Geology Commons^™

Pre-Tertiary Subcrop Rocks In The Nebraska Panhandle, Conservation Annd Survey Division

Conservation and Survey Division

No abstract provided.

Inferred Areal Extent Of The Oligocene (White River Group) Chadron Basal Sand, Conservation And Survey Division

Conservation and Survey Division

No abstract provided.

Configuration Of The Base Of The Principal Aquifer, Conservation And Survey Division

Conservation and Survey Division

No abstract provided.

Evaluating Reclaimed Mines And Heavy Metal Soil Contamination, Torin A. Matthews

ATU Research Symposium

Arkansas has a rich history of lead and zinc mining. While there are still some active mines, many historical mines have been abandoned and/or reclaimed. Although most reclamation procedures result in the burial and containment of target minerals, accessory minerals and elements can be leached out of waste materials/tailings piles and include heavy metals (i.e., Pb, As, Cd). We aim to evaluate the soil and watershed of a few abandoned/reclaimed mines in Pope County, AR, for the presence of heavy metals/source minerals. Soil and stream sediment geochemistry will be conducted using a portable x-ray fluorescence analyzer. Field work and sampling …

Groundwater In Nebraska, Troy E. Gilmore, Jesse T. Korus Dr.

Conservation and Survey Division

What is groundwater? Groundwater is water that fills and moves between spaces in underground rocks, gravel, sand, or other materials.

Lower Bound On Preserved Flood Duration In Fluvial Bedform Stratigraphy (Experimental Dataset), Robert C. Mahon, Vamsi Ganti, Madeline M. Kelley, Debsmita Das, Victoria Sanchez, Giancarlo Portocarrero, Mayson Fredricks

Lower Bound on Preserved Flood Duration in Fluvial Bedform Stratigraphy (experimental dataset)

This data is collected to assess the role of hydrograph timescale relative to dune migration on the preservation of cross sets in the stratigraphic record. The data presented here are of dune evolution under steady-state conditions, as well as three hydrographs of the same magnitude but varying timescales.

Methodology:

We collected data from four experiments tracking bedform evolution in a 22-m-long, 0.56-m-wide, 0.9-m-deep flume at the University of New Orleans Dynamics of Sedimentation laboratory. We conducted an equilibrium experiment (discharge value 0.027 m3/s) and three flood experiments, which were characterized by a symmetrical flood wave. In all flood experiments, the …

Recent Paleolimnological History Of Jackson Lake, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming (Usa), Hillary Johnson

Theses and Dissertations--Earth and Environmental Sciences

This study utilizes a recently acquired, high-resolution CHIRP seismic reflection dataset and a deepwater sediment core to analyze the recent stratigraphy of Jackson Lake (Wyoming, USA). The western shoreline of Jackson Lake is situated adjacent to the Teton fault, a down-to-the-east normal fault that produces the spectacular high topography of Grand Teton National Park. The sediments of Jackson Lake are underexplored and consequently, their value as indicators of hydroclimatic and tectonic changes is unknown. Here, the sedimentary fill of Jackson Lake is explored as a natural archive of environmental change, specifically in reference to the influence of human outlet engineering …

Nebraska Statewide Groundwater-Level Monitoring Report 2023, Aaron R. Young, Mark E. Burbach, Sue Olafsen Lackey, Robert Matthew Joeckel, Nawaraj Shrestha, Jeffrey Westrop

Conservation and Survey Division

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 to survey the state’s groundwater resources and observe changes in its availability on a regular 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, and for making it …

Joint Interpretation Of Ert And Self-Potential Data To Characterize The Subsurface Geology And Hydrodynamics Along The Sutherland Supply Canal And Paxton Siphon Inlet, Paxton, Nebraska., M. K. Aboushanab, D. R. Hallum, R. M. Joeckel

Conservation and Survey Division

No abstract provided.

Beach Erosion And Recovery Since Hurricane Ivan In 2004 Along A Headland-Bay Coast In Treasure Beach, Jamaica, Elandé Engelbrecht

MSU Graduate Theses

Anthropogenic climate change is causing sea-level rise and shoreline changes that threaten the environment and economy of coastal communities in Caribbean Island nations. To assess this risk, this study quantifies shoreline changes at Treasure Beach in St. Elizabeth Parish on the south coast of Jamaica from 2001 to 2023. The effects of storm events on erosion were also assessed. Over 10 km of shoreline are assessed with about half being sandy pocket beaches ranging from 300 to 900 m in length, separated by rocky headlands and beach rock outcrops. Sand beach erosion trends since 2001 are assessed for seven sandy …

The Tidal Prism, Viable Eelgrass Habitat, And The Effects Of Sea Level Rise In Morro Bay, Kaden A. Caliendo

Master's Theses

The tidal prism, or the volume of water exchanged from the sea to an estuary from mean low to mean high tide, influences system hydrodynamics and ecological functioning. Since 1884, the tidal prism in Morro Bay, California has been estimated to be decreasing over time due to sedimentation from upstream practices. What is the current tidal prism in Morro Bay and how will that change with sea level rise? How will eelgrass respond to rising sea levels?

For this study, inexpensive tidal gauges were deployed at four locations in Morro Bay from March to August 2023 to measure spatially varying …

High-Energy Storm Events And Their Impacts On Carbon Storage In Tidal Wetlands Of South Carolina, Gavin Gleasman

All Dissertations

Atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO₂) concentrations have been increasing at an accelerating rate for the past two centuries, profoundly impacting global climate change. Atmospheric CO₂ concentrations are influenced by the global carbon cycle through physical and biogeochemical pathways. Tidal wetland environments play a vital role in the global carbon cycle by offsetting atmospheric CO₂ concentrations through their natural physiochemical processes of high autotrophic productivity, allochthonous organic matter deposition, anoxic soils, and continuous accretion which promotes carbon sequestration with long-term storage at the land-ocean margin. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and United States Global Change Research …

History Of Ice-Rafting In The Arctic Ocean During Glacial Maxima Through Marine Isotope Stage 6, Shannon M. Cofield

OES Theses and Dissertations

Numerous studies attempted to reconstruct Arctic paleoclimate, specifically ice mass timing and locations, during glacial maxima. While some regions, like the Barents-Svalbard Ice Sheet (BSIS) are well-studied, they may benefit from a high-resolution paleo proxy. Other regions are highly contested, such as the East Siberian Sea or the presence of a central Arctic Ocean ice mass.

This research uses an Fe-grain provenance method to (1) define how the BSIS behaved during Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 2, 4, and 6, and when it retreated; (2) determine the presence and ages of Shelf Ice Masses (SIMs) in the Beaufort Sea and East …

A Hybrid Lateral Flow Sand Filter Wastewater Treatment System: An Evaluation On The Treatment And Disposal Capabilities Of A Modified Sand Filter, Harry Mccaskill Iv

<strong> Theses and Dissertations </strong>

Decentralized wastewater treatment exists primarily in suburban and rural areas where centralized treatment is not an option. Traditional on-site treatment systems usually include the use of a septic tank and a drain field. This orthodox method works well when implemented into environments that are accommodating for the infiltration of effluents, and thus allowing for soil treatment. Unfortunately, there are some circumstances that prevent traditional systems from working such as impermeable soil conditions. The Wastewater Treatment System analyzed in this thesis was created to overcome such inhospitable environments. More specifically, this system is catered towards the rural residences of The Alabama …

Sedimentary Processes And Instability On The Mississippi River Delta Front Near The Wreck Of The Ss Virginia, Nathan Figueredo

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Multi-cores and piston cores were collected seaward of the Mississippi River Delta’s Southwest Pass at ~80 m water depth in 2017 to better understand sedimentary characteristics and processes on the Mississippi River Delta Front (MRDF) in the vicinity of the SS Virginia shipwreck, and to support marine archeological research. Core analyses were performed to inform our understanding of the dynamics of sediment motion in the study area through radionuclide activity (²¹⁰Pb and ¹³⁷Cs), volume frequency of grain size, bulk density, and fabric (X-Radiography). Sediment accumulation rates (SAR), calculated from multi-core ²¹⁰Pb activity are 0.22 - 0.29 …

Impact Of Lithological Variation And Topology On The Connectivity And Intensity Of Fracture Networks In Carbonates, Fahad Qassim

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

Assessing fracture network connectivity in reservoirs remains a challenging task because of the complex nature of fracture networks at various length scales, which significantly impacts fluid flow behavior. Outcrop studies are essential for understanding subsurface fracture networks because intersecting fracture sheets' length, orientation, height distribution, and, therefore, network connectivity and intensity are difficult to measure from wellbores and are typically below seismic resolution. Nevertheless, fracture network connectivity is a crucial parameter and a critical factor in understanding, evaluating, and predicting fluid flow behavior in hydrocarbon reservoirs, aquifers, hazardous waste and CO₂ storage systems, and geothermal energy exploitation. Moreover, fracture …

Spot1356 Black Rock, Robert C. Mahon, Elizabeth J. Trower, Benjamin P. Smith, Tyler A. Lincoln, Juliana Olsen-Valdez, John S. Magyar, Cedric J. Hagen

2D Wave Spectral Data, South Arm, Great Salt Lake, Utah

Data in this folder are produced by a SoFarOcean Spotter wave buoy deployed along the south arm of the Great Salt Lake, near Antelope Island State Park from the period of July 13, 2021 through June 28, 2022, in relatively shallow water, approximately 1.6m.

Spot1328 Meira Spit, Robert C. Mahon, Elizabeth J. Trower, Benjamin P. Smith, Tyler A. Lincoln, Juliana Olsen-Valdez, John S. Magyar, Cedric J. Hagen

2D Wave Spectral Data, South Arm, Great Salt Lake, Utah

Data in this folder are produced by a SoFarOcean Spotter wave buoy deployed along the south arm of the Great Salt Lake, near Antelope Island State Park from the period of July 13, 2021 through June 28, 2022, in relatively shallow water, approximately 1.6m.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Water depths for #1328 (Miera Spit) started at ~1.7 m, but dropped rapidly to 0.9 m on July 15, 2021 and dropped further to ~0.4 m on August 17, 2021. The timing of these rapid water depth changes matches the timing of buoy location changes when the anchor was dragged inshore by waves. When …

Spot1356 Black Rock Derived Data, Robert C. Mahon, Elizabeth J. Trower, Benjamin P. Smith, Tyler A. Lincoln, Juliana Olsen-Valdez, John S. Magyar, Cedric J. Hagen

2D Wave Spectral Data, South Arm, Great Salt Lake, Utah

Data in this folder are produced by a SoFarOcean Spotter wave buoy deployed along the south arm of the Great Salt Lake, near Antelope Island State Park from the period of July 13, 2021 through June 28, 2022, in relatively shallow water, approximately 1.6m.

Spot1328 Meira Spit Derived Data, Robert C. Mahon, Elizabeth J. Trower, Benjamin P. Smith, Tyler A. Lincoln, Juliana Olsen-Valdez, John S. Magyar, Cedric J. Hagen

2D Wave Spectral Data, South Arm, Great Salt Lake, Utah

Data in this folder are produced by a SoFarOcean Spotter wave buoy deployed along the south arm of the Great Salt Lake, near Antelope Island State Park from the period of July 13, 2021 through June 28, 2022, in relatively shallow water, approximately 1.6m.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Water depths for #1328 (Miera Spit) started at ~1.7 m, but dropped rapidly to 0.9 m on July 15, 2021 and dropped further to ~0.4 m on August 17, 2021. The timing of these rapid water depth changes matches the timing of buoy location changes when the anchor was dragged inshore by waves. When …

Modeling Spatial Distributions Of Tidal Marsh Blue Carbon Using Morphometric Parameters From Lidar, Bonnie Turek

Masters Theses

Tidal marshes serve as important “blue carbon” ecosystems that accrete large amounts of carbon with limited area. While much attention has been paid to the spatial variability of sedimentation within salt marshes, less work has been done to characterize spatial variability in marsh carbon density. Driven by tidal inundation, surface topography, and sediment supply, soil properties in marshes vary spatially with several parameters, including marsh platform elevation and proximity to the marsh edge and tidal creek network. We used lidar to extract these morphometric parameters from tidal marshes to map soil organic carbon (SOC) at the meter scale. Fixed volume …

Geomorphology Of Tidal Wetlands: Impacts Of Extreme And Annual Flood Events To Salt Marsh And Mangrove Systems, Frances R. Griswold

Doctoral Dissertations

Tidal wetlands are vital for buffering coastal settings from the threats of accelerated sea level rise and storms. Understanding the factors that are most influential for the maintenance and recovery of tidal wetlands after extreme events compounded by future accelerated sea level rise is of the utmost importance, yet this knowledge is not well established. Two tidal wetland schemas investigated in this dissertation are mangrove systems in Vieques, Puerto Rico (including robust lagoonal-mangrove forest systems and fringing mangrove forests), and salt marshes in New England. While the climatic forcings, vegetation type, and locations are vastly different for these two tidal …

Nebraska Statewide Groundwater-Level Monitoring Report 2022, Aaron R. Young, Mark E. Burbach, Sue Olafsen Lackey, Robert Matthew Joeckel, Jeffrey Westrop

Conservation and Survey Division

No abstract provided.

The Fate Of Carbonate Rocks During Hypervelocity Impacts: Case Studies From Three Impact Structures On Earth, Nicolas D. Garroni

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Approximately 28% of all hypervelocity impact structures discovered on Earth exist in a carbonate-dominated target sequence. Despite decades of research, how carbonate rocks and minerals react to shock metamorphism is still poorly understood. In this contribution, three impact structures on Earth were studied to determine the effects of shock metamorphism on carbonate minerals: Chicxulub, Crooked Creek and Jebel Waqf as Suwwan.

At Chicxulub, carbonates from the impact-melt bearing breccia of drill core, M0077A were characterized petrographically and geochemically. Calcite was the only carbonate mineral present and is abundant throughout the impact breccia in five distinct varieties: limestone clasts …

Using 3-Dimensional Mapping To Determine The Possibility Of Structural Control On Development Of The Upper Ordovician Lexington Limestone, Central Kentucky, U.S.A., Sean Davis

Theses and Dissertations--Earth and Environmental Sciences

The upper Lexington Limestone of Late Ordovician age has been interpreted to represent a structurally controlled, complex, facies mosaic. This facies mosaic has historically been interpreted to be a carbonate buildup of shoal complexes with interbedded shale units with intertonguing facies. Due to relatively recent advances in geographic-information-systems (GIS) mapping technologies, it is possible to generate three-dimensional (3-D) compatible maps to offer insight to the complexities of the upper Lexington Limestone and to determine if structural control affected the distribution of members. The resulting two-dimensional (2-D) and 3-D maps show that basement faults likely exerted a significant influence on facies …

Mid-20th Century Land-Use Change Greatly Reduced Flood Intensity In The Southeastern Us Dataset, Zhixiong Shen, Nicholas William Conway

Marine Science Faculty Publications

This dataset presents laser-diffraction grain-size distribution data of the sediment core, SBL2, taken from an oxbow lake in the Pee Dee River floodplain South Carolina, USA (33.8453 °N, 79.3507°W).

Closing The Modern Seismic Gap Along The Teton Fault Via Seismic Mapping Of Mass Transport Deposits In Jackson Lake, Wy, Callia Jacqueline Cortese

Theses and Dissertations--Earth and Environmental Sciences

Terrestrial paleoseismological records along the Teton fault have historically indicated two-to-three major post-Pinedale (~14 ka) earthquake events, leaving an unresolved 6-9 m offset along the modern scarp. Recent studies of Jenny Lake have augmented this record, but the triggering mechanism is still equivocal until new paleo-earthquake records are developed. The earthquake record of the Teton fault is complicated by quiescence from ~5 ka to present, demonstrating the need for additional paleoseismic investigations. Compressed, high-intensity radar pulse (CHIRP) reflection data from Jackson Lake indicates multiple potentially seismically-induced mass transport deposits (MTDs). At least six MTD Groups representing chronostratigraphic intervals were interpreted …

A Source-To-Sink Analysis Of The Pantanal Basin (Brazil): Implications For Weathering, Erosion, And Landscape Evolution In The World's Largest Wetland, Edward L. Lo

Theses and Dissertations--Earth and Environmental Sciences

Large back-bulge retro-arc basins have limited information about the sediment composition, yet they comprise important parts of the stratigraphic rock record. The exorheic Pantanal Basin is the world's largest continental wetland that regulates many valuable ecosystem services (water storage, nutrient cycling, agriculture, ranching, tourism, and transportation). This dissertation is composed of three studies that utilize a suite of tools to examine the most fundamental basin-wide source-to-sink sediment processes and controls that affect the characteristics and distribution of modern sediments.

The first paper consists of a metadata analysis of 76 shallow tropical floodplain lakes in the literature with bathymetric data and …

Continental Saline Environments Interpreted From Bedded Gypsum Of The Triassic Red Peak Formation (Chugwater Group), Northcentral Wyoming, Maya Yamei Bradford

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Bedded evaporites and associated red bed siliciclastics record saline lake and groundwater systems from Permo-Triassic Pangea. A major component of these red bed and evaporite systems is bedded gypsum. However, little attention has been paid to the textures of ancient gypsum. Observations of gypsum textures can refine interpretations of depositional environment and diagenetic history. This project describes textures of bedded gypsum from an outcrop of the Triassic Red Peak Formation (Chugwater Group) near Greybull, Wyoming.

This thesis uses fieldwork, petrography, and x-ray diffraction to describe an outcrop of the upper Red Peak Formation, with a focus on textures of bedded …

Natural Fracture Evolution: Investigations Into The Middle Devonian Marcellus Shale, Appalachian Basin, Usa, Natalie Abigail Mitchell

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Optimizing recovery from unconventional shale reservoirs has generated considerable research into optimal recovery methods through hydraulic fracturing design and shale reservoir characterization in the development of long-term hydrocarbon producers. Permeability at multiple scales from nanometer-scale pore sizes and nano-darcy permeability to completion-induced fractures defining a 100’s of meter stimulated reservoir volume plays a significant role in hydrocarbon flow during production in shale reservoirs. Preexisting cemented fractures in unconventional shale reservoirs are abundant and preferentially reactivate during induced hydraulic fracturing treatment to create necessary large-scale permeability. While previous investigations have significantly improved our knowledge of shale reservoirs, it has also highlighted …