Geology Commons^™

The Morphology And Evolution Of Transverse Aeolian Ridges On Mars, Timothy Paul Nagle-Mcnaughton

Earth and Planetary Sciences ETDs

Transverse aeolian ridges (TARs) are enigmatic and largely relict bedforms on the surface of Mars. TARs are sparsely distributed but common on Mars, but their history, preservation, and past role in the sediment cycle is not well understood. First described in 2003, and detailed extensively in 2008, our study of TARs has been narrowly focused in the last decade, with more and more research noting their presence, but little investigation of the features themselves. Recent work has mostly focused on identifying Terran analogues for TARs, but TARs remain largely a unique Martian feature. In this manuscript, I clarify and refine …

Quaternary Shelf-Slope Development In The Northern Gulf Of Alaska From Combined Geophysical And Geomorphologic Analysis, Wesley A. Clary

Earth and Planetary Sciences ETDs

This dissertation follows the hybrid format as defined by the Office of Graduate Studies at the University of New Mexico. The three chapters defined herein were prepared as manuscripts to be submitted for publication in peer reviewed journals in the field of Earth sciences. A version of chapter 1 was published in Proceedings of the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program, 2017, Volume 41. Chapter 2 was submitted to Marine Geology in Feb 2020, and is under revision as of this date. A version of chapter 3 will be submitted to the Journal of Geophysical Research. In chapter 1, I …

Integrated Studies Of Intracontinental Deformation In The Interior Western Usa, Cretaceous To Recent, Jacob Oliver Thacker

Earth and Planetary Sciences ETDs

The advent of plate tectonic theory satisfactorily explained a number of deformation belts around the world. However intracontinental deformation (deformation inboard of a plate margin) remains poorly understood in plate tectonic models. In order to further our understanding of intracontinental tectonics and its effects, this dissertation examines paleotectonic and neotectonic settings within the interior western USA.

Chapter 1 focuses on late Miocene–Recent deformation inboard of the San Andreas plate margin fault and its role on the integration history of the lower Colorado River. The neotectonic analysis included geometric and kinematic fault data collected in key geologic units to characterize the …

Sedimentology And Stratigraphy Of Core Stl14: An Early Pleistocene-To-Present Paleoclimate Archive From Stoneman Lake, Arizona, Spencer Staley

Earth and Planetary Sciences ETDs

An 80 m lacustrine sediment core (STL14) from Stoneman Lake, Coconino County, Arizona, contains a sedimentary sequence of at least 1.5 million years, chronicling the complete history of basin infill and recording an extensive and high-resolution archive of climatic and hydrologic fluctuations. Lake levels in this small, internally-drained catchment are sensitive to changes in regional hydrologic balance. Consistent groundwater inflow, even during regionally dry episodes in the lake’s history, has prevented complete desiccation of the lake and sustained continuous lacustrine deposition except for one soil horizon. Multiproxy analysis of sedimentological indicators including lithofacies, color, wet bulk density, magnetic susceptibility, preliminary …

Classifying Microseismicty At Mount St. Helens Using A Large-N Array, Margaret E. Glasgow

Earth and Planetary Sciences ETDs

A dense array of ~1,000 continuously recording, short-period geophones was deployed in the summer of 2014 within ~15 km of Mount St. Helens. Two earthquake catalogs created using reverse time imaging and template detection techniques, increase the detection rate and completeness of the earthquake catalog when compared to the permanent network, Pacific Northwest Seismic Network, catalog. An investigation into event type for ~200 of the earthquake detections leads to the discrimination of two major classification groups, volcano-tectonic and long period. Previous to this study, long period earthquakes had not been identified in the upper crust during a volcanically inactive period …

A Multi-Proxy Stalagmite Reconstruction Of The Climate Of Southwestern North America From The Middle To Late Holocene, Christine Allen

Earth and Planetary Sciences ETDs

The seasonal balance of moisture has a significant effect on natural ecosystems and culture in southwestern North America (SWNA), and it thus is necessary to understand the cause of this moisture variability in order to better predict the scope of potential future changes. Studies of modern SWNA climate indicate that most of the annual moisture at this site comes from monsoonal summer precipitation and a lesser amount of Pacific winter moisture. The climate of the Holocene is of particular interest for constraining natural variability of interglacial climates prior to any anthropogenic influence. An overall transition to a wetter Late Holocene …

New Insights Into The Martian Crust And Angrite Parent Body Through Meteorites, Alison R. Santos

Earth and Planetary Sciences ETDs

Petrologic studies of two new, unique meteorites were conducted in order to characterize the samples and provide insights into their parent bodies. The first sample, Northwest Africa 7034, is the first martian meteorite breccia to be discovered. In an effort to understand the martian crustal materials sampled by the breccia, we developed a classification scheme for the breccia clasts based on their texture, mineralogy, and chemistry. We then further investigated two clast groups which contained trends in mineralogy and chemistry that suggested a possible genetic relationship between the two. Our findings suggest they are not related by a simple igneous …

Birth And Evolution Of The Rio Grande Fluvial System In The Last 8 Ma:Progressive Downward Integration And Interplay Between Tectonics, Volcanism, Climate, And River Evolution, Marisa N. Repasch

Earth and Planetary Sciences ETDs

The Rio Grande-Rio Chama (RG-RC) fluvial system has evolved dramatically over the last 8 Ma, undergoing channel migrations, drainage capture and integration events, volcanic damming, and carving and refilling of paleocanyons. Volcanism concurrent with the development of the river system provides a unique opportunity to apply multiple geochronometers to the study of its incision and drainage evolution. This paper reports 19 new ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar basalt ages and 19 detrital mineral samples (zircon and sanidine) collected from RG-RC alluvium overlain by dated basalt flows in the context of a compilation of published ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar basalt ages. The …

Cl In The Early Solar System, Jeffrey Williams

Earth and Planetary Sciences ETDs

The early solar nebula is thought to have been a turbulent disk of dust and gas. An unknown mechanism caused the disk to collapse, such as a nearby super nova. This collapse led to high temperatures and high particle densities at the mid-plane of the disk. An unknown mechanism caused the temperature in local area to become hot enough to cause some material to melt –creating the first igneous material of the solar system. These melt spherules, called chondrules, cooled and accreted together with dust and ice to form larger bodies called chondrites. Once the chondritic bodies were of sufficient …

Modeling The Influence Of The Heterogeneous Substrate On The Transport Of The Jet Fuel Solute Plume, Kirtland Air Force Base, Albuquerque, New Mexico, Hannah Sarah Gatz-Miller

Earth and Planetary Sciences ETDs

A subsurface model was developed to characterize the influence of heterogeneity on solute phase plume migration of the Jet Fuel spill of Kirtland Air Force Base. Core –logs from KAFB boreholes were compiled, and lithology was interpolated across the study area using transition probability geostatistics (T-PROGS). High conductivity materials in the travel path resulted in a faster than average breakthrough time while, if low conductivity materials were placed in the travel path, particles were either forced to divert around the low K material, which added time and changed the direction of travel, or were forced by the hydraulic gradient to …

Neotectonic Evolution Of Grand Canyon : Interaction Between Volcanism, River Incision, Epeirogenic Uplift, And Faulting, Ryan Crow

Earth and Planetary Sciences ETDs

This thesis focuses on the effects of volcanism, river incision, epeirogenic uplift, and faulting on the landscape evolution of the Grand Canyon region. In the first chapter the migration of increasingly asthenospheric basaltic volcanism is used to constrain lithospheric modification of the Colorado Plateau margins. Buoyancy modification of the upper mantle, driven by the upwelling, is a likely driver for recent uplift of the area. In the second chapter, correlation between oversteepened rivers and areas of high-velocity upper mantle is used to show that recent and ongoing mantle-driven uplift is modulating the surface along the western margin of the Colorado …

Soil Geomorphology Of The Eastern Sevilleta Long Term Ecological Research Site, Debra Bryan-Ricketts

Earth and Planetary Sciences ETDs

Soils in the arid to semi-arid piedmont landscapes of central New Mexico were examined in order to evaluate surficial processes and landscape evolution in the central Rio Grande Rift. These soils were found to contain key information regarding pedologic and geomorphic responses to climate change, rifting and base level drop. A rare association of sepiolite and palygorskite occurs in old soils formed in eolian fines. Pedologic and mineralogical data indicate that palygorskite formed by transformation of dust-borne, aluminum-rich minerals, and that sepiolite subsequently formed by transformation of palygorskite. The association of these two minerals, and geomorphic observations, confirm the existence …

Geology And Petrogenesis Of Ash-Flow Tuffs And Rhyolitic Lavas Associated With The Gila Cliff Dwellings Basin-Bursum Calder Complex, Southwestern New Mexico, Sheila June Seaman

Earth and Planetary Sciences ETDs

The Mogollon-Datil volcanic field of southwestern New Mexico was the site of extensive mid-Tertiary felsic volcanism. The Bursum caldera-Gila Cliff Dwellings basin is a volcanic complex in which stratigraphic and compositional relationships between eruptive units are controversial. Uncertainties associated with the complex include the relative ages of the two overlapping structures, the caldera of origin of ash-flow tuff which fills the Gila Cliff Dwellings basin, and the reconciliation of stratigraphic and chemical relations between volcanic units. A stratigraphic, structural, paleomagnetic, and petrologic study of six ash-flow tuff and lava units has contributed data to several problems concerning the geologic history …

Quaternary Geology Of Chaco Canyon, Northwestern New Mexico, David Waxham Love

Earth and Planetary Sciences ETDs

The overall purpose of studying the Quaternary geology of Chaco Canyon is to develop an understanding of how the geomorphic system in the Chaco drainage evolved and how it presently operates. This dissertation has several subsidiary purposes; (1) to describe and relate modern sedimentary features and facies (which are likely to be preserved in the alluvial fill of the canyon) to modern geomorphic processes, (2) to use the results from the study of modern sediments to interpret exposures of alluvium in Chaco Canyon in order to reconstruct past environments, (3) to develop conceptual models of the geologic subsystems of the …

Effect Of The Pedernal Axis On Permian And Triassic Sedimentation, Philip F. Hock

Earth and Planetary Sciences ETDs

The area surrounding the Pedernal Hills has been of scientific and economic interest for a number of years. The effect of the Pedernal axis on sedimentation and stratigraphy of late Paleozoic rocks is of major importance. The principal purposes of this study were to determine whether the Precambrian terrane was an active source of sediment and what effect it had on thickness of strata during Permian and Triassic time. the area was also mapped in as much detail as the scale (1:125,000) permitted.

Geology And Structure Of A Portion Of The Rio Puerco Fault Belt, Western Bernalillo County, New Mexico, Jock Campbell

Earth and Planetary Sciences ETDs

The Rio Puerco fault belt is a transitional feature between the Colorado Plateau and the Rio Grande depression in west-central New Mexico.

The major purpose of this report has been to map in detail a portion of the Rio Puerco fault belt not previously investigated thoroughly. The main interest herein is the structure of the area. Particular attention has been given to the determination of the character of the Apache graben. Secondary emphasis is placed on stratigraphy, as more complete reports concerning the sedimentary section can be found elsewhere.

Slope Deposits Of The Pennsylvanian Haymond Formation, Marathon Region, Texas, Walter E. Dean Jr.

Earth and Planetary Sciences ETDs

The Haymond Formation of the Marathon basin, Texas consists mainly of a sequence of more than 12,000 siltstone-shale couplets which, combined with the similar couplets of the older Tesnus Formation, form a sequence of "flysch" sediments more than 10,000 feet thick deposited on the eastern slope of the subsiding Llanoria geosyncline. The Haymond Formation contains no diagnostic fossils; its age is known only as Lower Pennsylvanian, probably Atokan.

Geology Of The Sedillo-Cedro Canyon Area, Bernallio County, New Mexico, Bert Norman Brown

Earth and Planetary Sciences ETDs

This report was undertaken primarily as a study of Pennsylvanian strata which crop out in the Sedillo-Cedro Canyon area. The subdivision of the Madera formation as proposed by Read and others (1944) was adopted for purposes of mapping. This subdivision is based on a dominance of either limestone or clastic rocks in the formation.

The writer was unable to measure a Pennsylvanian section in the field due to thickness changes, facies gradations, and faults which were often concealed by dense soil cover. However, by visually traversing the area on aerial photographs using arbitrarily chosen zones, estimated thicknesses for the members …

Permian Stratigraphy And Stratigraphic Paleontology Of The Colorado Plateau, Peggy L. Kirkland

Earth and Planetary Sciences ETDs

The purpose of this study is to synthesize a portion of this vast source of data in order to arrive at a better understanding of Permian stratigraphy.

Geology Of Torreon And Pedricenas Quadrangles, Coahuila And Durango, Mexico, Russell E. Clemons

Earth and Planetary Sciences ETDs

The Torreon and Pedricenas quadrangles are in central Mexico between parallels 25 degrees and 26 degrees N. and meridians 103 degrees 20' and 104 degrees W.; together they embrace 7,600 square kilometers. The northeastern corner of the area lies in the Bolson de Mapimi; most of the area, however, is in the Sierra Madre Oriental.

Hypogene Zoning In The Lordsburg Mine District, Hidalgo County, New Mexico, K. F. Clark

Earth and Planetary Sciences ETDs

Although descriptions of the Lordsburg mining district have been in the literature for more than fifty years, no reference to hypogene zoning of the ores has been made. The present work is mainly concerned with hypogene zoning and related phenomena. Hypogene zoning, temperature of formation, and paragenesis are interrelated factors in ores differentiated from magmas. All three processes are discussed in this thesis. Other aspects of the mining district are mentioned only where relevant.

Geology And Ground-Water Resources Of Northern Lea County, New Mexico, Sidney R. Ash

Earth and Planetary Sciences ETDs

The economy of northern Lea County is dependent upon groundwater; the only other source of water is the runoff from precipitation that is caught and retained in the man-made or natural reservoirs, where is it used for water stock. Irrigation utilizes most of the groundwater pumped; much smaller amounts are used for stock watering and industrial, public, rural and domestic supplies. In 1958, about 107,000 acre-feet of groundwater was pumped for irrigation and 19,000 acre-feet was pumped for all other uses. On the basis of present production of potable water, the economically usable supply will be depleted in certain areas …

The Structure And Stratigraphy Of The Frontier Formation In The Big Piney-La Barge Area Sublette And Lincoln Counties, Wyoming, Eldred D. Johnson

Earth and Planetary Sciences ETDs

This study was undertaken to fulfill part of the requirements for the degree of Master in Science of Geology. The Big Piney-LA Barge area in western Wyoming covers approximately 354 square miles on the western edge of the Green River Basin and the eastern edge of the over thrust belt. The area is underlain by a sedimentary sequence containing rocks representing all the geologic time periods form the Cambrian through the Cenozoic, with the exception of the Silurian period. The entire known post-Precambrian strati-graphic sequence is approximately 18,00 feet thick.

A Petrographic And Environmental Study Of The Upper Cretaceous Greenhorn Limestone, New Mexico, John W. Emerson

Earth and Planetary Sciences ETDs

The Upper Cretaceous Greenhorn Limestone is composed of intercalated agrillaceous limestone and calcareous shale beds which crop out over much of the Western Interior. The Greenhorn was deposited in late Cenomanian and early Turonian time in a westward transgressing sea. In New Mexico the age is early Turonian. The edge of deposition extends as far south as Capitan and Carthage, northward through western Bernalillio County, and northwest through Toadlena.

Lithogenesis Of Atoll Sediments, Uliga Island, Majuro Atoll, Marshall Islands, Phyllis B. Helms

Earth and Planetary Sciences ETDs

Sixteen thin sections and 53 samples of rock and sand were examined under petrographic and binocular microscopes to determine composition, kinds of cement, degrees of cementation, and the sequence of lithogenesis of the consolidated materials. Studies were made of the loose sediments to relate the characteristics of the sedimentary grains to environmental energy of today, and then collate these data with the lithified sediments.

Geology Of The Nutria Monocline, Mckinley County, New Mexico, R. John Edmonds

Earth and Planetary Sciences ETDs

The Nutria monocline forms the northwestern boundary of the Zuni uplift in McKinley County, New Mexico. The sedimentary rocks that are exposed along the monocline range in age from Permian to Cretaceous and rest on Granite of probable Precambrian age. The Jurassic Todilto limestone, which is present north of the mapped area, pinches out in a southerly direction. South of this pinch-out the massive sandstone of the Entrada formation joins the main body of the Zuni sandstone. Only the even bedded, silty sandstone that has previously been considered to be the middle member of the Entrada is regarded as Entrada …

Geology Of The East Potrillo Hills, Dona Ana County, New Mexico, William E. Bowers

Earth and Planetary Sciences ETDs

The East Potrillo Hills are essentially a low north-westerly trending ridge that lies just north of the Mexican border in southern Dona Ana County, New Mexico. The range is approximately 7 miles long and up to 1 1/2 miles wide. It is cut by transverse canyons that carry water to the bolson only during occasionally heavy rains. The crest of the ranges lies 700 to 900 feet above the extensive La Mesa plain which stretches for more than 20 miles to the north, east, and south. In the northern part of the range, the crest reaches a maximum elevation of …

Qualitative Reconnaissance Methods Of Geochemical Exploration, John Francis Brady Jr.

Earth and Planetary Sciences ETDs

No abstract provided.

Upper Cretaceous Farmington Sandstone Of Northeastern San Juan County, New Mexico, Ottis L. Dilworth

Earth and Planetary Sciences ETDs

The Upper Cretaceous Farmington sandstone is found only in northwestern New Mexico and Southwestern Colorado. The Farmington sandstone is the middle member of the Kirtland shale, there being a Kirtland shale member above and below it. This sandstone unit appears as an extensive wedge in the Kirtland shale and thins northward, southward, and southeastward from Townships 30-31 North, Ranges 9-13 West. The thickness of the Farmington sandstone ranges from 27 to 818 feet within the area of this thesis. The unit is correlative with parts of the Vermejo formation of the Raton basin and the Fox Hills formation of the …

Geology Of The San Pedro Mountains Santa Fe County, New Mexico, William W. Atkinson Jr.

Earth and Planetary Sciences ETDs

No abstract provided.