Geology Commons^™

Conservation And Survey Division 2023 Annual Report, R. M. Joeckel, M. M. Waszgis

Conservation and Survey Division: Faculty and Staff Publications

No abstract provided.

Surficial Geologic Mapping Of The Starkville 7.5-Minute United States Geological Survey Quadrangle 33088d-7 In Oktibbeha County, Mississippi, Jonathan Leard

Theses and Dissertations

The Starkville Quadrangle is a hotspot for geological research. The Late Cretaceous is represented by the Demopolis Formation in the northeast corner of the quadrangle, followed by the Ripley Formation, and the Prairie Bluff Formation. The K-Pg boundary is exposed in the quadrangle, and the remarkable paleontology is of global importance. The Clayton Formation is the first Paleocene unit. Where the Clayton Formation channel sands are in contact with the underlying Prairie Bluff Formation, springs occur. Springs were a rare source of water in the Black Prairie and spurred the settlement of the area over 10,000 years ago. The Paleocene …

Sub-Recent Microfauna Within Allogenic Sediments At The Bottom Of A Deep Cave, Njemica (Biokovo Mt., Croatia), Tomislav Kurečić, Valentina Hajek Tadesse, Lara Wacha, Marija Horvat, Nina Trinajstić, Ivan Mišur

International Journal of Speleology

Clastic sediments deposited at the bottom of the vertical, nearly 1000 m deep Njemica Cave (Biokovo Mountain, Croatia) were analysed. Owing to the vertical morphology of the cave, the occurrences of clastic sediments are sparse. Small, up to decimetre-thick, undisturbed sediment accumulations situated near the siphon lake revealed interesting palaeontological and mineralogical data. These data are used as a useful proxy for discussing depositional processes, the provenance of the sediments and paleo-habitats of the subterranean fauna.

The sub-recent assemblages of ostracods were discovered within the sediment, and they were shown to be correlative to the known endemic species in the …

Beyond Functional Diversity: The Importance Of Trophic Position To Understanding Functional Processes In Community Evolution, Roxanne M. W. Banker, Ashley A. Dineen, Melanie G. Sorman, Carrie L. Tyler, Peter D. Roopnarine

Geoscience Faculty Research

Ecosystem structure—that is the species present, the functions they represent, and how those functions interact—is an important determinant of community stability. This in turn a􀀀ects how ecosystems respond to natural and anthropogenic crises, and whether species or the ecological functions that they represent are able to persist. Here we use fossil data from museum collections, literature, and the Paleobiology Database to reconstruct trophic networks of Tethyan paleocommunities fromthe Anisian and Carnian (Triassic), Bathonian (Jurassic), and Aptian (Cretaceous) stages, and compare these to a previously reconstructed trophic network from a modern Jamaican reef community. We generated model food webs consistent with …

Soils Of The Central Nebraska Loess Hills And Central Loess Plains, Judith Turk, Rebecca Young, Nicolas A. Jelinsky, Amber D. Anderson, Ashlee Dere, Colby J. Moorberg, Rachel K. Owen

Conservation and Survey Division: Faculty and Staff Publications

Understanding soil systems that characterize a region is critical to natural resource management. However, the knowledge gained through intensive study of local soil systems, which takes place annually as part of collegiate soil judging contests, is often poorly preserved for future use. In this study, field descriptions and laboratory data for 16 soil profiles described for the 2019 Region 5 Soil Judging Contest were used to characterize the soil system of the Central Nebraska Loess Hills and Central Loess Plains. Three landscape components of this soil system were analyzed: the loess uplands and rainwater basins, the transitional zone, and bottomlands. …

A Faunal Composition Of The Late Cretaceous Blue Springs Site In Northeastern Mississippi And Evidence For Potential Paleoenvironmental Differences Between Beds, Ginger Trochesset

Honors Theses

The Maastrichtian-age Blue Springs locality of the Coon Creek Member of the Ripley Formation is known for abundant, well-preserved marine fossils, including many genera of microfossils, bivalves, gastropods, decapods, cephalopods, actinopterygians, and other vertebrate organisms. This research contributes to the understanding of the paleontology of the site, as well as the changing paleoenvironmental conditions of the beds throughout deposition.

This project analyzed bulk material collected in 2021 from three fossiliferous beds at Blue Springs: the Lower Corbula Bed (Bed C), the Pebble Bed (Bed G), and the Exogyra-Pycnodonte Bed (Bed J). Unconsolidated material from Beds C and J was processed …

Faunal Comparison And Analysis Of The Blufftown Formation-Cusseta Sand Contact At Hannahatchee Creek, Georgia, Seth Fradella

Honors Theses

The origin of fossil material in the highly fossiliferous bed above the Upper Cretaceous (Campanian) Blufftown Formation-Cusseta Sand contact at Hannahatchee Creek, Georgia, has long been a subject of scientific curiosity; however, no research has yet been conducted to specifically investigate discrepancies between the fossil assemblages of the upper Blufftown Formation and the basal Cusseta Sand, which overlies it unconformably. In the most recent published hypothesis, Case and Schwimmer (1988) propose that the basal Cusseta Sand contains a mixture of original fauna as well as material reworked and redeposited from the underlying Blufftown Formation, resulting in a lag deposit above …

The Diatom Dark Ages: Identification Of Mid-Cretaceous Arctic Platform Diatoms From The Basal Transgression Of The Kanguk Formation, Devon Island, Nunavut, Canada, Megan Heins

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

The lower part of the mid-Cretaceous Kanguk Formation (Lower Turonian interval) contains an important paleontological record crucial to the characterization of a poorly known interval of fossil marine diatoms history. Kanguk Formation mudstones are exposed in a ~200 m-thick section on Devon Island, Nunavut, Canadian High Arctic. Diatoms at this location are well-preserved due to shallow burial on this Arctic Platform site. The rock sequence was protected from glacial erosion that removed much of the Cretaceous record by being down-faulted in a linear graben. Study of these well-preserved fossil diatoms allows for a documentation of the assemblage, identification of potentially …

Functional Morphology And Taphonomy Of Ordovician–Silurian Diploporan Echinoderms, Stephen Ashley Hill

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Diploporan echinoderms were one of the most speciose groups of stemmed echinoderms during the Ordovician. Despite this widespread abundance, the fossil record of diploporan fauna consists primarily of incomplete specimens, with complete specimens being rare. While the theca, or body, is more commonly preserved, the feeding appendages and the attachment structures (i.e. stems or holdfasts) are seldomly preserved. Insight into these features is highly valuable to the understanding the paleoecology, like the feeding and respiratory strategies, of these enigmatic creatures.

One group of diploporan echinoderms which does have an extensive fossil record, is the Holocystites Fauna, primarily known from the …

Nebraska Statewide Groundwater-Level Monitoring Report 2021, Aaron R. Young, Mark E. Burbach, Leslie M. Howard, Sue Olafsen Lackey, Robert Matthew Joeckel

Conservation and Survey Division: Faculty and Staff Publications

This report is a synthesis of groundwater-level monitoring programs in Nebraska. It is a continuation of the series of annual reports and maps produced by the Conservation and Survey Division (CSD) of the University of Nebraska in cooperation with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) since the 1950s. Groundwater-level monitoring began in Nebraska in 1930 in an effort to survey the state’s groundwater resources and to observe changes in its availability on a continuing basis. The CSD and USGS cooperatively developed, maintained, and operated an observation-well network throughout the state. These two agencies were responsible for collecting and archiving this information, …

Baseflow And Water Resilience Variability In Two Water Management Units In Southeastern Brazil, Lucas Vituri Santarosa, Didier Gastmans, Troy E. Gilmore, Jan Boll, Sebastian Balbin Betancur, Vitor Fidelis Monteiro Gonçalves

Conservation and Survey Division: Faculty and Staff Publications

Changes in climate and water demand in densely populated regions increasingly affect hydrological systems, and, in turn, impact socioeconomic conditions. In this case study, we identify how the hydrogeological frameworks of two water resource management units, Tietê-Jacaré (TJ) and Piracicaba-Capivari-Jundiaí (PCJ) in Sao Paulo state (Brazil), control the baseflow processes and resilience in the face of streamflow fluctuations in response to anthropogenic activities and climate variation. The results reveal between 40% and 75% contributions of baseflow to total streamflow in basins overlying crystalline and sedimentary aquifers. The basins in PCJ which mostly overly crystalline aquifers, have shorter water residence times …

2022 Nebraska Water Leaders Academy Final Report, Mark E. Burbach, Robert Matthew Joeckel, Brooke Mott, Gina S. Matkin

Conservation and Survey Division: Faculty and Staff Publications

Fifteen participants completed the 2022 Water Leaders Academy bringing the total number of graduates to 168 since the inception of the program in 2011. Assessments of participants’ transformational leadership skills, champion of innovation skills, water knowledge, engagement with water issues, civic capacity, entrepreneurial leadership behaviors, and boundary spanning skills increased significantly over the course of the year, according to both the participants and their raters. Feedback from the participants was highly positive and constructive. Academy planners are addressing participant concerns. Results of the program assessment indicate that the curriculum is meeting Academy objectives. Therefore, only minor changes are planned for …

Amphibians And Reptiles Of Nebraska Coloring Pages, John Lokke

Conservation and Survey Division: Faculty and Staff Publications

Black and white images from original art by John Lokke. Suitable for coloring pages. Published by the Nebraska Maps & More Store at the School of Natural Resources, University of Nebraska - Lincoln.

Stable Isotope Analysis Of A Platecarpus Tympaniticus (Squamata, Mosasauridae) With Actinocamax Sternbergi (Mollsuca, Belemnoidea) Reveals Possible Endothermic Thermoregulation, Mitchell Lukens

Master's Theses or Doctor of Nursing Practice

Mosasaurs, ancient marine reptiles, dominated the late Cretaceous oceans. However, their ecological success is a contentious topic. Were they ectothermic, like their modern relatives the varanid lizards? Or endothermic like extant marine mammals? Stable isotopes can reveal temperature and physiological variances within skeletons, but do not differentiate between body temperature and ambient environmental temperature. A rare mosasaur specimen from the Smoky Hill Chalk of a partial, articulated Platecarpus tympaniticus with stomach contents of belemnites provides a possible direct temperature contrast between predator and prey. The belemnites, related to modern coleoids, are identified as Actinocamax sternbergi. These animals possessed body …

Strange Stones Of Skull Creek: Basalt Glacial Erratics And Omars In Eastern Nebraska, Robert M. Joeckel, Jesse T. Korus, Judith Turk, C. C. Arps, N. V. Arps, Leslie M. Howard

Conservation and Survey Division: Faculty and Staff Publications

We describe unusual stream- reworked glacially transported rocks (erratics) from a locality 50 km east of the limit of all pre- Illinoian (pre- 190 ka) Pleistocene glaciations in the central USA. Almost all these erratics consist of the igneous rock basalt, and of those, the vast majority have at least one fl at, smooth face. Some have two or more such faces that meet at obtuse angles along one or more well- defi ned, straight edges. We attribute these features, as well as laminations, plumose marks, and other features, to columnar jointing in ancient lava fl ows and shallow intrusions. …

The Impact Of Sampling Methodology On Soil Bulk Density Measurement By The Clod Method, Aldi J. Airori, Trinity Baker, Judith Turk

Conservation and Survey Division: Faculty and Staff Publications

The clod method is a widely used and accurate bulk density method. However, its use is limited to sampling from soil pits. This study was conducted to: 1) determine whether clods collected from cores provide similar bulk density measurements to those collected from soil pits and 2) evaluate the impact of various clod bulk density methods on carbon stock calculation. Clods were collected from soil pits, 5.1 cm soil cores, and 8.9 cm soil cores. Three-dimensional laser scanning was used to measure the volume of the soil clods before and after oven-drying and bulk density was calculated as the dry …

Microfabric Analysis Of Mid-Pliocene Amundsen Sea Interglacial Sediments Demonstrates A Link Between Iceberg Melt And Diatom Productivity (Iodp Exp. 379), Heather Leanne Furlong

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Anthropogenically induced climate change in the polar regions has rapidly become an emergent global issue, especially for low-lying coastal communities, which are most affected by sea-level rise. The future of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) is of significant concern due to its history of instability and retreat, especially in light of the observed ongoing changes. Establishing rates of retreat is critical to forecasting future behavior of the WAIS, and previous studies have been unable to establish rates of ice sheet collapse in part because Antarctic continental shelf records are impacted by erosional hiatuses. In 2019, International Ocean Discovery Program …

The Kanarra Fold-Thrust System -- The Leading Edge Of The Sevier Fold-Thrust Belt, Southwest Utah, William Joseph Michael Chandonia

Doctoral Dissertations

“The Jurassic to Eocene Sevier fold-thrust belt is the subject of continued scientific curiosity in tectonics, stratigraphy, and industry. Understanding its development in southwest Utah is hindered in part due to the multiple origins proposed for the Kanarra anticline, a major leading edge structure -- a drag fold along the Hurricane fault, Laramide monocline, Sevier fault propagation fold, or a combination of these -- which have confused its tectonic significance and regional context. This confusion results from the structural complexity of its exposed eastern limb, as well as displacement and burial of its crest and western limb beneath Neogene sediments …

Stratigraphic Analysis Of The Capps Limestone In The North Norton Oil Field In Runnels County, Texas, William Thompson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Desmoinesian (Middle Pennsylvanian) Capps Limestone Member of the Mineral Wells Formation is a carbonate reservoir located in North Central Texas. It consists of interbedded limestone, sandstone, and shale units. Much of the Capps Limestone exists in the subsurface of Brown, Coleman, Runnels, Coke, Nolan, and Taylor counties, however, the Capps Limestone outcrops on the surface in Brown, Eastland, and Palo Pinto counties.

The cored interval from Runnels County was deposited in a marginal marine environment during the Middle Pennsylvanian Period. Although the Capps Limestone was first described in the 1890s, there is still much to be discovered about its …

Recharge Assessment In The Context Of Expanding Agricultural Activity: Urucuia Aquifer System, Western State Of Bahia, Brazil, Glauco Z.S. Eger, Gerson C. Silva Junior, Eduardo A.G. Marques, Bernardo R.C. Leão, Diana G.T.B. Da Rocha, Troy E. Gilmore, Luís G.H. Do Amaral, Juremá A.O. Silva, Christopher Neale

Conservation and Survey Division: Faculty and Staff Publications

Groundwater recharge rate estimation is crucial to sustainable development of aquifers in intensely pumped regions, such as the Urucuia Aquifer System (UAS). A sedimentary aquifer in Western Bahia, Brazil, that underlies one of the major agricultural areas of the country where there has been major growth of irrigated areas. This study seeks to evaluate the recharge component of the water budget in the UAS area, based on three complementary techniques. The double-ring infiltrometer test was used to evaluate surface infiltration capacity, an important control on recharge. Water level data from wells (2011–2019 period, 19 wells) in the Brazilian Geological Survey’s …

Geology And Hydrogeology Of Northeastern Nebraska: Geology, Water Management And Geological Hazards, Nebraska Geological Society Field Trip 2021, Robert F. Diffendal Jr., Sue Olafsen Lackey, Douglas R. Hallum

Conservation and Survey Division: Faculty and Staff Publications

The 2021 Nebraska Geological Society field trip will provide an overview of the geology and hydrogeology of northeast Nebraska, the groundwater quality and quantity issues unique to the region, water management issues and decision-making, and ongoing work relating to water quality and geologic (hydrostratigraphic) framework, along the lower Niobrara and Missouri rivers Between Spencer Dam and Homer Nebraska. This program will be comprised of an auto tour with multiple stops on Saturday October 16 through Monday October 18 as illustrated in Map 1. The tour will begin with an examination of the Spencer Dam site and several locations in and …

Palynology And Paleoclimatology Of The Chicxulub Impact Crater In The Early Paleogene, Vann Smith

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

At the end of the Cretaceous Period, a large bolide impacted the Earth and formed the Chicxulub impact crater in the Yucatán Peninsula, Mexico. In 2016, International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) Expedition 364 Site M0077 drilled into the buried peak ring of the crater, recovering a marine Paleocene to early Eocene post-impact section deposited on top of the impact breccia. Palynological analysis of 195 samples from the post-impact section has yielded the first pre-Holocene vegetational record from inside the Chicxulub impact crater and the first palynological record of the recovery of life following the end-Cretaceous mass extinction from inside the …

Spatial Analyses Of Gray Fossil Site Vertebrate Remains: Implications For Depositional Setting And Site Formation Processes, David Carney

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This project uses exploratory 3D geospatial analyses to assess the taphonomy of the Gray Fossil Site (GFS). During the Pliocene, the GFS was a forested, inundated sinkhole that accumulated biological materials between 4.9-4.5 mya. This deposit contains fossils exhibiting different preservation modes: from low energy lacustrine settings to high energy colluvial deposits. All macro-paleontological materials have been mapped in situ using survey-grade instrumentation. Vertebrate skeletal material from the site is well-preserved, but the degree of skeletal articulation varies spatially within the deposit. This analysis uses geographic information systems (GIS) to analyze the distribution of mapped specimens at different spatial scales. …

Late Cretaceous Dinosaur Tracks From The Iron Springs Formation, Iron County, Utah, Jennifer K. Crowell, Grant T. Shimer

The Compass: Earth Science Journal of Sigma Gamma Epsilon

Located in Iron County, Utah, the Parowan Gap dinosaur track site contains over one hundred natural casts of non-avian dinosaur tracks preserved in sandstones and siltstones of the Late Cretaceous (≈83 Ma) Iron Springs Formation. For this study, the authors returned to the area to survey for and describe previously unidentified tracks. Many tracks from this new study occur as in situ casts found on the basal surfaces of sandstones deposited by braided and meandering rivers on the coastal plain of the Western Interior Seaway, with some specimens from fallen talus blocks. Over the course of two years, the research …

Resolving A One-Year Ecesis Interval For Alaska Paper Birch: Dating A Rockfall Event, Wishbone Hill, Southcentral Alaska, Riley E. Whitney, Alexander K. Stewart, Trent D. Hubbard, Anabella S. Kowalski, Oscar A. Wilkerson

The Compass: Earth Science Journal of Sigma Gamma Epsilon

Numerous large boulders at the base of Wishbone Hill, northeast of Anchorage, Alaska, suggest a historic rockfall event and potential for future surface instability, putting lives and property at risk. The source of the rockfall-boulders is an exposed syncline with a cliff face composed of conglomerate. The age of trees growing atop boulders provides a minimum exposure-age of those boulders and, thus, the rockfall event. To determine when the rockfall occurred, we dated trees growing atop the boulders using tree-ring samples collected from 30 Alaska paper birch trees. After mounting and polishing, each tree-ring sample was dot-counted, and tree-ring widths …

Determining Biostratigraphy And Correlation Using Color Alteration Index And Lithofacies Of Conodonts In The Edinburg Formation, Central Virginia, Lauren Showalter

Senior Honors Projects, 2020-current

Conodont species, CAI and lithofacies analysis are used as methods of correlation to determine the relative age, depositional environment, and post depositional burial history of the Edinburg Formation in central Virginia. Samples collected for conodont microfossils yielded faunas of Baltoniodus sp. or Amorphognathus sp., Periodon grandis and Protopanderodus liripipus from a site near Luray and Drepanoistodus suberectus, Plectodina sp., Protopanderodus liripipus, Oistodus sp., Phragmodus undatus, Erismodus radicans and Panderodus gracilis from a site in Harrisonburg. The species supports a Late Ordovician (Late Sandbian age). Conodonts from both sites have a CAI of 4-5, indicating post-depositional heating of …

Terrestrial Soldier Crab (Coenobita Clypeatus, Fabricius 1787) And Cerion Spp. (Röding 1798) Shell Relationship On San Salvador Island, Bahamas, Harley Hunt

Biology Theses

The Caribbean terrestrial soldier crab, Coenobita clypeatus(Fabricius 1787), coexist and utilize the shells of numerous species of land and marine gastropods. Soldier crabs rely on gastropod shells for protection as the crabs have a soft abdomen, leaving them vulnerable for predation and desiccation, threatening their survival. This creates a strong pressure to obtain well-fitting shells that provide adequate protection against water loss. Cerion of Röding (1798) shells are one of the most commonly used shells among living colonies of C. clypeatuson San Salvador Island. This study is interested in the frequency of shell use by C. clypeatus crabs …

Taphonomy Of Late Jurassic (Tithonian) Morrison Formation Apatosaurus Sp. Vertebrae Found Associated With Teeth From Allosaurus Sp. And Ceratosaurus Sp., And Body Size Extrapolation From The Associated Theropod Teeth., Greg C. Agyan

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

An Apatosaurus sp. locality from Dinosaur National Monument designated DNM-15 was excavated in 1985, and associated with two Allosaurus teeth and one Ceratosaurus tooth that were near one of the caudal vertebrae. The Ceratosaurus tooth was buried between an overlying rib and that same caudal vertebra. The caudal vertebrae of the DNM-15 Apatosaurus were intact and articulated, but the anterior skeleton was mostly absent, with a row of articulated sacral vertebrae in close association with a femur. Two other Allosaurus teeth were reported near the preserved ilium of the Apatosaurus, but they could not be located in the collections. …

Gravel Geology And Muskoxen Paleontology Of A Late Pleistocene Fossil Site In Saltville, Virginia, Nickolas A. Brand

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Two distinct studies within the Saltville Valley of southwestern Virginia revealed insights into local Pleistocene geology and paleontology. A variety of analytical techniques were applied to gravel deposits within the paleontological site of SV-5/7 that revealed this unit is very poorly sorted, has a subangular matrix, and contains significant components of silt and sand in addition to rounded cobbles. These results suggest that rather than being deposited by fluvial processes as previously suggested, these gravels were likely the result of one or many debris flows. Additionally, the identity of fossil muskoxen from Saltville was reassessed using cranial and dental material. …

357— Dacryoconarids Of The Genundewa And West River Formations, Upper Devonian In Western New York, Emily De Jong

GREAT Day Posters

The Dacryoconarids, small, thin-walled, and cone-shaped, are an extinct taxon in Class Tentaculitoidea, which is of uncertain affinities. Dacryoconarids were widespread throughout the middle Silurian to the Late Devonian when they went extinct. This study focuses on the lower Upper Devonian Dacryoconarids of the Genundewa and West River formations from western New York State. Samples collected from these formations revealed many smooth shelled Styliolinids, however, no difinitive ribbed Dacryoconarids. Calcite was found to have internally filled in the shell of some Styliolinids, showing how thin the external shell is and raising questions about septa orientations. Due to their global occurrence, …