Geology Commons^™

Single-Grain Optically Stimulated Luminescence Ages Of Brownware Pottery In The Central Rocky Mountains And The Spread Of Numic Ceramic Technology, Judson Byrd Finley, Carlie J. Ideker, Tammy M. Rittenour

Geosciences Faculty Publications

This study presents the results of a single-grain optically stimulated luminescence (SG-OSL) analysis of brownware pottery from four Late Prehistoric-period sites in the Middle Rocky Mountains, Wyoming, USA. SG-OSL of quartz ceramic temper provides improved age control for sites where radiocarbon dating has proven problematic due to old wood, recent wildfires, and calibration uncertainties. SG-OSL results are compared to fine-grain infrared stimulated luminescence (FG-IRSL) results from the same sherds and associated radiocarbon ages. We find that the single-grain technique applied to quartz sand temper provides improved accuracy and precision over both FG-IRSL and radiocarbon. We compare our results to directly …

Stratigraphy Of The Middle Cambrian Lincoln Peak Formation And Evolution Of The House Range Embayment, Eastern Nevada, Ibrahim Zallum

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

This study examined the Middle Cambrian (c. 500 MA) Lincoln Peak Formation and Patterson Pass Shale. The initial goal was to create a stratigraphic model for these units. This model was then compared to those from already studied units in western Utah, which combined with the Nevada units form the rock record of an ancient feature known as the House Range Embayment, which was an area of greater water depth superimposed on the continental shelf. This study found that the Nevada units exhibit a series of depositional sequences similar to those in western Utah, but at a lower resolution. This …

The Dynamic Relationship Between The Bear River, Quaternary Basaltic Center, Normal Faults, And The Resulting Rearrangement Of Rivers In The Northeast Edge Of The Great Basin, Southeast Idaho, Brady Utley

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

The objective of this research project in Gem Valley graben, southeast Idaho is to identify the location, age and history of the Quaternary diversion of the Bear River into paleo-Lake Thatcher, and then into the Lake Bonneville basin from the Columbia River basin. Mapping, geochemical analysis, cross-cutting relationships, and five new age determinations, together with prior published research, shed new light on the complex history of interaction between the volcanic rocks, rivers, lakes, and faults in Gem Valley. Research goals were to test the hypothesis that local faulting and volcanism drove the diversion of the Bear River and controlled the …

Stratigraphy, Petrology, And Paleontology Of The Late Cretaceous Campanian Mesaverde Group In Northeastern Utah, Christopher Ward

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

This project examines a poorly studied sandstone ridge called Snake John Reef located 22 miles southeast of Vernal, in northeastern Utah. Previously this ridge was mapped as exposures of late Cretaceous, undifferentiated Mesaverde Group, and recently unidentified dinosaur fossils have been found along the ridge by the Utah Field House of Natural History State Park Museum. Stratigraphic sections, petrographic thin sections, and collection and study of fossils from Snake John Reef were undertaken to understand the stratigraphic relationship as well as to reconstruct the depositional environment of the dinosaur bearing units. Snake John Reef represents exposures of three late Cretaceous …

Analysis Of The Hite Fault Group, Southeast Utah: Insights Into Fluid Flow Properties In A Reservoir Analog, Daniel J. Curtis

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

In the subsurface faults can act as both barriers and conduits for fluids or gases such as CO₂, hydrocarbons, or water. It is often thought that faults in porous rocks such as sandstone are barriers to fluid flow. In this study we show that this is not always the case. In sandstones like the Cedar Mesa Sandstone it is very important to understand the relationships between this history of fault slip and fluid flow. Better understanding of how fluids migrate through faults and the damaged areas surrounding these faults has strong significance to the oil and gas industry. …

(Uranium-Thorium)/Helium Thermochronologic Constraints On Secondary Iron-Oxide Mineralization In Southwestern New Mexico, Michael Channer

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Southwestern New Mexico experienced protracted volcanism from ~60 Ma to 500 ka and associated epithermal mineralization. We apply hematite (U-Th)/He (hematite He) thermochronology to fracture-hosted hematite in the Lordsburg Mining District to resolve the timing of mineralization related to hydrothermal fluid circulation. We interpret hematite He dates with integrated field and structural observations, scanning electron microscopy to characterize hematite texture and grain size distribution, and zircon U-Pb and zircon (U-Th)/He (zircon He) chronology to constrain the timing of host rock formation and the ambient low-temperature thermal history, respectively. Undeformed hematite fills fractures cut a brecciated rhyolite and preserve open voids. …

Spatio-Temporal History Of Fluid-Rock Interaction In The Hurricane Fault Zone, Jace Michael Koger

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The Hurricane Fault is a 250-km long, west dipping, active Basin and Range-bounding normal fault in southwest Utah and northwest Arizona. There are multiple known hot springs along its 250-km length and multiple late Tertiary-Quaternary basaltic centers that broadly parallel the fault. Possible sources of hot spring fluids include deeply circulated meteoric water that experienced water-rock exchange at high temperatures (>100 °C) and deep-seated crustal fluids. Abundant damage zone veins, cements, and host rock alteration are present along strike, indicative of past fluid flow. Carbonate veins and cements are key features of the Hurricane Fault zone, and the primary …

Hydrocarbon And Co2 Emissions From Oil And Gas Production Well Pad Soils Comparative To Background Soil Emissions In Eastern Utah, Cody S. Watkins

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

What effect does the development of oil and gas have on the observed air quality (i.e., increased ozone, carbon dioxide (CO₂), volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and/or methane emissions) in northeastern Utah? What percentage of these gases is natural background emissions, and what percentage is due to the recent oil and gas development in the region? Emissions in this text refer to gases released from the earth’s surface to the atmosphere. Methane is the primary compound in natural gas. Natural gas is a naturally occurring hydrocarbon gas mixture. Emissions of methane, non-methane hydrocarbons (NMHC), and CO₂ at 27 …

Investigating Patterns Of Fluvial Form And Incision Near The Yellowstone Hotspot — Alpine Canyon Of The Snake River, Wyoming, Daphnee Tuzlak

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The shape of a landscape is created by rivers, which erode the underlying bedrock and carve through mountains. The Snake River flows across the uplifting hotspot plume of the Yellowstone region, cuts through the Snake River Range, and ultimately enters the low-lying eastern Snake River Plain. Although there is a good understanding of the track of the Yellowstone hotspot over geologic time and shorter timescales, measurements over Quaternary timescales and an understanding of how uplift influences the rivers and landscape in the Yellowstone region are absent. We study the Snake River and its past deposits where it cuts through Alpine …

Sequence Stratigraphy, Chemostratigraphy, And Biostratigraphy Of Lower Ordovician Units In Northeastern And Western Central Utah: Regional Implications, Colter R. Davis

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The Lower to Middle Ordovician Garden City Formation and Pogonip Group are mixed carbonate and sandy marine rocks deposited on the western margin of ancestral North America. The Garden City Formation was deposited in the Northern Utah Basin and the Pogonip Group was deposited in the Ibex Basin. These two basins experienced different rates of subsidence that resulting in significant thickness differences between rock units and different rock types related to sea level change. This study provides a unique opportunity to examine changes in rock types, rock chemistry, and fossil types as sea level changed within two separate basins in …

Spatiotemporal Evolution Of Pleistocene And Late Oligocene-Early Miocene Deformation In The Mecca Hills, Southernmost San Andreas Fault Zone, Amy C. Moser

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Seismogenically active faults (those that produce earthquakes) are very complex systems that constantly change through time. When an earthquake occurs, the rocks surrounding a fault (the “fault rocks”) become altered or damaged. Studying these fault rocks directly can inform what processes operated in the fault and how the fault evolved in space and time. Examining these key aspects of faults helps us understand the earthquake hazards of active fault systems.

The Mecca Hills, southern California, consist of a set of hills adjacent to the southernmost San Andreas Fault. The topography is related to motion on the San Andreas fault, which …

Magmatic Evolution Of Early Subduction Zones: Geochemical Modeling And Chemical Stratigraphy Of Boninite And Fore Arc Basalt From The Bonin Fore Arc, Emily A. Haugen

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The Izu-Bonin-Mariana arc stretches south from Japan to Guam in the Western Pacific. International Ocean Discovery Project Expedition 352 drilled four core in the fore arc of the Izu-Bonin arc east of the Bonin Islands: U1439C, U1440B, U1441A, and U1442A. From the four core, 124 samples were retrieved and analyzed for major and trace elements. Two main rock types were identified: FAB and boninite. FAB is a Mid-Ocean Ridge Basalt (MORB)-like tholeiite with variable fluid mobile element enrichment such as Rb, Ba, and Sr, and low Ti/V ratios more similar to an island arc volcanic than a mid-ocean ridge volcanic. …

User Guide For Luminescence Sampling In Archaeological And Geological Context, Michelle C. Summa-Nelson, Harrison J. Gray, Jack A. Johnson, Tammy M. Rittenour, James K. Feathers, Shannon A. Mahan

Geosciences Faculty Publications

Luminescence dating provides a direct age estimate of the time of last exposure of quartz or feldspar minerals to light or heat and has been successfully applied to deposits, rock surfaces, and fired materials in a number of archaeological and geological settings. Sampling strategies are diverse and can be customized depending on local circumstances, although all sediment samples need to include a light-safe sample and material for dose-rate determination. The accuracy and precision of luminescence dating results are directly related to the type and quality of the material sampled and sample collection methods in the field. Selection of target material …

Geologic Map Of The Lima Peaks 7.5' Quadrangle, Beaverhead County, Montana, Betty Skipp, William J. Perry Jr., Susanne U. Jänecke

Geosciences Faculty Publications

The Lima Peaks quadrangle is located in southwestern Beaverhead County in southwestern-most Montana, near the southern terminus of the Beaverhead Mountains (fig. 1). Rocks and deposits of Mississippian through Quaternary age are present along the eastern margin of the Cretaceous to early Tertiary Sevier fold-and-thrust belt. This area is structurally complex because rocks of older, Laramide Blacktail-Snowcrest uplift (Perry and others, 1988; Skipp, 1988; Lonn and others, 2006).

Revised Structure And Correlation Of The Great Salt Lake, North Promontory, Rozel And Hansel Valley Fault Zones Revealed By The 2015-2016 Low Stand Of Great Salt Lake, Susanne U. Jänecke, James P. Evans

Geosciences Faculty Publications

Years of drought conspired to produce the present historic low stand in Gunnison Bay of Great Salt Lake. The lake has receded enough to expose the Great Salt Lake fault zone, and reveal its geometry through the shallow and clear lake water. We mapped the newly visible escarpments along the fault zone, upgraded the Utah fault map, and revised the regional correlation of the Great Salt Lake, Rozel, and North Promontory fault zones. We explored the origin of wave-cut platforms in the footwall of the faults, and identify geometrically unique types of microbial communities along faults and fault-related springs and …

Exploring The Potential Linkages Between Oil-Field Brine Reinjection, Crystalline Basement Permeability, And Triggered Seismicity For The Dagger Draw Oil Field, Southeastern New Mexico, Usa, Using Hydrologic Modeling, Y. Zhang, Stanislav S. Edel, Jeff D. Pepin, Mark A. Person, Ronald F. Broadhead, J. P. Ortiz, Susan L. Bilek, Peter S. Mozley, James P. Evans

Geosciences Faculty Publications

We used hydrologic models to explore the potential linkages between oil-field brine reinjection and increases in earthquake frequency (up to M_d 3.26) in southeastern New Mexico and to assess different injection management scenarios aimed at reducing the risk of triggered seismicity. Our analysis focuses on saline water reinjection into the basal Ellenburger Group beneath the Dagger Draw Oil field, Permian Basin. Increased seismic frequency (>M_d 2) began in 2001, 5 years after peak injection, at an average depth of 11 km within the basement 15 km to the west of the reinjection wells. We considered several scenarios …

Revised Scec Final Report On The New East Shoreline Strand Of The San Andreas Fault, Susanne U. Jänecke, Daniel K. Markowski

Geosciences Faculty Publications

This report consists of three parts: Original proposal (2011), provisional report (Janecke, 2013), and a final summary in the form of the MS thesis of Daniel Markowski (2016). The abstract herein is the abstract of Janecke's provisional report except that I updated the name of the fault to East Shoreline strand of the SAF. A different "Shoreline fault" is already in the Quaternary fault and fold database. See Markowski (2016) and Janecke et al. 2016 for additional updates.

Summary:

In 2013 Janecke submitted a provisional report to SCEC about our research along the newly identified East Shoreline strand of …

The Bear River's History And Diversion: Constraints, Unsolved Problems, And Implications For The Lake Bonneville Record, Joel L. Pederson, Susanne U. Jänecke, M. C. Reheis, D. S. Kaufman, Robert Q. Oaks Jr.

Geosciences Faculty Publications

The shifting course of the Bear River has influenced the hydrologic balance of the Bonneville basin through time, including the magnitude of Lake Bonneville. This was first recognized by G.K. Gilbert and addressed in the early work of Robert Bright, who focused on the southeastern Idaho region of Gem Valley and Oneida Narrows. In this chapter, we summarize and evaluate existing knowledge from this region, present updated and new chronostratigraphic evidence for the Bear River's drainage history, and discuss implications for the Bonneville record as well as future research needs.

The Bear River in Plio-Pleistocene time joined the Snake River …

Topographic Constraints On Magma Accumulations Below The Actively Uuplifting Uturuncu And Lazufre Volcanic Centers In The Central Andes, Jonathan P. Perkins, Noah J. Finnegan, Scott T. Henderson, Tammy M. Rittenour

Geosciences Faculty Publications

Geodetic surveys of Volcán Uturuncu and the Lazufre volcanic complex in the Central Andes of South America reveal sustained surface uplift from magmatic intrusion at depth. However, the decadal timescales of geodetic surveys are short relative to the timescales of magma chamber growth. Thus, from geodesy alone, it is difficult to infer the deformation and hence magma accumulation history of these volcanoes. Here we combine data from InSAR, long-wavelength topography, GPS and high-resolution topographic surveys of lake shorelines and rivers, and lava flow morphology to constrain the spatial and temporal evolution of magmatism at Uturuncu and Lazufre. Near Uturuncu, dated …

Observational Evidence Confirms Modelling Of The Long-Term Integrity Of Co2-Reservoir Caprocks, N. Kampman, A. Busch, P. Bertier, J. Snippe, S. Hangx, V. Pipich, Z. Di, G. Rother, J. F. Harrington, James P. Evans, A. Maskell, H. J. Chapman, M. J. Bickle

Geosciences Faculty Publications

Storage of anthropogenic CO₂ in geological formations relies on a caprock as the primary seal preventing buoyant super-critical CO₂ escaping. Although natural CO₂ reservoirs demonstrate that CO₂ may be stored safely for millions of years, uncertainty remains in predicting how caprocks will react with CO2-bearing brines. This uncertainty poses a significant challenge to the risk assessment of geological carbon storage. Here we describe mineral reaction fronts in a CO₂ reservoir-caprock system exposed to CO₂ over a timescale comparable with that needed for geological carbon storage. The propagation of the reaction front is retarded by …

Record Of Paleofluid Circulation In Faults Revealed By Hematite (U-Th)/He And Apatite Fission-Track Dating: An Example From Gower Peninsula Fault Fissures, Wales, Alexis K. Ault, Max Frenzel, Peter W. Reiners, Nigel H. Woodcock, Stuart N. Thomson

Geosciences Faculty Publications

Fault rock low-temperature thermochronometry can inform the timing, temperature, and significance of hydrothermal fluid circulation in fault systems. We demonstrate this with combined hematite (U-Th)/He (He) dating, and sandstone apatite fission-track (AFT) and apatite and zircon (U-Th)/He (He) thermochronometry from fault-related fissures on the Gower Peninsula, Wales. Hematite He dates from 141 ± 5.1 Ma to 120 ± 5.0 Ma overlap with a 131 ± 20 Ma sandstone infill AFT date. Individual zircon He dates are 402–260 Ma, reflecting source material erosion, and imply a maximum Late Permian infill depositional age. Burial history reconstruction reveals modern exposures were not buried …

Crustal Architecture Of The Snake River Plain, Idaho, Through Geochemical Investigation Of Crustal Sill And Shallow Subvolcanic Xenoliths, Douglas James Jones

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The Snake River Plain (SRP) in southern Idaho is one of the most well-preserved examples of continent-hotspot interaction available today. Geophysical studies have imaged a feature ~10 km thick at the base of the upper crust. This feature, termed the “mid-crustal sill complex” is likely a layered mafic intrusion. The study of layered mafic intrusions is important because it provides a link between deep plutonic processes and shallow volcanic processes. Investigation of the mid crustal sill complex will provide better understanding of the evolutionary process of SRP basalts.

This thesis investigates three xenoliths sampled from the Kimama drill core collected …

Confirmation Of A New Geometric And Kinematic Model Of The San Andreas Fault At Its Southern Tip, Durmid Hill, Southern California, Daniel K. Markowski

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This study explains the origin of the deforming structures between the San Andreas fault and the Salton Sea within the Salton Trough in Southern California. ShakeOut simulations and other studies model shaking resulting from a large rupture on the San Andreas fault. These models simulate a start at the southern fault tip of the San Andreas fault that propagates to the northwest. A secondary strand of the San Andreas fault called the East Shoreline fault is located at the southern tip of the San Andreas fault near the shoreline of the Salton Sea. Between the East Shoreline fault zone and …

The Influence Of Small Displacement Faults On Seal Integrity And Lateral Movement Of Fluids, Eric A. Rasmusson

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

As groundwater, liquid and gas hydrocarbons, or CO₂ fluids move through the subsurface, faults can act as pathways or barriers to flow. Recent studies also show that when a fault juxtaposes high permeability sandstone against a low permeability shale, the corner at the sandstone-shale interface and the fault can become a site of high pressure that may fracture the seal and allow fluids to escape. This can have negative implications for industries dependent on the quality of that seal, for example, petroleum, CO₂ sequestration, waste fluid injection, and nuclear waste storage industries.

We examined five small-scale faults in …

Structural And Lithological Influences On The Tony Grove Alpine Karst System, Bear River Range, North-Central Utah, Kirsten Bahr

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Caves are access points into the subsurface for humans, water, and, in many cases, contaminants. Many caves are connected via a series of conduits that carry water from one cave to another and, eventually, to a spring. However, because most of these conduits are inaccessible, it is difficult to determine the pathway groundwater takes on its way to the spring. The primary objective of this study was to examine the effects of folds, fractures, and rock type upon the formation and orientation of cave passages as well as groundwater flow patterns in the Tony Grove alpine karst system.

Although water …

The Mh-2 Core From Project Hotspot: Description, Geologic Interpretation, And Significance To Geothermal Exploration In The Western Snake River Plain, Idaho, Jerome A. Varriale

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Harnessing the earth’s natural heat generation as an energy resource has seen increased interest in recent history. While geothermal energy is a sustainable, low-carbon emitting, and viable source of energy in certain regions, large upfront risks, including costs of exploration and deep well drilling, have kept private sector investment at bay. Lowering the risks to capital investment that are inherent to subsurface exploration can help to assuage investors and bring this well-known energy-generating technology to the masses.

A blind potential geothermal system was encountered while drilling the MH2 science drill hole, on Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho. The MH-2 …

Mineral Physics Modeling Of The Effect Of Water On Crustal Seismic Velocity Ratios, Eric Lyman, Anthony Lowry Phd

Student Research Symposium

This poster presents the relationship between the presence of water (H2O) in the make up of rocks at different levels in the crust. The relationships were calculated using Perple_x software to adjust the level of the different chemical and mineral make up of the rock. The densities were calculated using the velocity of primary waves and shear waves as collected by Tony Lowry. This study focuses primarily on quartz content. There seems to be at least a casual link between water content and quartz content.

Stable Isotope And Radiocarbon Analysis Of Modern Lacustrine Stromatolites Near Great Salt Lake, Utah, Jordan L. Jensen, Dennis L. Newell, W. David Liddell

Student Research Symposium

Stromatolites are accretionary structures that form mainly from bacteria colonization in subaqueous environments and comprise mostly calcium carbonate (CaCO3). They can be found throughout the rock record (Archean-present day) and modern stromatolites are now restricted to areas that have few or no grazing animals. The hypersaline Great Salt Lake in Utah is host to numerous modern stromatolites, which are currently exposed to the air because of low lake levels. Here, we present C and O isotopic data and radiocarbon dates from a transect of a stromatolite dome (SD-1-01). Carbon and oxygen isotopic values covary strongly along the transect and range …

Mantle-Derived Helium In Hot Springs Of The Cordillera Blanca, Peru: Implications For Mantle-To-Crust Fluid Transfer In A Flat-Slab Subduction Setting, Dennis L. Newell, Micah J. Jessup, David R. Hilton, Colin Shaw, Cameron Hughes

Geosciences Faculty Publications

Fault-controlled hot springs in the Cordillera Blanca, Peru provide geochemical evidence of mantle-derived fluids in a modern flat-slab subduction setting. The Cordillera Blanca is an ~200km-long mountain range that contains the highest peaks in the Peruvian Andes, located in an amagmatic reach of the Andean arc. The Cordillera Blanca detachment defines the southwestern edge of the range and records a progression of top-down-to-the-west ductile shear to brittle normal faulting since ~5Ma. Hot springs, recording temperatures up to 78°C, issue along this fault zone and are CO₂-rich, near neutral, alkaline-chloride to alkaline-carbonate waters, with elevated trace metal contents including …

The Colorado Plateau As A Virtual Laboratory For Mobile Games For Geoscience Education And Relations Between Rock Strength And River Metrics, Natalie Bursztyn

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This dissertation encompasses two studies: one developing virtual field trips for mobile devices for an innovative approach to lower-division geoscience education, and the other examining the role of rock strength in river erosion and landscape evolution.

The education study involves the development of three virtual field trip modules (Geologic Time, Geologic Structures, and Hydrologic Processes, all free on iTunes and Google Play) that lead students down a virtual Colorado River through Grand Canyon by physically moving around their campus quad, football field or other location, using their GPS-equipped smart phone or tablet. As students reach each location in the scaled …