis (Philip) lack the cellular prismatic structure of the outer shell …

Distribution And Abundance Of Rudist Bivalves In The Cretaceous Platform Sequences In Egypt: Time And Space, Mohamed S. Zakhera

Turkish Journal of Earth Sciences

As the rudist bivalves represent important organic buildups in the Cretaceous platform sequences, this study emphasizes vertical and spatial distribution of this group of bivalves in the geographic divisions of Egypt, including Western Desert, Eastern Desert and Sinai. Rudists are encountered in different rock facies ranging from mudstones to carbonates. About sixty eight species belong to twenty one genera are reported from Egypt. They belong to six families: Requieniidae, Monopleuridae, Caprotinidae, Caprinidae, Hippuritidae, and Radiolitidae. The Radiolitidae is the most diverse family, comprising eleven genera and fifty-one species, dominated by species of Radiolites, Eoradiolites and Durania. The elevator morphotype of …

The Morphology And Function Of The Upper Valve Of Vaccinites Vesiculosus (Woodward), Dietrich Schumann

Turkish Journal of Earth Sciences

The evolutionary transformation of the upper valve (UV) to a probable particle filter system in some hippuritid genera belongs to the most drastic changes in pelycipod shell structures. The basic architecture of this product is well known since long times. Again discussed is the functional role of the canal system. The bottom of the canals is very smooth. The canal system of Vaccinites vesiculosus is completely roofed by a particular graceful sieve. A water exchange between the canals did not exist. The uppermost part of the upper valve (the sieve) most probably was an endoskeleton. The upper valve was not …

Rare Earth Elements As An Investigative Tool Into The Source, Age, And Ecology Of Late Miocene To Late Pleistocene Fossils From The Tunica Hills, Louisiana, Lindsey Theresa Yann

LSU Master's Theses

Rare earth elements were investigated for their potential to determine provenance and depositional environments of vertebrate fossils found as float in creeks of the Tunica Hills region of Louisiana. Elemental analyses are used to test the hypotheses that fossils span multiple time periods, from late Miocene to late Pleistocene, and that elemental profiles can distinguish terrestrial depositional settings from possible estuarine deposits. In addition, the animals present were then used to test the hypothesis that Tunica Hills had late Pleistocene environmental conditions much like the modern Great Lakes region. This study is important because it provides new insight on the …

A Functional And Ontogenetic Skull Analysis Of The Extant Rhinoceroses And Teleoceras Major, An Extinct Miocene North American Rhinoceros, Mark Daniel Hagge

LSU Master's Theses

Functional and ontogenetic skull differences among extant rhinoceroses and the extinct North American rhinoceros Teleoceras major were investigated to assess the unknown feeding ecology of Teleoceras. Ontogenetic skull sequences of the extant Indian rhino (Rhinoceros unicornis), Sumatran rhino (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis), white rhino (Ceratotherium simum), and black rhino (Diceros bicornis), and the extinct Miocene North American rhino T. major were gathered for both qualitative and quantitative assessments. Eleven functional characters related to specific feeding ecologies in extant perissodactyls were morphologically described, and each species’ skull development was described in detail. Nineteen linear skull measurements were taken across all specimens of all …

Salinity Variation As An Indicator Of Fluid Flow In The Lower Ellesmerian Sequence, North Slope, Alaska, Jacob Scott Dehamer

LSU Master's Theses

Previous studies have shown the existence of a topographically driven recharge system in the North Slope foreland basin, Alaska. The Lower Ellesmerian Sequence represents the lowest most flow pathway in the stratigraphic sequence. Limestones and dolomites of the Lisburne Group and sands and shales of the Endicott Group represent laterally extensive pathways for flow. Salinities calculated from spontaneous potential response in the Lower Ellesmerian range from less than 10 gL-1 to over 150 gL-1. Low salinities calculated for the Lower Ellesmerian indicate the displacement of connate marine waters throughout the history of the North Slope foreland basin. Flushing of connate …

Combined Effects Of Heat Waves And Droughts On Avian Communities Across The Conterminous United States, Thomas P. Albright, Anna M. Pidgeon, Chadwick D. Rittenhouse, Murray K. Clayton, Brian D. Wardlow, Curtis H. Flather, Patrick D. Culbert, Volker C. Radeloff

National Drought Mitigation Center: Faculty Publications

Increasing surface temperatures and climatic variability associated with global climate change are expected to produce more frequent and intense heat waves and droughts in many parts of the world. Our goal was to elucidate the fundamental, but poorly understood, effects of these extreme weather events on avian communities across the conterminous United States. Specifically, we explored: (1) the effects of timing and duration of heat and drought events, (2) the effects of jointly occurring drought and heat waves relative to these events occurring in isolation, and (3) how effects vary among functional groups related to nest location and migratory habit, …

Effects Of Lightning And Other Meteorological Factors On Fire Activity In The North American Boreal Forest: Implications For Fire Weather Forecasting, David Peterson, Jun Wang, Charles Ichoku, Lorraine Remer

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Faculty Publications

The effects of lightning and other meteorological factors on wildfire activity in the North American boreal forest are statistically analyzed during the fire seasons of 2000–2006 through an integration of the following data sets: the MODerate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) level 2 fire products, the 3-hourly 32-km gridded meteorological data from North American Regional Reanalysis (NARR), and the lightning data collected by the Canadian Lightning Detection Network (CLDN) and the Alaska Lightning Detection Network (ALDN). Positive anomalies of the 500 hPa geopotential height field, convective available potential energy (CAPE), number of cloud-to-ground lightning strikes, and the number of consecutive dry …

A New Small-Bodied Species Of Palaeonictis (Creodonta, Oxyaenidae) From The Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum, Stephen G. B. Chester, Jonathan I. Bloch, Ross Secord, Doug M. Boyer

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Faculty Publications

Oxyaenid creodonts are extinct carnivorous mammals known from the Paleogene of North America, Europe, and Asia. The genus Palaeonictis is represented by three species that together span the late Paleocene to early Eocene of North America, and at least one species from the early Eocene of Europe. Previously, only a single trigonid of Palaeonictis was known from the interval encompassing the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) in North America. We describe Palaeonictis wingi sp. nov. from the PETM in the Cabin Fork drainage, southeastern Bighorn Basin, Wyoming, based on associated right and left dentaries with P₂-M₂. Palaeonictis …

“An Overview Of The Amazonian Aerosol Characterization Experiment 2008 (Amaze-08)” Published In Atmos. Chem. Phys., 10, 11415-11438, 2010, S. T. Martin, M. O. Andreae, D. Althausen, P. Artaxo, H. Baars, S. Borrmann, Q. Chen, D. K. Farmer, A. Guenther, S. S. Gunthe, J. L. Jimenez, T. Karl, K. Longo, A. Manzi, T. Muller, T. Pauliquevis, M. D. Petters, A. J. Prenni, U. Poschl, L. V. Rizzo, J. Schneider, J. N. Smith, E. Swietlicki, J. Tota, A. Wiedensohler, S. R. Zorn

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Geophysical Properties Within The San Andreas Fault Zone At The San Andreas Fault Observatory At Depth (Safod) And Their Relationships To Rock Properties And Fault Zone Structure, Tamara N. Jeppson, Kelly Keighley Bradbury, James P. Evans

Geosciences Faculty Publications

We examine the relationships between borehole geophysical data and physical properties of fault‐related rocks within the San Andreas Fault as determined from data from the San Andreas Fault Observatory at Depth borehole. Geophysical logs, cuttings data, and drilling data from the region 3‐ to 4‐km measured depth of the borehole encompass the active part of the San Andreas Fault. The fault zone lies in a sequence of deformed sandstones, siltstone, shale, serpentinite‐bearing block‐in‐matrix rocks, and sheared phyllitic siltstone. The borehole geophysical logs reveal the presence of a low‐velocity zone from 3190 to 3410 m measured depth with V_p and …

Numerical Ages Of Selected Rudist Bivalvia: Preliminary Results, Robert W. Scott

Turkish Journal of Earth Sciences

The ranges of most biostratigraphically diagnostic fossils have been calibrated to the geologic time scale in mega-annums. Five methods for integrating fossil ranges with the numerical geologic time scale are currently used: (1) species in stratigraphic positions with radiometrically dated beds; (2) strontium isotopes of unaltered shell material; (3) cyclostratigraphic frequencies of enclosing strata; (4) integration with zones and sequence stratigraphy; and (5) graphic correlation. Preliminary studies show that rudist occurrences have been calibrated in numerical ages by Sr isotopes, zonal integration and graphic correlation. Where the same species are dated by two methods, a more complete range is the …