Geochemistry Commons^™

Organic Chemostratigraphic Markers Characteristic Of The (Informally Designated) Anthropocene Epoch, Michael A. Kruge

Department of Earth and Environmental Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Recognizing the tremendous collective impact of humans on the environment in the industrial age, the proposed designation of the current time period as the Anthropocene Epoch has considerable merit. One of the signature activities during this time continues to be the intensive extraction, processing, and combustion of fossil fuels. While fossil fuels themselves are naturally-occurring, they are most often millions of years old and associated with deeply buried strata. They may be found at the surface, for example, as natural oil seeps or coal seam outcrops, but these are relatively rare occurrences. Fossil fuels and their myriad by-products become the …

Determining Chemical Signatures Of Geologic Materials For Establishing Provenience Of Anasazi Red And Gray Wares Using Esem-Eds And Icp-Ms, Champagne Springs Ruins, Co, Steven Mathew Di Naso

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Compositional analyses of prehistoric ceramics and geological materials allow archaeologists to establish provenience of artifacts through comparative analysis of the materials used in prehistoric ceramic production. Where pottery clay pastes and tempering constituents originate from locally or regionally available geological materials, identifying their chemical composition and their geographic location and distribution facilitates a better understanding of the inter and intra socio-spatial and socioeconomic patterns among neighboring communities. The Champagne Springs Ruins were occupied during the late Pueblo I (A.D. 700 -A.D. 900) to early Pueblo II (A.D. 900 TO A.D. 1100) periods. The traditional view of local ceramic production from …

Geogram 2008, David J. Keeling, Wku Department Of Geography And Geology

Earth, Environmental, and Atmospheric Sciences Publications

No abstract provided.

A Study Of Nife(X)Cr(2-X)O4 By Laser Micro-Raman Spectroscopy, Lucas Wilson, Markus Vasquez, John Farley, Allen L. Johnson, Brian D. Hosterman

Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP)

Standards of spinels, composed of two metals and oxygen with the formula AB2O4, are being created with known composition to identify spinels in samples of unknown composition by comparison with the spectra obtained from the standards. Laser micro-Raman spectroscopy allows the identification of chemical species based on their unique vibrational modes. The degree to which spinels of varying composition can be identified will be determined. This will aid in the study of the corrosion of steel by liquid metal. Spinels are a likely component of the oxide layer. Understanding the composition of the products of corrosion leads to an understanding …

Co2 Sequestration – Controlling Co2 Emissions To The Atmosphere Through Capture And Long-Term Storage, University Of North Dakota. Energy And Environmental Research Center

EERC Brochures and Fact Sheets

Fact sheet about CO₂ sequestration. Defines direct and indirect sequestration and discusses the role of the Plains CO₂ Reduction (PCOR) Partnership in advancing sequestration projects. [This item is an outdated or superseded version and retained for historical purposes only. It may no longer reflect current information, policies, or practices.]

Arctic Perennial Ice Cover Over The Last 14 Million Years, Dennis A. Darby

OES Faculty Publications

Knowledge of the long-term history of the perennial ice is an important issue that has eluded study because the Cenozoic core material needed has been unavailable until the recent Arctic Coring Expedition (ACEX). Detrital Fe oxide mineral grains analyzed by microprobe from the last 14 Ma (164 m) of the ACEX composite core on the Lomonosov Ridge were matched to circum-Arctic sources with the same mineral and 12-element composition. These precise source determinations and estimates of drift rates were used to determine that these sand grains could not be rafted to the ACEX core site in less than a year. …

Turbulent Lifestyle: Microbial Mats On Earth’S Sandy Beaches—Today And 3 Billion Years Ago, Nora Noffke

OES Faculty Publications

Archean Earth history is very difficult to reconstruct. Until recently, only bacterial cells preserved in chert, microborings, and stromatolites provided the few clues to ancient life. Now, siliciclastic “microbially induced sedimentary structures” (MISS) are adding to our knowledge of both past life and paleoenvironments. MISS rise from the interaction of photoautotrophic microbial mats with physical sediment dynamics in siliciclastic, shallow-marine settings. Archean MISS can be understood through observations of living microbial mats and modern biotic-physical sedimentary processes. Such geobiological studies are key to the interpretation of the early evolution of prokaryotes. For example, the 2.9 Ga Pongola Supergroup, South Africa, …

Soil Chemistry Northwest New Mexico, Larry V. Benson

United States Geological Survey: Datasets

These data result from soil chemistry samples extracted from several regions in northwest New Mexico and were used in the following publications:

Larry V. Benson, J. Stein, H. Taylor, R. Friedman, and T. C. Windes. 2006. The agricultural productivity of Chaco Canyon and the source(s) of pre-Hispanic maize found in the Pueblo Bonito Great House. In: J. E. Staller, R. H. Tykot, and B. F. Benz, eds. Histories of Maize: Multidisciplinary Approaches to the Prehistory, Linguistics, Biogeography, Domestication, and Evolution of Maize, 289–314. Elsevier/Academic Press.

Larry V. Benson. 2017. The Chuska Slope as an agricultural alternative to Chaco …

A Multi-Tracer Study Of Saltwater Origin, Cross-Formational Flow, And The Geochemical Evolution Of Groundwater In The Southern High Plains Aquifer Along The Western Caprock Escarpment, East-Central New Mexico, Jeff Langman

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Sustainable management of groundwater resources requires sufficient knowledge of the distribution of fresh and saline groundwater and the processes affecting saltwater intrusion that may influence the beneficial use of groundwater. A hydrogeologic investigation that coupled various chemical and isotopic tracers, including 3H/3He, 14C, δD, δ18O, 87Sr/86Sr, and δ11B, with the physical characteristics of the aquifer was conducted to determine source waters, the origin of saltwater and its influence through cross-formational flow, and water-rock interactions in the Southern High Plains aquifer along the Western Caprock Escarpment. Sub-aquifers or local flow systems are present along the Western Caprock Escarpment, and the study …

Middle Crustal Ductile Deformation Patterns In Southern Tibet: Insights From Vorticity Studies In Mabja Dome, Jackie Langille

All Master's Theses

Mabja Dome, southern Tibet, exposes mid-crustal rocks proposed to have originated from a southward flowing mid-crustal channel. Kinematic, mean kinematic vorticity (Wm), and metamorphic petrography analyses on these mid-crustal rocks were performed to test this hypothesis. Kinematic indicators show a transition with structural depth from top-north and top-south shear to solely top-south shear. Along the northernmost transects, Wm in schists and orthogneisses range from 0.52–0.84 (63–36% pure shear). Wm for quartzites ranges from 0.9–0.99 (27–1% pure shear). Deformation temperatures increase from ~450 °C in the chloritoid-zone to ~700 °C in the sillimanite-zone and were recorded between ~35–16 Ma. These patterns …

Paleogene Mirelands Of The Upper Mississippi Embayment, Western Kentucky, Jennifer Marie Klein O'Keefe

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

Detailed petrography, geochemistry, and palynology together describe the depositional environments and paleoecology of an abandoned meander-fill system in western Kentucky. Oriented block petrography reveals alternating clay-rich and attrinite-rich zones of variable thickness. Woody tissues, where present, do not show dessication features and deflation layers could not be identified. Overall, petrography is indicative of a topogenous mire. Mire palyno-assemblages are less diverse than assemblages reported from clays in the region. Castanea-Cupuliferoidaepollenites assemblages dominate the entire system and other tree pollen are common; fungal spores are relatively uncommon. Weighted statistical analyses reveal ecological groupings beyond this dominance and define botanical succession within …

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.

Comparison Of Total Mercury And Methylmercury Cycling At Five Sites Using The Small Watershed Approach, James B. Shanley, M. Alisa Mast, Donald H. Campbell, George R. Aiken, David P. Krabbenhoft, Randall J. Hunt, John F. Walker, Paul F. Schuster, Ann Chalmers, Brent T. Aulenbach, Norman E. Peters, Mark Marvin-Dipasquale, David W. Clow, Martin M. Shafer

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

The small watershed approach is well-suited but underutilized in mercury research. We applied the small watershed approach to investigate total mercury (THg) and methylmercury (MeHg) dynamics in streamwater at the five diverse forested headwater catchments of the US Geological Survey Water, Energy, and Biogeochemical Budgets (WEBB) program. At all sites, baseflow THg was generally less than 1 ng L^-1 and MeHg was less than 0.2 ng L^-1. THg and MeHg concentrations increased with streamflow, so export was primarily episodic. At three sites, THg and MeHg concentration and export were dominated by the particulate fraction in association with …