Geology Commons^™

Metasomatism Between Amphibolite And Metaultramafic Rocks During Upper Amphibolite Facies Metamorphism, Tobacco Root Mountains, Southwest Montana, William Robert Mcculloch

Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of this study is to characterize the metasomatism that has taken place as a result of the chemical incompatibility between mafic and metaultramafic bulk compositions during high-grade regional metamorphism in the Tobacco Root Mountains, southwest Montana. Metasomatism of these rocks took place by both diffusionand infiltration-dominated processes. The result of these processes are characterized mineralogically and geochemically in the rocks.

Rock Slope Stability Studies In Siskiyou National Forest, Greg Visconty

Dissertations and Theses

The line mapping method of Piteau and Martin (1977) was tested on two different rock type road cuts in the Siskiyou National Forest, and was found to be an efficient means of collecting geological data for rock slope stability analysis. The unbiased approach of this method calls for close scrutiny of the outcrops in question, covering more ground than other methods in less time. In turn, this close attention to every crack in the outcrop reveals more about the stability of the slope, and can reveal hidden hazards of rock fall.

The supportive systems for analyzing the data - stereonets …

Geomorphic Character, Age And Distribution Of Rock Glaciers In The Olympic Mountains, Washington, Steven Paul Welter

Dissertations and Theses

Rock glaciers are tongue-shaped or lobate masses of rock debris which occur below cliffs and talus in many alpine regions. They are best developed in continental alpine climates where it is cold enough to preserve a core or matrix of ice within the rock mass but insufficiently snowy to produce true glaciers. Previous reports have identified and briefly described several rock glaciers in the Olympic Mountains, Washington, but no detailed integrative study has been made regarding the geomorphic character, age, and distribution of these features.

The purpose of this study is two-fold. First, surface sediment fabric analysis and relative and …

Explosion Structures In Grande Ronde Basalt Of The Columbia River Basalt Group, Near Troy, Oregon, Leonard Lee Orzol

Dissertations and Theses

Explosion structures occur in flows of Grande Ronde Basalt in the study area near Troy, Oregon. Data from nineteen stratigraphic sites indicate that the maximum number of flows that contain explosion structures at any one site is six. In the informally named Troy flow, explosion structures are widespread.

Each flow that contains explosion structures can be divided into two cooling units. The first cooling units occupy troughs in the pre-eruption topography and are up to 10 meters thick. The second cooling units contain the explosion structures and are up to 100 meters thick. The thickness of flows that contain explosion …

Rheologic Properties And Kinematics Of Emplacement Of The Chaos Jumbles Rockfall Avalanche, Lassen Volcanic National Park, California, Dean B. Eppler, Jonathan H. Fink, Raymond Fletcher

Geology Faculty Publications and Presentations

The Chaos Jumbles is a rockfall avalanche deposit that was emplaced by three separate events ~ 300 years ago. Deposits from each event are distinguishable on the basis of morphology, size variation of large dacitic surface clasts, and by the color of both the matrix and entrained dacitic blocks. Steep lateral and distal deposit margins and surface features such as folds and apparent strike-slip faults indicate that each rockfall avalanche had a finite yield strength and was being actively deformed and sheared throughout the body of the moving deposit, rather than strictly along a basal surface. Kinematic analysis of the …

Development And Application Of Some Quantitative Stratigraphic Techniques To The Coos Bay Coalfield, A Tertiary Fluvio-Deltaic Complex In Southwestern Oregon, Willard Sidney Titus Iii

Dissertations and Theses

A computer technique for interpreting geophysical logs of drill-holes in quantitative lithologic terms has been developed and tested on the deposits of the late Eocene Coaledo Formation, a well-studied fluvio-deltaic complex in southwestern Oregon. The technique involves the use of induced and natural gamma logs for separation of coal and claystone from coarse-grained detrital rocks and the use of the ratio of resistivity and natural gamma responses (defined here as the "grain size index") to divide the coarse elastic rocks into a series of textural classes corresponding to the Wentworth-Odden particle size scale.

Textural And Mineralogical Characteristics Of Altered Grande Ronde Basalt, Northeastern Oregon : A Natural Analog For A Nuclear Waste Repository In Basalt, Paul M. Trone

Dissertations and Theses

Altered flows that are low-MgO chemical types of the Grande Ronde Basalt crop out in the steep walls of the Grande Ronde River canyon near Troy, Wallowa County, Oregon. The alteration effects in these flows are being investigated as a natural analog system to a high level nuclear waste repository in basalt. The flows within the study are referred to as the analog flow, in which the alteration effects are the strongest, and the superjacent flow. The analog flow crops out at Grande Ronde River level and a roadcut-outcrop is developed in the flow-top breccia of this flow. The two …

Stratigraphic Model Of The Southern Portion Of The Jim Bridger Coal Field, Sweetwater County, Wyoming, Paul S. Maywood

Dissertations and Theses

Uppermost Lance and lowermost Fort Union Formation sediments are found in outcrop in the southern portion of the Jim Bridger coal field, located on the northeast flank of the Rock Springs Uplift in Sweetwater County, Wyoming. Twenty-nine surface sections and 581 subsurface (borehole) sections were evaluated and used to construct a stratigraphic model.

Stratigraphic correlations with economically mineable coal seams in the Fort Union Formation north and south of the study area combined with definition of questionable local formational boundary locations are significant objectives in this investigation.

Stratigraphic And Geochemical Evolution Of The Glass Buttes Complex, Oregon, Richard Louis Roche

Dissertations and Theses

Glass Buttes complex lies at the northern margin of the Basin and Range province in central Oregon and is cut by the northwest-trending Brothers fault zone. An older acrystalline volcanic sequence of high-silica rhyolites (>75% SiO₂) forms a broad platform composed of domes and flows with minor pyroclastic deposits. The high-silica rhyolite sequence is divided on the basis of texture into 1) zoned flows and domes, 2) obsidian flows, 3) felsite flows, and 4) biotite-phyric flows and domes.

Stratigraphy Of The Ohanapecosh Formation North Of Hamilton Buttes, Southcentral Washington, Cynthia Marie Stine

Dissertations and Theses

Over 1055 m of early Oligocene andesitic-dacitic volcaniclastic rocks and minor interbedded andesitic lava flows of the Ohanapecosh Formation are exposed in a dissected structural high in the southern Washington Cascade Range, about 22 km southwest of Packwood, Washington.

The exposed sequence of rocks in the study area are located approximately 250 m above the base of the Ohanapecosh Formation. A lower sequence of deposits, about 350 m in thickness, are dominated by primary and reworked lithic lapilli-tuff and epiclastic channelized volcanic sandstone and conglomerate. These sediments are interpreted as pyroclastic flows and stream deposits, respectively. The upper sequence, about …

An Analysis Of The Eastern Margin Of The Portland Basin Using Gravity Surveys, Steven Allen Davis

Dissertations and Theses

The recent contributions of several investigators has indicated the Portland basin may be a pull-apart structure associated with wrench tectonism. Because of the large density contrast between sedimentary and volcanic units and because of their reasonably uniform and continuous nature, gravity survey methods can be used to identify covered structures with considerable success. The study utilized gravity modeling techniques to investigate the structure and genesis of the Portland basin's eastern margin.

A Seismic Refraction Study Of A Portion Of The Northeastern Margin Of The Tualatin Valley, Oregon, David John Nazy

Dissertations and Theses

The Tualatin Valley is a well defined elliptical basin centered at Hillsboro, with a major axis trending roughly N65°W. The valley is bordered on the northeast by the Tualatin Mountains (Portland Hills) which are a faulted, northwest-trending asymmetrical anticline. Topographic and geophysical evidence have defined the Portland Hills fault, which occurs along the northeast side of the Tualatin Mountains. The possibility that a fault or fault zone occurs along the southwest side of the Tualatin Mountains was investigated in this study.

A Groundwater Flow Model Of The Aquifer Intercommunication Area, Hanford Site, Washington, Elizabeth G. Simkover

Dissertations and Theses

Intercommunication has been identified between the unconfined and uppermost confined aquifer systems underlying a portion of the U.S. Department of Energy's Hanford Site. Erosional thinning and fracturing of the basalt confining layer within the study area allows physical contact between the two aquifers, but the vertical hydraulic gradient (a required driving force) is small. To better conceptualize the distribution and volume of the leakage occurring between the aquifer systems, this study investigates the confined Rattlesnake Ridge Aquifer flow system, which appears to be more sensitive to the vertical leakage than the overlying unconfined aquifer.

The flow system of the Rattlesnake …

Geology Of The Willamette Pass Area, Cascade Range, Oregon, Neil M. Woller

Dissertations and Theses

The Willamette Pass area is situated at the intersection of two hypothesized structural features, the Western Cascade-High Cascade boundary and the Eugene-Denio lineament. It is of interest due to its designation by the U.S. Department of the Interior as a Known Geothermal Resource Area.

Volcanic rocks of Oligocene to Pleistocene age are exposed in the study area. The oldest rocks are the Oligocene-Miocene lavas, undifferentiated, which are a diverse unit of ignimbrites and intermediate to silicic flows. The Oligocene-Miocene rhyodacites are a stratigraphically equivalent unit which is predominantly composed of aphyric rhyodacite flows. Middle Miocene volcanism produced the basaltic lavas …

Tephrostratigraphy Of The Middle Eocene Chumstick Formation, Cascade Range, Douglas County, Washington, Matthew John Mcclincy

Dissertations and Theses

This study outlines the ash (tuff) bed stratigraphy (tephrostratigraphy) in the middle Eocene Chumstick Formation of central Washington. The tuff beds provide local marker beds enabling interpretation of the stratigraphy and structure of the formation. The chemical signature of these units provides the basis on which the units can be traced over broad areas in the basin of deposition. Correlations of tuff beds were obtained over distances of 41 km.

The tephrostratigraphy of the Chumstick Formation consists of nineteen tuff marker beds. Seventeen of these units are chemically characterized in this study. Ten elements were used to fingerprint these tuff …

The Engineering Geology Of The Fountain Landslide, Hood River County, Oregon, Susanne L. D'Agnese

Dissertations and Theses

The Fountain Landslide located along I-84, five kilometers east of Cascade Locks, Oregon has moved periodically for over thirty years. Aerial photographs taken prior to recorded movement of the landslide show the headscarp of a large preexisting landslide. In 1952 a cut was made into the toe of the landslide to straighten Highway 30. The recorded movement history begins at this time. Stabilization procedures in the late 1950's focused on dewatering the slide mass. Movement had nearly stopped by 1957. A deeper cut was made into the toe of the landslide in 1966 to widen the highway to the four-laned …

The Geology And Hydrothermal Alteration Of The Bear Creek Butte Area, Crook County, Central Oregon, Richard Matthew Wilkening

Dissertations and Theses

The Eocene Clarno Formation, the Oligocene John Day Formation and basalts of the High Lava Plains are exposed in the Bear Creek Butte area in Central Oregon. In this area the Clarno Formation can be divided into a lower sequence composed of intermediate lava flows with intercalated mudflows and volcaniclastic sediments and an upper sequence of rhyolite and basalt flows and felsic ruffs. Separating the two units is a well developed saprolite. The change from intermediate to rhyolite-basalt volcanism reflects a change in the tectonic environment of the Cascade volcanic arc from compression to relaxation as subduction of the Farallon …

Biostratigraphy Of The Cowlitz Formation In The Upper Nehalem River Basin, Northwest Oregon, Neil B. Shaw

Dissertations and Theses

Examination of stream and roadcut exposures of the Cowlitz Formation allows the selection of measured representative sections, and collection of fossils, from an area roughly defined by the intersection of the boundaries of Clatsop, Columbia, Tillamook and Washington counties in Oregon. The study defines the features of the local environment of deposition, correlates sections to derive a composite columnar section, and develops a checklist of species for both microfossils and megafossils of the Cowlitz Formation.

Stratigraphic And Petrologic Analysis Of Trends Within The Spencer Formation Sandstones : From Corvallis, Benton County, To Henry Hagg Lake, Yamhill And Washington Counties, Oregon, Brent Joseph Cunderla

Dissertations and Theses

Within the thesis study area Spencer Formation arkosic/arkosic lithic sandstone lithofacies of Narizian age crop out in a sinuous north-northwesterly band from the Corvallis area into the Henry Hagg Lake vicinity ten kilometers southwest of Forest Grove, Oregon.

The Stratigraphy Of The Scappoose Formation, The Astoria Formation, And The Columbia River Basalt Group In Northwestern Columbia County, Oregon, Nancy Tompkins Ketrenos

Dissertations and Theses

The study area is located in northwestern Columbia County, and covers an area of approximately 70 square kilometers. The purpose of the study was to investigate the possible correlation of the Scappoose and Astoria Formations and determine their stratigraphic relationship to the Columbia River Basalt Group through mapping, geochemistry and petrography.

A Stratigraphic-Geochemical Study Of The Troutdale Formation And Sandy River Mudstone In The Portland Basin And Lower Columbia River Gorge, Rodney Duane Swanson

Dissertations and Theses

Hyaloclastic sediment forms an identifiable stratigraphic interval within the Troutdale Formation that can be traced from the Bridal Veil channel to the Portland basin. Hyaloclastic sediment composed chiefly vitric sands is found interbedded with muds, sandy muds and gravels penetrated by wells in northeast Portland are correlated with the upper member of the Troutdale Formation. These beds are characteristic of the informal upper member of the Troutdale Formation in the Bridal Veil channel of the ancestral Columbia River (Tolan and Beeson, 1984) and the type area of the Troutdale Formation exposed along the Sandy River (Trimble, 1963). Fluvially deposited hyaloclastic …

The Stratigraphy And Structure Of The Columbia River Basalt Group In The Salmon River Area, Oregon, Martin S. Burck

Dissertations and Theses

Approximately 16 km of Columbia River basalt are exposed in the Salmon River area to the south and to the west of Mount Hood, Oregon. A maximum composite basalt section composed of 15 flows and totaling 461 m is exposed in discontinuous areas of outcrop.

The Columbia River basalt in the Salmon River area belongs to the Grande Ronde Basalt and the Frenchman Springs Member of the Wanapum Basalt. The Grande Ronde Basalt section (6 flows) was mapped as two chemically distinct units referred to as low-M_gO (older) and high-M_gO (younger) Grande Ronde Basalt. At least …

The Structural Controls Of The Vale Rhinehart Buttes Complex, Vale Kgra, Malheur County, Oregon, John Timothy Doerr

Dissertations and Theses

The Vale KGRA is characterized by high heat flow, two to five times higher than the worldwide average, and by numerous hot springs. The hot springs are aligned along faults. This phenomena is typical of a Basin and Range type geothermal system. The hot geothermal fluids migrate upward along the more permeable, fault planes.

The rocks exposed in the Vale area are the Pliocene Chalk Butte formation and the Pleistocene beds of Captain Keeney Pass. Both units are composed of volcaniclastic siltstones, sandstones and conglomerates. The units are differentiated by color, texture and degree of lithification. About 200 meters of …

The Geology, Geochemistry, And Alteration Of Red Butte, Oregon: A Precious Metal-Bearing Paleo Hot Spring System, Carol Susan Evans

Dissertations and Theses

Red Butte is located 60 km south of Vale, Oregon, about 20 km west of the Oregon/Idaho border. The butte is within the Owyhee Upland physiographic province of eastern Oregon which lies at the intersection of the Western Snake River Plain, the High Lava Plains, and the Northern Basin and Range provinces.

The butte is composed of Miocene to Pliocene lacustrine and fluvial volcaniclastic sediments. The topography of the butte is controlled by silicification of the sandstones and mudstones which cap it. Silicification and hydrothermal alteration are both structurally and stratigraphically controlled. North-trending normal faults dominate the area, and show …

Geometry Of Silicic Dikes Beneath The Inyo Domes, California, Jonathan H. Fink

Geology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Structural geologic evidence in the vicinity of the Inyo Domes indicates that the youngest extrusive products were erupted from a silicic dike that divided into at least three segments which underwent up to 30° of clockwise rotation as they neared the surface. The geometry of ground cracks, explosion craters, and surface structures on the domes suggest that the dike may have propagated laterally from a source beneath Mammoth Mountain, with both the overall-dike and the individual segments rising as they moved northward. Structural evidence and tephrochronology also imply that the actual vents may have migrated northward along individual dike segments …

Geochemistry Of Alteration And Mineralization Of The Wind River Gold Prospect, Skamania County, Washington, Krista I. Mcgowan

Dissertations and Theses

The Wind River gold prospect is located in TSN, R7E of Skamania County, Washington, and is an epithermal gold-quartz vein system hosted in volcanic rocks of the Ohanapecosh Formation, a late Eocene to middle Oligocene unit of calcalkaline chemical composition. Andesitic pyroclastic rocks of the Ohanapecosh Formation are the host of mineralization in the study area, and form the lowest of several stratigraphic subunits. These pyroclastic rocks are overlain by two sequences of lava flows which cap the ridges and are folded by an anticlinal warp over the length of Paradise Ridge, plunging gently to the southeast. Toward the west, …

Geology And Geochemistry Of Hydrothermal Alteration, Eastern Portion Of The North Santiam Mining Area, J. Michael Pollock

Dissertations and Theses

The Ruth Mine is a base-metal vein deposit near the eastern margin of a reported porphyry copper deposit in the Western Cascade Range in Oregon. Uplift of the Western Cascade Range has resulted in a deeply dissected terrain in which more than a kilometer of the stratigraphy overlying the porphyry-style mineralization is preserved and exposed. The stratigraphic units, which are middle Tertiary in age, have been given arbitrary letter designations beginning with the lowest unit (Unit A) through the uppermost unit (Unit D).

Unit A is composed of fragmental rocks of andesitic composition. Overlying and interlayered with Unit A are …

The Effect Of Glaciers On Streamflow Variations, Andrew G. Fountain, Wendell V. Tangborn

Geology Faculty Publications and Presentations

The effect of temperate glaciers on runoff variations is examined for the North Cascade Mountains of Washington State. The principal influences of glaciers on streamflow are often unexpected contributions to streamflow volume, a delay of the maximum seasonal flow, and a decrease in annual and monthly variation of runoff. The delay of maximum flow is caused by temporary englacial storage of spring meltwater and by peak meltwater production occurring in midsummer. The englacial storage, for one case, is 54% of the potential May runoff. An algorithm is presented that calculates the coefficient of variation of runoff for any arbitrary glacier …

Provenance Study Of Late Eocene Arkosic Sandstones In Southwest And Central Washington, Mark Edward Byrnes

Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of this study is to compare the sandstone composition and trace element geochemistry between samples representing the Summit Creek sandstone, Naches, Chumstick, and Carbonado Formations in order to determine if these sediments were all derived from the same provenance, and to determine the composition of the source rocks in hopes to identify the present day location of the source areas.

Preliminary Investigation For Underground Storage Of Pipeline Gas In The Bruer And Flora Pools, Mist Gas Field, Columbia County, Oregon, Paul Joseph Townley

Dissertations and Theses

Northwest Natural Gas Canpany has proposed to convert the Bruer and Flora pools of the Mist Gas Field in west-central Columbia County, Northwestern Oregon, to pipeline gas storage reservoirs. Conversion to underground storage of pipeline gas in these depleted gas reservoirs would be the first in the Pacific Northwest. The Bruer and Flora Pools are fault trapped within the Cowlitz Formation. The shales overlying the Cowlitz Formation create a local seal for these gas reservoirs. X-ray diffraction and density log measurements suggest that the clay in these shales is primarily composed of smectite, which provides an excellent caprock seal.

The …