Earth Sciences Commons^™

Stratigraphic, Microfossil, And Geochemical Analysis Of The Neoproterozoic Uinta Mountain Group, Utah: Evidence For A Eutrophication Event?, Dawn Schmidli Hayes

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Several previous Neoproterozoic microfossil diversity studies yield evidence for a relatively sudden biotic change prior to the first well‐constrained Sturtian glaciations. In an event interpreted as a mass extinction of eukaryotic phytoplankton followed by bacterial dominance, diverse assemblages of complex acritarchs are replaced by more uniform assemblages consisting of simple leiosphaerid acritarchs and bacteria. Recent data from the Chuar Group of the Grand Canyon (770‐742 Ma) suggest this biotic change was caused by eutrophication rather than the direct effects of Sturtian glaciation; evidence includes total organic carbon increases indicative of increasing primary productivity followed by iron speciation values that suggest …

Sedimentology And Stratigraphy Of The Upper Pennsylvanian–Lower Permian Systems Of Western Nebraska, Usa, Chesney L. Gilleland

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

Depositional patterns and regional stratigraphic relationships in the carbonate-dominated Pennsylvanian and Permian deposits in western Nebraska are not well established due to poor surface exposure. Examination of petroleum drillcores and wireline logs, along with thin sections and biostratigraphic analysis allow new insight into facies distributions, depositional environment, and regional stratigraphic relationships. Nine shallowing upward cycles are identified that can be correlated across the southern Nebraska Panhandle within the Pennsylvanian (Virgilian)-Permian (Wolfcampian) stratigraphy (Admire, Council Grove, and Chase Groups). These cycles are composed of facies representing deposition from open marine through nonmarine environments. Results show that depositional settings in western Nebraska …

Hammer Seismic Reflection Imaging In An Urban Environment, Lee M. Liberty

CGISS Publications and Presentations

Subsurface characterization within urban centers is critically important for city planners, municipalities, and engineers to estimate groundwater resources, track contaminants, assess earthquake or landslide hazards, and many other similar objectives. Improving geophysical imaging methods and results, while minimizing costs, provides greater opportunities for city/project planners and geophysicists alike to take advantage of the improved characterization afforded by the particular method. Seismic reflection results can provide hydrogeologic constraints for groundwater models, provide slip rate estimates for active faults, or simply map stratigraphy to provide target depth estimate. While many traditional urban seismic transects have included the use of vibroseis sources to …

An Integrated Geological And Geophysical Study Of The Fresh And Brackish Water Boundary In The Hueco Bolson, West Texas, Sandy Stephanie Marrufo

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The Hueco Bolson in West Texas is located in the Rio Grande rift basin and provides water to El Paso County, Texas and Juarez, Mexico. El Paso Water Utilities (EPWU) drilled many wells up to 1000 ft (305) m into this aquifer, which provide 40% of El Paso's water supply. Stratigraphy and sedimentation in active extensional basins have received little study because they are usually buried and this research helped document these processes. The study area within the West Texas region of the Hueco Bolson Aquifer (HBA) lies within a transition zone between the fresh and brackish water sections of …

Stratigraphy, Sedimentology, And Ichnology Of The Upper Cretaceous Frontier Formation In The Alkali Anticline Region, Bighorn County, Wyoming, Charles K. Clark

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

The Upper Cretaceous Frontier Formation was studied along two strike-parallel cliff-lines in the Alkali Anticline region of the northeastern Bighorn Basin, Bighorn County, Wyoming. The unit comprises up to 145 m of mudrock, sandstone, conglomerate, and volcanic fallout sediments deposited along the western margin of the Cretaceous Western Interior Seaway (KWIS) in the mid- to late-Cenomanian. Eighteen facies, comprising six facies associations are identified from physical and biogenic sedimentary features. Sediments were deposited in open marine offshore to shoreface and subaqueous deltaic to delta platform environments. The observed trace fossil suites record departures from the archetypal ichnofacies. Such departures record …

A Sequence Stratigraphic And Isotopic Study Of Uppermost Pennsylvanian–Lower Permian Carbonate Strata, Orogrande Basin, New Mexico, Jesse Koch

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

Determining how the tropics respond to glaciation is important for improving our global understanding of icehouse worlds. The impetus behind this study is to identify the far-field impacts of Gondwanan glaciation during the Early Permian. Impacts including climate and sea-level change should be evident in sensitive carbonate systems, such as the upper Paleozoic paleotropical strata in the Orogrande Basin. A sequence stratigraphic and stable isotopic approach is used to examine the effects of late Paleozoic climate change in the Orogrande Basin during the acme and subsequent demise of the late Paleozoic ice age.

Sequence stratigraphic analysis suggests the occurrence of …

Volcanological And Petrogenetic Characteristics Of Komatiites Of The 3.3 Ga Saw Mill Complex, Weltevreden Formation, Barberton Greenstone Belt, South Africa, Matthew Stephen Huber

LSU Master's Theses

The Saw Mill Complex (SMC) is a 1275 m thick layered komatiitic sequence in the 3.3 Ga Weltevreden Formation, uppermost stratigraphic unit of the Onverwacht Group in the northern part of the Barberton Greenstone Belt, South Africa. A series of ultramafic complexes in the Weltevreden Formation have been interpreted as layered ultramafic intrusions, consisting of thick, layered ultramafic units of peridotite, pyroxenite, dunite, and gabbro. However, recent work on the Pioneer complex of the Weltevreden Formation has demonstrated an extrusive origin of komatiites and tuffs. The Weltevreden Formation has been less studied than other Onverwacht Group units. It is likely …

A Re-Appraisal Of The Stratigraphy, Palaeontology And Dating Of Cow Cave, Chudleigh, Devon, England, Jim W. Simons

International Journal of Speleology

Cow Cave is an important Quaternary paleontological site in Chudleigh Gorge, Devon, UK., now known to have a sequence of cave-earths and stalagmite floors that range in age from Upper Middle Pleistocene (~MIS 7 interglacial) through to the Holocene (Flandrian) and the present day. Excavations in 1927-1934, and again in 1962-3, have provided a rich fauna, with some artefacts. Here, the stratigraphy of the deposits is now more fully described and the faunal remains are considered in their stratigraphical contexts. Data supporting the existence of former cave entrances are presented along with an analysis of the processes of sedimentation and …

Capacitive Conductivity Logging And Electrical Stratigraphy In A High-Resistivity Aquifer, Boise Hydrogeophysical Research Site, C. Jonathan Mwenifumbo, Warren Barrash, Michael D. Knoll

CGISS Publications and Presentations

We tested a prototype capacitive-conductivity borehole tool in a shallow, unconfined aquifer with coarse, unconsolidated sediments and very-low-conductivity water at the Boise Hydrogeophysical Research Site (BHRS). Examining such a high-resistivity system provides a good test for the capacitive- conductivity tool because the conventional induction- conductivity tool (known to have limited effectiveness in high-resistivity systems) did not generate expressive well logs at the BHRS. The capacitive-conductivity tool demonstrated highly repeatable, low-noise behavior but poor correlation with the induction tool in the lower-conductivity portions of the stratigraphy where the induction tool was relatively unresponsive. Singular spectrum analysis of capacitive- conductivity logs reveals …

The Biscayne Aquifer Of Southeastern Florida, Kevin J. Cunningham, Lee J. Florea

Earth, Environmental, and Atmospheric Sciences Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Sedimentology, Stratigraphy, And Organic Geochemistry Of The Red Pine Shale, Uinta Mountains, Utah: A Prograding Deltaic System In A Mid-Neoproterozoic Interior Seaway, Caroline Amelia Myer

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The Red Pine Shale (RPS; ~1120m thick), uppermost formation of the Neoproterozoic Uinta Mountain Group, Utah, is an organic-rich sedimentary succession interpreted as a marine deltaic system that delivered immature sediment from the north that mixed with mature sediment from the east. Multiple data sets suggest regional climate and sea-level changes associated with changing organic-carbon burial rates.

Six facies were identified and represent wave-, tidal-, and river-influenced parts of the distal prodelta to delta front in a marine system. These include the shale facies and associated concretion facies (distal prodelta), the shale-sandstone facies (proximal prodelta to delta front), the slump …

Lower Cretaceous Calcareous Nannofossils From The Southern Apuseni Mountains, Romania, Ana-Maria Vulc

Studia UBB Geologia

We investigated Lower Cretaceous calcareous nannofossils from Southern Apuseni Mts. The studied section from Bucium Cerbu quarry is characterized by flysch deposits (rhythmical interbedded marls and sandstones), which were assigned to the Căbeşti Formation. The studied nannofossil assemblages yielded a high diversity. The Early Aptian age of the studied deposits was assigned based on both the Tethyan and Boreal calcareous nannofossil zonations. Several reworked Valanginian nannofossils were also observed in the Early Aptian in situ nannofloras. The nannofloras are dominated by tethyan and cosmopolitan species. Besides Boreal species are also present. The presence of boreal taxa (e.g. Kokia borealis, K. …

Floodplain Deposits, Channel Changes And Riverbank Stratigraphy Of The Mekong River Area At The 14th-Century City Of Chiang Saen, Northern Thailand., Spencer H. Wood, Alan D. Ziegler, Tharaporn Bundarnsin

Geosciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

Riverbank stratigraphy and paleochannel patterns of the Mekong River at Chiang Saen provide a geoarchaeological framework to explore for evidence of Neolithic, Bronze-age, AD 5th Century Yonok and AD 14-16th Century Lan Na Cultures. Typical bank stratigraphy charted on the Thailand side is imbricate cobble gravel overlain by 5-10 m of reddish-brown sandy silt. The silt section is composed chiefly of ½ to 2-m thick layers of massive silt without paleosols interpreted as near-channel floodplain and gently-inclined levee deposits laid down by episodic, infrequent, large floods. The surface soil is dark-brown clay loam (La Na time. Brick ruins of 14-16th …

Biostratigraphy Of The Cenomanian-Turonian Boundary In The Eastern Carpathians (Dâmboviţa Valley): Preliminary Observations, Claudia Cetean, Ramona Balc, Michael A. Kaminski, Sorin Filipescu

Studia UBB Geologia

Planktonic and benthic foraminiferal assemblages from an Upper Albian to Lower Turonian interval in the East Carpathians were investigated in a well and in an outcrop from the Stoeneşti – Cetăţeni area (Dâmboviţa Valley), Romania. The benthic foraminiferal extinction that occurred at the Cenomanian/Turonian boundary and the first stage of the faunal recovery are documented here for the first time in the Romanian Carpathians. Bioevents and changes in the foraminiferal record from this area show that low oxygen conditions occured already in the Late Cenomanian, as suggested by the presence of radiolarian-rich shales. Impoverished assemblages of small, thin walled agglutinated …

Late Cenozoic Sedimentary Evolution Of The Antalya Basin, Southern Turkey, Atti̇la Çi̇ner, Mustafa Karabiyikoğlu, Olivier Monod, Max Deynoux, Sevi̇m Tuzcu

Turkish Journal of Earth Sciences

The Late Cenozoic Antalya Basin developed unconformably on a foundered basement comprising Mesozoic autochthonous carbonate platform(s) overthrust by the Lycian Nappes, the Antalya Nappes and the Alanya Massif metamorphics within the Isparta Angle, southern Turkey. The present configuration of the basin consists of three distinct parts, referred herein as the Aksu, Köprüçay and Manavgat sub-basins, respectively, which are divided by the north-south-trending Kırkkavak Fault and the westward-verging Aksu Thrust. The Miocene fill of each sub-basin is characterized by thick accumulations of non-marine to marine clastics with locally developed coralgal reefs and reefal shelf carbonates. Based on lithostratigraphic and chronostratigraphic considerations, …

Origin And Paleoclimatic Significance Of Late Quaternary Loess In Nebraska: Evidence From Stratigraphy, Chronology, Sedimentology, And Geochemistry, Daniel R. Muhs, E. Arthur Bettis Iii, John N. Aleinikoff, John P. Mcgeehin, Jossh Beann, Gary Skipp, Brian D. Marshall, Helen M. Roberts, William C. Johnson, Rachel Benton

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Loess is one of the most extensive surficial geologic deposits in mid-continental North America, particularly in the central Great Plains region of Nebraska. Last-glacial-age loess (Peoria Loess) reaches its greatest known thickness in the world in this area. New stratigraphic, geochronologic, mineralogic, and geochemical data yield information about the age and provenance of Peoria Loess, as well as evaluation of recent climate models.

Condensed And Expanded Sections In The Lower Mesaverde Clastic Wedge, Campanian Of Wyoming: Evidence For Tectonic Rectification Of Sea Level, Matthew W. Botzler

OES Theses and Dissertations

The stratigraphy of the Cretaceous Western Interior basin indicates that sea level oscillated during the late Cretaceous. The oscillations were polyharmonic, with periods ranging from millions of years to hundred thousands and ten thousands of years. However, there is disagreement over the extent to which sea level change was global in nature and the extent to which it was driven by local uplift or subsidence (tectonism). In orogenic regions where subsidence, sediment supply, and eustatic variation are all affecting sea level, comparisons of high and low frequency cycles can help to sort out forcing mechanisms. Low frequency eustatic sea level …

Sequence Stratigraphy Of The Middle Cambrian Marjum Formation: Response Of Sedimentary Facies And Biota To Sea-Level Changes, Douglas D. Smith

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Research on the Marjum Formation provides insight into facies transitions in the House Range embayment of southwestern Utah during the Middle Cambrian. Sections of the Marjum Formation and equivalents were measured in strata representing shallow- (Drum Mountains), intermediate- (Wheeler Amphitheater), and deep-ramp (Marjum Pass) environments. This traverse across the embayment reveals strong litho- and biofacies changes. The Drum Mountains strata (343 m thick) are dominated by thick-bedded shallow-water limestone facies containing polymerid trilobites and stromatolites. The Wheeler Amphitheater locality (392 m thick) provides an example of intermediate deposits between deep-water and shallow-water environments and is characterized by limestone and subordinate …

Frequency-Dependent Attenuation Analysis Of Ground-Penetrating Radar Data, John H. Bradford

CGISS Publications and Presentations

In the early 1990s, it was established empirically that, in many materials, ground-penetrating radar (GPR) attenuation is approximately linear with frequency over the bandwidth of a typical pulse. Further, a frequency-independent Q* parameter characterizes the slope of the band-limited attenuation versus frequency curve. Here, I derive the band-limited Q* function from a first-order Taylor expansion of the attenuation coefficient. This approach provides a basis for computing Q* from any arbitrary dielectric permittivity model. For Cole-Cole relaxation, I find good correlation between the first-order Q* approximation and Q* computed from linear fits to the attenuation coefficient …

Reflectivity Modeling Of A Ground-Penetrating-Radar Profile Of A Saturated Fluvial Formation, William P. Clement, Warren Barrash, Michael D. Knoll

Geosciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

Major horizons in radar reflection profiles may correlate with contacts between stratigraphic units or with structural breaks such as fault surfaces. Minor reflections may be caused by clutter or, in some cases, may indicate material properties or structure within stratigraphic units. In this study, we examine the physical basis for major and minor reflections observed in a shallow, unconfined, fluvial aquifer near Boise, Idaho, U. S. A. We compare a 2D profile from a surface ground-penetrating-radar reflection transect with the 1D modeled reflection profiles at three wells adjacent to the surface-reflection profile. The 1D models are based on dielectric constant …

Investigating The Stratigraphy Of An Alluvial Aquifer Using Crosswell Seismic Traveltime Tomography, Geoff J.M. Moret, Michael D. Knoll, Warren Barrash, William P. Clement

CGISS Publications and Presentations

In this study, we investigate the use of crosswell P-wave seismic tomography to obtain spatially extensive information about subsurface sedimentary architecture and heterogeneity in alluvial aquifers. Our field site was a research wellfield in an unconfined aquifer near Boise, Idaho. The aquifer consists of a ~ 20-m-thick sequence of alluvial cobble- and-sand deposits, which have been subdivided into five stratigraphic units based on neutron porosity logs, grainsize analysis, and radar reflection data. We collected crosswell and borehole-to-surface seismic data in wells 17.1 m apart. We carefully considered the impact of well deviation, data quality control, and the choice of inversion …

Lower Paleozoic Sequence Stratigraphy, Deposystems And Paleogeography Of Northwestern Ordos Basin, North China, Benjamin J. Kessel

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The Ordos basin rests upon the North China Block and is one of the largest sedimentary basins in north China, with more than 15 km of Phanerozoic strata. Published estimates suggest that over 2000 m of carbonates and lesser amounts of siliciclastics were deposited on the North China Carbonate Platform (NCCP) from the Lower Can1brian through the Middle Ordovician. However, lower Paleozoic facies successions and deposystems of northwestern Ordos basin remain poorly represented in western literature. This paper constrains depositional environments, lithologies, facies relationships and sea-level history of the northwestern part of the North China block (NCB) in an effort …

Thermochronology And Provenance Of The Yakutat Terrane, Southern Alaska Based On Fission-Track And U/Pb Analysis Of Detrital Zircon, Stephanie Ellen Perry

Geology Theses and Dissertations

Northward transport of the Yakutat terrane along the Transition and Queen Charlotte-Fairweather transform faults led to Neogene collision of the Yakutat terrane with the southern continental Alaska margin. Northward translation resulted in a stratigraphy that records the erosion of thermotectonic terranes along its path. The strata of the Yakutat terrane includes the Lower Oligocene to Lower Eocene Kulthieth Formation, the Upper Eocene to Lower Miocene Poul Creek Formation and the Miocene-Pleistocene Yakataga Formation. Detrital zircon fission-track (DZFT) ages from stratigraphically coordinated samples collected in the Northern Robinson Mountains yield provenance information of the units that can shed light on their …

Deciphering The Signature Of Magma Mixing: Examples From The Castle Creek Eruptive Period, Mount St. Helens, Washington, Seth Taylor Mattos

All Master's Theses

Mount St. Helens (MSH) volcano in southwestern Washington has intermittently erupted dacitic products for the last 40,000 years. On limited occasions, the volcano has produced andesite lava flows, and during one short-lived period, basaltic lava flows. This time interval has been termed the Castle Creek eruptive period and occurred between approximately 2500 and 1700 years B.P. The Castle Creek period erupted dacite, andesite and basalt within this short span of time. Andesite and dacite eruptions dominate the first approximately 700 years of the period, and all basaltic units were erupted in approximately the last 100 years of the period. This …

Piecing Together The Triassic/Jurassic Stratigraphy Along The South Flank Of The Uinta Mountains, Northeast Utah: A Stratigraphic Analysis Of The Bell Springs Member Of The Nugget Sandstone, Paul H. Jensen Jr.

Theses and Dissertations

Nomenclature for the Upper Triassic and Lower Jurassic strata along the south flank of the Uinta Mountains has been somewhat confusing because of the position of the study area between southern Wyoming, where one set of names is used, and central/southern Utah where a different set of formation names is used. The Nugget Sandstone or Glen Canyon Sandstone of the eastern Uinta Mountains overlies the Upper Triassic Popo Agie or Chinle Formation. The nature of the contact between these two formations is unclear both in stratigraphic location and conformability. The Chinle Formation consists, in ascending order, of the Gartra Member, …

Establising A High-Frequency Standard Reference Sequence Stratigraphy, Sea-Level Curve, And Biostratigraphy For Morrowan Strata Of The Lower Absaroka I Time Slice Based Upon The Bird Spring Formation, Arrow Canyon, Nevada, Kristen Phelps Briggs

Theses and Dissertations

For the same reasons which prompted its ratification in 1990 as the Global Stratotype Section and Point for the Mid-Carboniferous boundary, namely, section completeness, abundant fossils, and excellent exposure, the Morrowan Arrow Canyon Bird Spring strata is recommended as a candidate standard sequence stratigraphic reference for the Morrowan portion of the Lower Absaroka I supersequence. The stratigraphic architecture of Morrowan strata in Arrow Canyon was largely controlled by high-amplitude (100-m), high-frequency sea-level changes. Outcrop data and facies stacking patterns define 59 fifth-order fundamental cycles. These fundamental cycles stack into ten third-order sequences with an average duration of 320 ka. Changes …

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. …

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 …

Stratigraphy And Geochronology Of The Early Miocene Volcanic Units In The Bigadiç Borate Basin, Western Turkey, Fuat Erkül, Cahi̇t Helvaci, Hasan Sözbi̇li̇r

Turkish Journal of Earth Sciences

Western Turkey has undergone an intense deformation which has given rise to two types of basins since the Late Oligocene: NE-trending and E-W-trending basins situated on the basement rocks of the Menderes Massif, the Sakarya Zone, the Lycian nappes and the Bornova Flysch Zone. One of the NE-trending basins, the Bigadiç borate basin, is located in the Bornova Flysch Zone - a 50-90-km-wide zone between the Sakarya Zone and the Menderes Massif. Lower Miocene successions are dominated by lacustrine, fluvial, evaporitic sedimentary rocks and numerous NE-trending volcanic centres which produced considerable amounts of lava and volcaniclastic detritus in the Bigadiç …

Unconformities And Age Relationships, Tongue River And Older Members Of The Fort Union Formation (Paleocene), Western Williston Basin, U.S.A., Edward S. Belt, Joseph H. Hartman, John A. Diemer, Timothy J. Kroeger, Neil E. Tibert, H. Allen Curran

Geosciences: Faculty Publications

An unconformable relationship is observed within the Paleocene Fort Union Formation in the western Williston Basin at the contact between the Tongue River Member and the underlying Lebo and Ludlow Members. Isotopic dates and pollen biozone data reported here are integrated with previously published data. A new correlation of these facies results in a revised history of localized depositional and tectonic events. One unconformity occurs at this lithological contact in the Pine Hills (PH), Terry Badlands (TB), and Ekalaka (E) areas west of the Cedar Creek anticline (CCA), and another unconformity occurs at the same lithological contact in the Little …