Geology Commons^™

2017 Nebraska Water Leaders Academy - Final Report, Mark E. Burbach, H. Reiners-Hild

Conservation and Survey Division

Twenty participants completed the 2017 Water Leaders Academy bringing the total number of graduates to 101 since the inception of the program in 2011. Assessment of participants’ transformational leadership skills, champion of innovation skills, water knowledge and engagement, civic capacity, and entrepreneurial leadership behaviors showed a significant increase over the course of the year, from both participants’ and their raters’ perspectives. Feedback from participants was highly positive and constructive. Participant concerns were addressed, and only minor changes are planned for the 2018 Academy curriculum. Results of the program assessment indicate that the curriculum is meeting Academy objectives. Most importantly, Alumni …

Aquifers Of Nebraska Ii: The Niobrara Aquifer, Dana Divine, Robert Matthew Joeckel, Sue Olafsen Lackey

Conservation and Survey Division

The marine shale, chalk, marl, and chalky limestone of the Niobrara Formation directly underlie Quaternary sediments in 23 counties from south-central to northeastern Nebraska. Nevertheless, the formation serves as an aquifer only in and around Cedar, Madison, and Nuckolls counties. Niobrara aquifer wells mostly supply irrigation, domestic, and livestock needs. Two hundred of the approximately 230 active registered wells in Nebraska that are screened entirely in the Niobrara aquifer are in Cedar County and environs. About another 200 wells in this area are screened in both the Niobrara aquifer and overlying Quaternary sediments. Wells screened entirely in the Niobrara aquifer …

Understanding Cigarette Butt Littering Behavior On A Public Beach: A Case Study Of Jekyll Island, Maranda R. Miller, Mark E. Burbach

Conservation and Survey Division

Conservation of natural resources and promotion of family-friendly tourism activities are vital to Jekyll Island. As it is stated in the Jekyll Island Authority (JIA) Master Plan “Jekyll Island is a unique, state-owned barrier island that balances conserving and preserving natural, historic, and cultural resources with providing accessible, affordable recreation, vacation, and education opportunities for the people of Georgia and beyond” (Jekyll Island Authority, 2014b, p. 4). The JIA has reported approximately 1 million people visit the island annually (Jekyll Island Authority, 2015). As such, tourism is instrumental to Jekyll Island’s economy, and that tourism contributes to the overall economy …

Geophysical Delineation Of Megaporosity And Fluid Migration Pathways For Geohazard Characterization Within The Delaware Basin, Culberson County, Texas, Jonathan David Woodard

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

ABSTRACT

Differential dissolution of gypsum karst within the Delaware Basin poses a significant threat to infrastructure that society depends on. The study area is located in Culberson County, Texas and traverses a distance of approximately 54 kilometers along RM 652 within the Gypsum Plain which is situated on the northern margin of the Chihuahua Desert and includes outcrops of Castile and Rustler strata that host karst geohazards. Regions of karst geohazard potential have been physically surveyed proximal to the study area in evaporites throughout the Castile Formation outcrop; minimal hazards, in comparison to the Castile Formation, have been documented in …

An Lntegrated Approach (Remote Sensing, Hydrogeology, Geotechnical, And Geoinformatics) To Assess And Monitor Fossil Aquifers And Associated Land Deformation Over The Arabian Peninsula, Abdullah Ghurmullah Saeed Othman

Dissertations

Deformational features such as subsidence, sinkholes, fissures, settling and cracks in buildings and structures, and earthquakes are being reported from many of the world’s arid lands, in areas where fossil aquifers are being excessively exploited. Using the Lower Mega Aquifer System (LMAS) in Arabia as a test site, I applied an integrated approach (remote sensing, geodesy, GIS, geology, hydrogeology, and geotechnical) to identify nature, intensity, spatial distribution, and factors controlling the observed deformation in the central (Al-Qassim and Ha'il regions; area: 16×10⁴ km²) and the northern (Wadi As-Sirhan Basin; area: ~10.9×10⁴ km²) Arabia. A four -fold approach was adopted to …

A Geophysical Investigation Of Stratigraphy And Structure On St. Catherines Island, Georgia, Anne M. Delua

Honors College Theses

Geophysical tools were used to investigate potential structural and stratigraphic pathways of the salt water intrusion that is affecting the surficial aquifer on St. Catherines Island, Georgia. Ground penetrating radar (GPR) is a geophysical tool that uses electromagnetic waves to view the subsurface. GPR is used for a variety of applications stratigraphically, biologically, and anthropogenically. GPR electromagnetic waves react to changes in density and composition and type and percentage of pore fluids in sediment and rock. GPR waves also react to interfaces including fractures and faults. GPR waves exhibit attenuation and decreased return signal in materials such as clay. Fresh …

Evidence Of Subglacial Brine Inflow And Wind-Induced Mixing From High Resolution Temperature Measurements In Lake Bonney, Antarctica, Jade Lawrence

LSU Master's Theses

Hypersaline brine beneath Taylor Glacier enters proglacial West Lobe Lake Bonney (WLB) subglacially as well as from Blood Falls, a surface discharge point at the Taylor Glacier terminus. The brine strongly influences the water column of WLB. Because of the extremely high salinities below the chemocline in WLB, density is determined almost entirely by salinity and temperature can be used as a passive tracer. Cold brine intrusions enter WLB at the glacier face and intrude in to the water column at the depth of neutral buoyancy, where they can be identified by anomalously cold temperatures at that depth. This study …

Assessing The Periodic Groundwater Flow Conditions Of A Perched Aquifer System In The Daniel Boone National Forest, Ethan Sweet

Posters-at-the-Capitol

Assessing the Periodic Groundwater Flow Conditions of a Perched Aquifer System in the Daniel Boone National Forest

Ethan Sweet and Jonathan Malzone

Eastern Kentucky University, Department of Geosciences

Natural ephemeral wetlands situated among the ridge-tops in the Daniel Boone National Forest serve as reservoirs that recharge a shallow groundwater system. Unique interactions between surface and groundwater in these isolated systems provide substantial support for the native ecosystem, serving as a breeding ground for amphibians and as source water for vegetation—especially in periods of drought. Currently it is not understood how groundwater could provide regional biodiversity, a drought buffer, or a …

A Study Of Marine Terrace Formation Along The California Central Coast, Mary C. Devlin

Natural Resources Management and Environmental Sciences

Marine terrace formation is in many instances attributed to wave action, and shore platforms are often called “wave-cut”. However, alternative models for marine terrace formation suggest that other types of physical and chemical weathering have a more central role in the formation of marine terraces than is widely acknowledged. Roering and Retallack (2012) concluded that the roles of subaerial physical and chemical weathering are significant, and played a major role in the formation of the terraces. In this study, weathering of beach cliffs and shore platforms associated with marine terraces at eight sites in two different locations along the central …

A Framework For Incorporating The Impact Of Water Quality On Water Supply Stress: An Example From Louisiana, David M. Borrok, Jian Chen, Hisham Eldardiry, Emad Habib

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Water of poor quality can directly impact the budget of water available for key user groups. Despite this importance, methods for quantifying the impact of water quality on water availability remain elusive. Here, we develop a new framework for incorporating the impact of water quality on water supply by modifying the Water Supply Stress Index (WaSSI). We demonstrate the usefulness of the framework by investigating the impact of high salinity waters on the availability of irrigation water for agriculture in Louisiana. The WaSSI was deconstructed into sectoral components such that the total available water supply could be reduced for a …

Geology Of Northeastern Nebraska And Environs: Cedar, Dakota, And Dixon Counties In Nebraska, And Plymouth And Woodbury County In Iowa, Robert Matthew Joeckel, Dana Divine, P.R. Hanson, Leslie M. Howard

Conservation and Survey Division

No abstract provided.

Diurnal And Seasonal Variation In Groundwater Nitrate -N Concentration In A Saturated Buffer Zone, Joseph Miller

Theses and Dissertations

Surface water pollution by nitrate (NO3-) is identified as a critical problem in agricultural land-use areas. Excess NO3- loading causes eutrophication and hypoxia in near-shore marine waters such as the Gulf of Mexico. Diversion of agricultural runoff into saturated buffer zones reduces NO3- loading. Although the mechanisms responsible for NO3- reduction in saturated buffer zones are well characterized, little is known about how NO3- concentrations vary temporally and what factors control those changes. The objective of this study is to understand NO3- concentration and environmental factor variability in a saturated buffer zone on a diurnal scale within and among the …

Precipitation And Sea Level Rise Impacts On Groundwater Levels In Virginia Beach, Virginia, Brett A. Buzzanga

OES Theses and Dissertations

Global sea level rise (SLR) is one of the most immediate impacts of climate change, and poses a significant threat to low-lying coastal communities worldwide. The metropolitan region of Hampton Roads in Southeastern Virginia is one such community, and one where knowledge surrounding SLR is rapidly accumulating. However, most of the research is focused exclusively on surface water processes despite the presence of a shallow groundwater table closely connected to them. SLR will continue to cause the groundwater table to increase in tidally influenced areas of Hampton Roads, and thereby decrease storage capacity of the unsaturated zone.

This study investigates …

Holdrege: Nebraska's State Soil, University Of Nebraska - Lincoln

Conservation and Survey Division

No abstract provided.

Holdrege Nebraska State Soil, Nebraska Society Of Professional Soil Scientists

Conservation and Survey Division

No abstract provided.

Geology And Paleontology Along Part Of The Niobrara River In Northern Nebraska, Robert Matthew Joeckel, S. T. Tucker, Leslie M. Howard

Conservation and Survey Division

No abstract provided.

Groundwater Flow Tracing In Carter Saltpeter Cave And Toll Branch, Carter County, Tn, Aaron G. Doyka

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Groundwater tracing studies have shown a well-developed conduit system in the karst aquifer beneath the Buffalo Creek Watershed of Carter County, TN. Groundwater can quickly travel beneath topographic divides, transporting contaminants. Using GIS and field reconnaissance, two sites were selected for a two phase dye trace study. In May-June 2016 groundwater resurgences were located using activated carbon samplers, and in October-December 2016 flow velocities were measured using ISCO automatic water samplers. In study 1, a stream sinking in the back of Carter Saltpeter Cave was traced to its resurgence at Cave Springs Cave. In study 2, the dye mass centroid …

Sedimentary Characteristics And Nutrient Sequestration Of Embanked Floodplains Along The Lower Mississippi River, Mississippi And Louisiana, R M Malitha Rathnayake

Master's Theses

The Mississippi River Basin is the largest river basin in North America and the third largest river basin in the world. Most of the corn, soybeans, wheat, cattle, and hogs harvested in the United States come from the Mississippi River Basin and about 58% of the entire drainage basin is croplands. Runoff from these lands carries sediments and nutrients, and the Mississippi River transports these downstream and ultimately deposits them in the Gulf of Mexico. The northern Gulf of Mexico is one of largest human-caused hypoxic zones in the world. Hypoxia is the phenomena where the dissolved oxygen level decreases …

Great Plains Geology: My Personal Journey, Robert F. Diffendal Jr.

Robert F. Diffendal, Jr., Publications

In 2014 my good friend and former boss, Richard (Rick) Edwards, Director of the University of Nebraska's Center for Great Plains Studies asked me to consider writing a small book about the geology of the Great Plains as part of a series of books exploring many aspects of this marvelous place. I thought his request over and told Rick that I would give it a try. The series is being published by the University of Nebraska Press, the first completed book of which is Great Plains Indians written by my colleague David Wishart.

I wrote up an outline of my …

An Overview Of Secondary Aquifers In Nebraska, Dana Divine, Steven S. Sibray

Conservation and Survey Division

No abstract provided.

The Application Of Aem To Mapping The Aquifer And Groundwater Characteristics Of The La Grange Groundwater Area, Wa, David Annetts, Tim Munday, Richard J. George Dr, Nicholas J. Wright, Gregory Paul Raper, Kevin Cahill

Natural resources commissioned reports

This report describes the interpretation of a large airborne electromagnetic data survey that was designed to aid characterisation of groundwater systems in the La Grange groundwater allocation area which lies south of Broome, Western Australia. Characterisation of these systems is critical to developing policy around water use in the region, especially for the development of agriculture. This report is the second of two reports and it is designed to refine surfaces which are used as inputs to groundwater models. The volume defined by these surfaces viz. the seawater intrusion in the west, the top of the Jarlemai siltstone and the …

Investigating The Effects Of Land-Cover Change On The Hydrologic Conditions Of A Restored Agricultural Area In Everglades National Park, Dillon Reio

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In the Florida Everglades, remodeling of natural wetlands to promote agriculture and human settlement, have profoundly altered its hydrologic regime. As a result of anthropogenic changes, many restoration programs have been initiated to restore hydrologically controlled wetland ecosystems. One such restoration project that has been ongoing for the past 27 years is the Hole-in-the-Donut restoration program in Everglades National Park. The restoration program is unique in that it utilized an unorthodox technique to restore the landscape. The viability of the restoration technique was assessed by coupling long-term hydrologic and evapotranspiration data with water chemistry analyses. Key results indicated that the …

Karst Development Of An Evaporitic System And Its Hydrogeological Implications Inferred From Gis-Based Analysis And Tracing Techniques, José M. Gil-Márquez, Juan A. Barberá, Matías Mudarra, Bartolomé Andreo, Jorge Prieto-Mera, Damián Sánchez, L. David Rizo-Decelis, Manuel Argamasilla, José M. Nieto, Beatríz De La Torre

International Journal of Speleology

The geomorphological characteristics and hydrogeological functioning of a geologically heterogeneous evaporitic karst plateau in Southern Spain were studied. Land surface information (LiDAR data) was used to analyze the shape and distribution of closed depressions. An artificial tracer test and monitoring of the natural responses of the main spring have allowed to infer the karstic development of the studied system. Three dyes were injected in selected swallow holes to trace the main groundwater flowpaths and to estimate the dimension of the conduit network. Discharge, electrical conductivity and temperature were monitored in the groundwater that drains the evaporitic plateau during an individual …

Hydrogeological Flow In Gypsum Karst Areas: Some Examples From Northern Italy And Main Circulation Models, Bartolomeo Vigna, Ilenia M. D'Angeli, Adriano Fiorucci, Jo De Waele

International Journal of Speleology

A Messinian succession containing gypsum beds crops out in northern Italy, mainly in Piedmont and along the northern flank of the Apennine mountains in Emilia-Romagna. These gypsum bodies have been extensively quarried at the surface, in outcrops, and through underground quarries. In Emilia-Romagna these gypsum outcrops can be rather extensive, several km long and up to 1 km wide, while in Piedmont they are mostly covered by silty-marly deposits of Upper Messinian and Pliocene age and show only sparse and small outcrops. The underground quarrying of these evaporite bodies in Piedmont has allowed studying in detail their hydrogeology, and the …

Interpretive Geologic Cross Sections Across Lower Platte North Natural Resources District, Nebraska (Ccs-20), Dana Divine

Conservation and Survey Division

No abstract provided.

The Effect Of Watershed Runoff And Sediment Resuspension On Turbidity And Sediment Deposition In St. John, Us Virgin Islands: Implications For Watershed And Marine Development And Restoration In Bays With Coral Reefs, Stephen E. Campbell

Theses

In the US Virgin Islands (USVI), land-based (terrigenous) sedimentation has been identified as a major cause of coral stress. Development, such as the building of unpaved roads in steep coastal watersheds, has increased sediment yields and marine terrigenous sedimentation by up to an order of magnitude above background levels. When activated during storm events, ephemeral streams transport sediment from the watershed to coastal waters. Once deposited on the seafloor, resuspension of benthic sediments can further increase turbidity and deposition. However, isolating the relative contributions of runoff and resuspension to turbidity and deposition using conventional sediment trap monitoring has been challenging. …

Groundwater Vulnerability Assessment For Nitrate Pollution In The Salinas Valley Using A Modified Drastic Model, Bernadette Boyle

Master's Projects and Capstones

Groundwater is an integral piece of California’s groundwater resources. One of the most common contaminants present in groundwater is nitrate. Nitrate contamination is often a result of agricultural land use activities on the ground surface. The study area for this analysis is the Salinas Valley Groundwater Basin, an agriculturally dominated basin in coastal California. The Salinas Valley Basin is both one of the most agriculturally productive areas of the state, as well as one of the most nitrate-contaminated basins in the state. The purpose of this research was to develop a groundwater vulnerability map for nitrate pollution in the Salinas …

Validating A Universal Model Of Particle Transport Lengths With Laboratory Measurements Of Suspended Grain Motions, Robert C. Mahon, Brandon Mcelroy, Suleyman Naqshband

Earth and Environmental Sciences Faculty Publications

t The mechanics of sediment transport are of fundamental importance for fluvio-deltaic morphodynamics. The present study focuses on quantifying particle motions and trajectories across a wide range of flow conditions. In particular, a continuous model is presented that predicts particle travel distances for saltation and suspension based on Rouse number and relative grain roughness. By utilizing a series of eight video cameras in a plexiglass flume direct measurements of the distributions of particle travel distances (excursion lengths) were obtained. To this end, experiments were carried out in dark under black lights with fluorescent painted plastic and quartz sand particles. For …

Characterizing Subsurface Void Spaces And Water Distribution And Flow Patterns In Cave Hill Karst Using Resistivity, Jacob A. Gochenour

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

Describing the distribution of groundwater is essential in understanding the evolution of geomorphologic features in karst topography. Electrical resistivity allows us to find a model of subsurface distribution of resistivity that enables the visual recognition of groundwater and void spaces. The purpose of this research is to implement electrical resistivity to describe the spatial relationship of groundwater and karstic features at Grand Caverns National Natural Landmark, Grottoes, Virginia. Two locations of interest, a karstic swale and sinkhole area, were identified for the deployment of electrical resistivity. Both, dipole-dipole and Schlumberger arrays were collected for each deployment. A total of ten …

Nutrient Variations Of Six Surface Water Bodies In Mchenry County, Il, Jacob Piske

Celebration of Learning

This research analyzes water quality from several ponds in McHenry County, Illinois, with a goal of developing a understanding of pollution sources and temporal variations in concentrations of nitrate, potassium, phosphorus, chlorine, and sodium. Over the past 25 years, the population of McHenry County has grown rapidly, with residential developments expanding into former farmlands. Yet, the county remains heavily agricultural, with roughly 60% of the surface area used for agricultural purposes. Concentrations of NO3-, P+, K+, Cl-, and Na+ were analyzed from six sites: two in subdivisions, two in farmland, and two near major highways. Data were collected once a …